Greetings old school cosplayers! Last year's Old School Gathering was a blast, thank you all for your amazing attendance and awesome cosplay! It really meant so much to me as this was my first time hosting this (or any) cosplay gathering. Continuing the tradition of the gathering that got me into cosplay, I announce the...
Fanime 2017 Old School Cosplay Gathering!
Come celebrate the rich history of Japanese entertainment culture!
This is a hugely open gathering for those of you / us who cosplay as characters from the previous century.
Essentially if your cosplay character appears in Anime, Manga, Video Games or Live Action (resident beings of Nebula M78 are welcome) pre-2001 on back, then this is the gathering for you! Although I like to have a decidedly Japanese lean to this gathering, it is not completely exclusive.
Day : Friday, May 26th (Day 1)
Time : 6PM
Meeting Place (MP) : Same as Location.
Location (L) : Gatherings G2, Tiered Platform (1st floor lobby by East stairs)
Please note we will be at a different location than last year due to The Hub no longer being available for gatherings, however we're literally ten seconds away from last year's gathering location.
Gatherings G2 is the left wooden platform stair area, alongside the staircases when you first walk in the main entrance of the Convention Center.
Cosplayers : If you would like, please post who your cosplay character is, what title it is from and what year you are representing! As this gathering is a total wildcard mix of different characters, series, studios, and genres - spanning time rather than properties - a definitive list is otherwise not provided. Part of the fun of the OSG is seeing just who shows up.
Legal Statement : Fanime will be taking group pictures during the Gathering/Event this year. If you do not want to be included in those pictures please step aside for those photos. By remaining with the group when the pictures are being taken you give your consent to be photographed.
Photography Order : - timeline shots will be WAY easier this year due to the new location's tiered platforms. Additionally if there is any specific setup or shot you would like, just let me know! This gathering is to celebrate all of us as cosplayers who keep the vintage fire alive.
By era - 1960's (or earlier).
By era - 1970's.
By era - 1980's.
By era - 1990's (to 2000).
Group shot.
Timeline group shot by era (dependent on gathering size).
Sword wielders.
Fighters.
Spacefaring characters.
Military / rank and file.
Characters with psychic powers.
Pilots / drivers / craft operators.
Characters known to carry firearms / laser guns / etc.
Robots / androids / synthetic people.
Teachers / students / faculty / etc.
Magical girls.
Battle teams.
Characters who are on the run / fugitives / scoundrels.
Heroes.
Villains.
Civilians.
Aliens.
Video game characters.
Manga only characters.
Live Action only characters.
Pairings / couples.
Series groups (dependent on attendance).
By studio / production team (dependent on attendance).
- There are way too many of these to list, so if you see other cosplayers from the same studio, speak up!
Requests.
Facebook Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/517984584992384/
This is an excellent gathering to psyche you up for the convention weekend. If you're an old school cosplayer, stop by and join us! Feel free to pop in for a moment to say hi, see some incredible cosplay, pose for some pictures, and continue to prove that just because it's old doesn't mean it isn't awesome!
Thank you so very much. Let's have another great turnout and continue this wonderful Fanime tradition!
Old School Cosplay Gathering 2017 Photo Gallery Index
Updated Photography Order As It Was Called / Shot:1960's or earlier.
1960's - 1970's (no 1970's cosplayers this year at the start).
1960's - 1980's.
1960's - 2000 (all eras group shot).
Sword wielders.
Fighters.
Spacefaring characters.
Military / rank and file / special forces / tactical background / etc.
Characters with psychic powers / espers / spiritual power / magic / etc.
Pilots / drivers / craft operators / machine operators / etc.
Characters known to carry firearms / laser guns / shooters / etc.
Robots / androids / synthetic people.
Teachers / students / faculty / school attendants / etc.
Magical girls.
Battle teams.
Characters who are on the run / fugitives / scoundrels / etc.
Heroes.
Villains.
Civilians.
Aliens.
Video game characters.
Manga only characters (none this year).
Live action only characters (none this year).
Series groups.
Mixed requests:
Gentlemen.
Ladies (and one mokkori sweeper - sorry, couldn't resist being in character).
Pairings / couples.
Playboys and ladies.
I am always up for future ideas to add to the list! A good portion of the photo order for 2017 was built upon suggestions from 2016.Unofficial Gallery of pictures taken by the co-host can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.671897979666014.1073741833.496398453882635&type=3 (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.671897979666014.1073741833.496398453882635&type=3)
These are high quality, untouched, non-watermarked pictures, essentially everything she shot. Feel free to tag, share, download, etc. and if you are a cosplayer in a picture you are absolutely welcome to reupload pictures of yourself elsewhere! If anyone has issue with a specific picture, just let me know here (a PM is fine) and I'll take care of it.
Tye / Imperal, FanimeCon Friday, 4pm - 7pm Gatherings OFFICIAL Gallery -https://fanimecon.slickpic.com/albums/FanimeCon-Friday-4pm-7pm/?wallpaper (https://fanimecon.slickpic.com/albums/FanimeCon-Friday-4pm-7pm/?wallpaper)
(scroll down to see an awesome set of official pictures from the gathering)
Thank you for taking pictures at the gathering, assisting with countdowns, and being an all around awesome Head of the Cosplay Gatherings Department!
Stormfalcon, Day One Gallery -Day One: https://stormfalcon.smugmug.com/CosplayPhotography/FanimeCon-2017-05-26/ (https://stormfalcon.smugmug.com/CosplayPhotography/FanimeCon-2017-05-26/)
(Old School Cosplay Gathering photos begin on page 16)
Thank you for taking pictures at the gathering!
If anyone has pictures of the Old School Cosplay Gathering, please post the link to your gallery and I will add them to this post!
Thank you again to all who attended or expressed interest in this gathering! I can't wait to do it again for 2018!
Photo Galleries From OSG 2016:
Pictures of the 2016 gathering taken by my co-host, Captain Shinobu Nagumo, can be viewed here at our cosplay page - https://www.facebook.com/mokkoricosplay/photos/?tab=album&album_id=512071695648644 - this is an updated link with high resolution images. Please feel free to tag and share!
Mobius Photography OSG photo album - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1027743667302832.1073741840.819812181429316&type=3
Studio Stormfalcon has OSG pictures here, starting on page 9 - https://stormfalcon.smugmug.com/CosplayPhotography/FanimeCon-2016-05-27/ - he also has good shots of the Macross gathering and pictures of many others who attended the OSG that he encountered throughout the day. Check it out!
Thank you to everyone who attended in 2016! The plan for 2017 is to move the gathering an hour later to allow more people to attend due to hotel check-ins and the Friday workday. I'm going to aim for 6PM - 7PM for 2017. I also plan on having a much larger list for the photography order. THANK YOU again to gathering attendees who suggested some outstanding photography groupings!!
OSG 2016 Fanime Forums Thread:
http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,20412.0.html
Ahhh I don't know yet what my schedule is/if I'll be attending this gathering/what I'll be wearing, but I had a great time last year and hope to be there again!!
After fiddling around with my lineup, I've decided to finally do Kagura from Azumanga Daioh. And since the manga came out in 1999, I feel she qualifies for this gathering. So I'll be there again! ^^
With the Cosplay Gatherings Department starting to get ready for 2017, look for more Old School Cosplay Gathering information here in January. I've created a Facebook Event Page (link in first post) and while Friday at 6pm is my target time, the day and time should be considered tentative until the gathering form is online and the submission has been approved.
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on November 29, 2016, 02:04:58 PM
Ahhh I don't know yet what my schedule is/if I'll be attending this gathering/what I'll be wearing, but I had a great time last year and hope to be there again!!
Thank you again very much for attending last year and for your comments! I plan on having a much better handle on things for 2017. Funny thing is
I still don't know what I'll be wearing for Fanime yet, or the day specifics at least.
Quote from: Angelx624 on December 06, 2016, 07:20:58 AM
After fiddling around with my lineup, I've decided to finally do Kagura from Azumanga Daioh. And since the manga came out in 1999, I feel she qualifies for this gathering. So I'll be there again! ^^
That would be great, thank you again for attending last year!
Trying to get into the habit of making sure the thread is constantly updated this year, I've decided to move the weekly Anime Openings posts that we had on the Facebook Event Page, to the Fanime Forums thread as well! Generally these will be one OP per week (usually on Friday) right up until Fanime, along with any gathering updates for the week.
I'll be around more than that for general replies and updates and so forth, this is more to ensure I meet my obligation as gathering host and that I'm super easy to get a hold of on here. Yeah, today is Thursday but let's kick things off a little early!
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Ogon Bat (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvfQWOFzK3s
That's great, thank you for doing that! :)
Quote from: Angelx624 on January 12, 2017, 09:58:28 PM
That's great, thank you for doing that! :)
No problem at all!
Okay, here we go - settling into the Friday update. I hope everyone's cosplay plans are going smoothly - and if you're looking for Fanime housing that you have a solid time slot.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Future GPX Cyber Formula SAGA (1996)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQiO6F4hthU
I think I've got housing settled, I believe my Sac-Anime roomies plan to all room with each other for Fanime, so it seems..... XD
And I have to make Kagura's top, but that's about it. ^^;
Quote from: Angelx624 on January 17, 2017, 08:42:50 PM
I think I've got housing settled, I believe my Sac-Anime roomies plan to all room with each other for Fanime, so it seems..... XD
And I have to make Kagura's top, but that's about it. ^^;
Azumanga Daioh...great choice :D Way to make some of us feel old though lol
Also, I see in your signature that you copslay a character named Mink...would that be Mink from Dragon Half, by any chance? If so, I also cosplay Mink from Dragon Half and might be persuaded to bring her to Fanime :D
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on January 17, 2017, 09:37:24 PM
Quote from: Angelx624 on January 17, 2017, 08:42:50 PM
I think I've got housing settled, I believe my Sac-Anime roomies plan to all room with each other for Fanime, so it seems..... XD
And I have to make Kagura's top, but that's about it. ^^;
Azumanga Daioh...great choice :D Way to make some of us feel old though lol
Also, I see in your signature that you copslay a character named Mink...would that be Mink from Dragon Half, by any chance? If so, I also cosplay Mink from Dragon Half and might be persuaded to bring her to Fanime :D
Yes, I remember watching Azumanga back in high school.......... ><
And no, it's Mink from DRAMAtical Murder, actually. ^^
Ah too bad. I guess someone who cosplays from both Azumanga Daioh and Dragon Half is a little much to ask for. :P
Good afternoon old schoolers! If you require Fanime housing I hope things went smoothly for you this week (looking like it was that way for quite a few). Finally got some prop work done myself during a break in the rain today.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Galaxy Express 999 (1978)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq-b_iNrQaQ
Good morning old schoolers! Amazing to me that this is already the last Friday in January. Looking back at how far along with cosplay props I usually am by this time, shows me how far behind I am this time around - I have gotten a lot done this week however. As for today's opening, well, I couldn't resist.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Mobile Police Patlabor (1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9UtUzjUA5Q
Good morning old schoolers! Chewing through to the end of another week has brought with it rainy skies in the South Bay. Not downpours but rather the heavy soaking mist that makes outdoor painting or adhesive work impossible. It's February already - and still so much cosplay work left to do! Very important and influential (as seems to be the case with nearly everything Tezuka touched) series as today's OP.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Ribon no Kishi / Princess Knight (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=664Wfc0Y7KA
Good morning old schoolers! A deep breath for me this morning as I seal up part of a prop I'm working on that will essentially make everything up to this point permanent. I hope everyone's plans are coming together and that you are doing well as we finish off the top half of February. Today's OP is from the series of which all my cosplay work this year has been related to.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! City Hunter (1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re8d36wQy9w
Good morning old schoolers! Back to torrential downpours and high wind gusts here in Fanime's backyard - fun. Hope you all had an enjoyable week to this point, an enjoyable Valentine's Day, and have an enjoyable weekend ahead. Opening today is from Zenki, a series that gets absolutely no love despite being pretty entertaining in my opinion and having a great classic 90's anime opening theme.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Kishin Douji Zenki (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G55UQClMw9I
So I'm considering putting Kagura on the back burner and instead do a human version of Giroro from Sgt Frog. The manga was first released in 1999 so I feel it would work. xD I've re-discovered my love for that series so the switch just might happen. XD
Quote from: Angelx624 on February 22, 2017, 12:40:15 AM
So I'm considering putting Kagura on the back burner and instead do a human version of Giroro from Sgt Frog. The manga was first released in 1999 so I feel it would work. xD I've re-discovered my love for that series so the switch just might happen. XD
Yup, that's all good since it began before the end of 2000. ^_^
Lately I've really been trying to think of more "modern" stuff that I like and, although I'm not specifically trying to thumb my nose at anything, there's really very little I can think of. I did really like Durarara!! Um, I'm finally getting around to watching Angel Heart, and I am really enjoying the kind of alternate-reality take on City Hunter. Ah, I thought Space Symphony Maetel was great. I thought Sailor Moon Crystal was ooooooookay. Patlabor Reboot was a really good modernization of Mobile Police Patlabor in current society, one-off short as it was.
Yeah, a lot of that is a modern extension or rework or the like but I just absolutely cannot get into any of the things that are super popular right now. Then I remember there is so much older stuff I've been interested in that is constantly getting a re-release or a new fansub that I have plenty to watch heading the other direction down the timeline.
Ah, and still unofficial at this point as to final location, but with the announcement that Gatherings G4 is going to be unavailable for Fanime this year, we're going to more than likely move the gathering just a bit toward the main entrance to one of the tiered platforms by the stairs. I think this is the best choice as it's closest to where this gathering has traditionally been located and it shouldn't be THAT hectic over there on Friday evening.
I may have to do Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors one day if it doesn't conflict with the Disney gathering or the Welcome to Night Vale panel I'm hoping to host.
Quote from: TrashdomCosplay Haiden on February 22, 2017, 10:46:04 AM
I may have to do Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors one day if it doesn't conflict with the Disney gathering or the Welcome to Night Vale panel I'm hoping to host.
I'm really trying to keep a lean toward Japanese entertainment history as with the first Old School Gatherings I attended. Absolutely no one will be turned away, obviously, because I wouldn't do that. And let's be honest, old school cosplayers are like the geekiest fandom there (don't know about most but I wear that as a badge of honor) so we should all be celebrated. :)
The forums are freaking out on me. I hope this only posted twice.
Quote from: InsaneDavid on February 22, 2017, 09:41:41 AM
Lately I've really been trying to think of more "modern" stuff that I like and, although I'm not specifically trying to thumb my nose at anything, there's really very little I can think of. I did really like Durarara!! Um, I'm finally getting around to watching Angel Heart, and I am really enjoying the kind of alternate-reality take on City Hunter. Ah, I thought Space Symphony Maetel was great. I thought Sailor Moon Crystal was ooooooookay. Patlabor Reboot was a really good modernization of Mobile Police Patlabor in current society, one-off short as it was.
Yeah, a lot of that is a modern extension or rework or the like but I just absolutely cannot get into any of the things that are super popular right now. Then I remember there is so much older stuff I've been interested in that is constantly getting a re-release or a new fansub that I have plenty to watch heading the other direction down the timeline.
Ah, and still unofficial at this point as to final location, but with the announcement that Gatherings G4 is going to be unavailable for Fanime this year, we're going to more than likely move the gathering just a bit toward the main entrance to one of the tiered platforms by the stairs. I think this is the best choice as it's closest to where this gathering has traditionally been located and it shouldn't be THAT hectic over there on Friday evening.
I feel the same way about a lot of things. Is it nostalgia (even if I hadn't seen that anime before)? Or do I just tend to like that style of anime better?
An example: if an anime came out next season about two cute bikini-clad cops in space, I'd probably write it off as generic moe fanservice type stuff. Even if I watched it, I probably wouldn't like it. But if a show like that came out in 1985, it would be (and is...) my current obsession. Not that all anime from the '80s and '90s and automatically good (oh my god I just watch the Megami Paradise OVAs and that's easily the worst anime I've seen in a long time...but the designs are so cosplayable!), but I tend to like that kind of thing better than modern things, even if it doesn't always hold, even for classics (never got into Urusei Yatsura, for example). Sure, something like Dirty Pair is silly and fluffy and has major issues, but the style of it and the way an anime of that era is told appeals to me much more than something newer, even if the premise were similar. There's something stylistically endearing about older anime that newer anime just doesn't have for me.
Maybe if I got into anime now, I'd like the newer stuff and in 15 years be lamenting that things aren't as good as they were 15 or 20 years before. I don't know. But it seems like even if older anime fell into a lot of pandering to specific otaku tastes, it was at least pandering /my/ specific otaku tastes. (I think it also helps that ~15 years ago [probably more like 16 or 17 now -- I was quite young] when I got into anime, it was much harder to come by, so what made it to the US was pretty much the cream of the crop, and things like Megami Paradise were thankfully filtered out. It was also right at the start of anime entering at least somewhat into the mainstream, with Toonami, anime on Adult Swim, Tokyopop and manga sections in bookstores, DVDs becoming available at Suncoast, etc., most of which I remember happening, so that there was a richer history of anime to mine that hadn't been released stateside yet, so we could get the best of multiple eras rather than just the current era.)
Don't even get me started on video games! It doesn't exactly help that my favorite genre (JRPGs) have largely gone by the wayside in the form that I loved them in. The best game I've played in the past year came out in 1999.
As for newer anime, there's been a few things I've liked in the past several years. Eden of the East is a mess but I liked it. Mawaru Penguindrum is...certainly not Utena, but I enjoyed it enough to watch it a second time. (I've so far resisted Yuri Kuma Arashi.) I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Yuri on Ice. It's not this amazing masterpiece that a lot of fans seem to think it is, but it's a pretty solid anime. This is coming from someone who generally does not like sports anime. Other things not quite old school but not new: I love both Red Garden and Kino's Journey. Watched them both around 10 years ago. RG is a mess, full of plotholes, and I'm really glad they did away with the musical aspect, but I liked it a lot. Kino is fantastic and was my favorite series for many years.
Otherwise, I've been watching a lot of anime in the past year and a half or so, more than I have in the past 10 or 15 years, but most of it has been older things I never got around to back in the day! It was all kicked off by my best friend forcing me to watch Utena, and...well, I fell in love. Easily my favorite anime of all time. I don't know why I never watched it sooner. I've watched Serial Experiments Lain and The Rose of Versailles since, and am currently working my way through Evangelion and the aforementioned Dirty Pair. I like to throw on anime in the background while sewing, and I've found that Golden Boy is good for that. Tried to do that with Lost Universe but it got plot heavy so I stopped because I couldn't pay attention to the subtitles /and/ my sewing machine.
Ugh. I'm too young to feel this old! I'm not even 30 yet!
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on February 23, 2017, 08:54:05 AM
I feel the same way about a lot of things. Is it nostalgia (even if I hadn't seen that anime before)? Or do I just tend to like that style of anime better?
An example: if an anime came out next season about two cute bikini-clad cops in space, I'd probably write it off as generic moe fanservice type stuff. Even if I watched it, I probably wouldn't like it. But if a show like that came out in 1985, it would be (and is...) my current obsession. Not that all anime from the '80s and '90s and automatically good (oh my god I just watch the Megami Paradise OVAs and that's easily the worst anime I've seen in a long time...but the designs are so cosplayable!), but I tend to like that kind of thing better than modern things, even if it doesn't always hold, even for classics (never got into Urusei Yatsura, for example). Sure, something like Dirty Pair is silly and fluffy and has major issues, but the style of it and the way an anime of that era is told appeals to me much more than something newer, even if the premise were similar. There's something stylistically endearing about older anime that newer anime just doesn't have for me.
Maybe if I got into anime now, I'd like the newer stuff and in 15 years be lamenting that things aren't as good as they were 15 or 20 years before. I don't know. But it seems like even if older anime fell into a lot of pandering to specific otaku tastes, it was at least pandering /my/ specific otaku tastes. (I think it also helps that ~15 years ago [probably more like 16 or 17 now -- I was quite young] when I got into anime, it was much harder to come by, so what made it to the US was pretty much the cream of the crop, and things like Megami Paradise were thankfully filtered out. It was also right at the start of anime entering at least somewhat into the mainstream, with Toonami, anime on Adult Swim, Tokyopop and manga sections in bookstores, DVDs becoming available at Suncoast, etc., most of which I remember happening, so that there was a richer history of anime to mine that hadn't been released stateside yet, so we could get the best of multiple eras rather than just the current era.)
Don't even get me started on video games! It doesn't exactly help that my favorite genre (JRPGs) have largely gone by the wayside in the form that I loved them in. The best game I've played in the past year came out in 1999.
As for newer anime, there's been a few things I've liked in the past several years. Eden of the East is a mess but I liked it. Mawaru Penguindrum is...certainly not Utena, but I enjoyed it enough to watch it a second time. (I've so far resisted Yuri Kuma Arashi.) I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Yuri on Ice. It's not this amazing masterpiece that a lot of fans seem to think it is, but it's a pretty solid anime. This is coming from someone who generally does not like sports anime. Other things not quite old school but not new: I love both Red Garden and Kino's Journey. Watched them both around 10 years ago. RG is a mess, full of plotholes, and I'm really glad they did away with the musical aspect, but I liked it a lot. Kino is fantastic and was my favorite series for many years.
Otherwise, I've been watching a lot of anime in the past year and a half or so, more than I have in the past 10 or 15 years, but most of it has been older things I never got around to back in the day! It was all kicked off by my best friend forcing me to watch Utena, and...well, I fell in love. Easily my favorite anime of all time. I don't know why I never watched it sooner. I've watched Serial Experiments Lain and The Rose of Versailles since, and am currently working my way through Evangelion and the aforementioned Dirty Pair. I like to throw on anime in the background while sewing, and I've found that Golden Boy is good for that. Tried to do that with Lost Universe but it got plot heavy so I stopped because I couldn't pay attention to the subtitles /and/ my sewing machine.
Ugh. I'm too young to feel this old! I'm not even 30 yet!
I have to agree about there being something stylistically enduring about anime of an earlier era. The pacing, the way scenes are set up, the bad in-betweeners now and then, the way establishing shots lead into scenes, different mediums being used for backgrounds and cels.. but I can't put my finger on something really specific or explain it well. I think a big part of it is a lot of anime of that era wasn't trying to create a massive media mania behind it - they were artists telling their stories, maybe sell a few toys to keep their studio going, and that was it. Then onto the next story. Little self-contained worlds that only had to play to
their specific audiences, and in that way they could play to them wonderfully.
I will say that movement in animation is one thing that isn't what it used to be. Modern digital animation makes movement way too sterile. Clean art is great but movement in reality is not clean, that's not how humans see things. Watching Angel Heart for instance, the fast slapstick type scenes or quick action sequences don't have the pop of City Hunter (1987 - 1991) because with modern and more digital animation you see everything all the time. If something is intentionally under-detailed to give it less emphasis, it sticks out. In older animation that would simply shift the focus to where the attention is supposed to be given.
I was very fortunate during my adolescence to have a Hollywood Video with a good anime section and a store manager that would ask me what it should be stocked with out of their ordering list. In addition to the mainstream stuff of the time like Akira and Devil Hunter Yohko, I was able to see Super Dimension Century Orguss, GunBuster, the later Project A-ko OVAs, Dancouga, Zenki, Hades Project Zeorymer (which I'll admit isn't good but I like it), Blue Seed, Dominion Tank Police, Detonator Orgun, Demon City Shinjuku (which I still FREAKING LOVE - I don't care what anyone says), 8 Man After, Magic Knight Rayearth, Mobile Police Patlabor, Urusei Yatsura, New Cutey Honey, and a ton more I don't recall until I stumble upon them somewhere. They pulled in a lot of garbage too but heck, how were any of us supposed to know something was bad then until we watched it? Then when the tapes were out of circulation he would put them aside for me so I could buy them for $4 a pop.
I think the most recent JRPG I really enjoyed was Dragon Quest VIII, but that game is kind of a celebration of the series up until that point. It's not Grandia or anything, but what is.
Evangelion is a series I used to really not like but that was because I pretty much refused to give it a chance. A few years ago I came across the original ADV DVD boxset for a few dollars and picked it up for the heck of it, and my opinion changed. I still don't see it as the most incredible thing ever created the way some do, but it is a very interesting series in my opinion - very visually interesting and well written. Hideaki Anno can say whatever he wants but the series definitely did go off the rails and run out of money - but it just kind of works. It's like the last episode of the British TV drama The Prisoner - how could it possibly have any ending that would be satisfying with where the series eventually lead itself to? So yeah, after many years of stupidity of shrugging it off, I like Evangelion - it's still no GunBuster though.
And the update for this week!
Good morning old schoolers! Here we are, about to close out February, so about three months to Fanime. I want to express a tremendous amount of awareness and support to all those affected by the recent flooding in San Jose and throughout California. Those in San Jose truly deserve better from our fair city. I do hope everyone is safe. For today's OP, Go Nagai once again lends future influence to the anime industry as a whole. I really wouldn't mind cosplaying from Cutey Honey but I know I'd sweat to death as a Panther Claw henchman.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Cutey Honey (1973)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiMnOsdv7xI
I totally agree! There's something about the old hand-drawn cels that seem to have more...life, maybe? The imperfections tend to give it a bit of character and it seems more lively somehow. I think it helps that I tend to prefer the aesthetics of older anime over newer anime.
I was lucky in my youth that I just barely missed the days of sketchy 12th generation VHS fansubs copied off of some guy in the back of a comic store. DVDs were super expensive and streaming wasn't a thing yet, so we pretty much took what we could get. Anime fans getting into it now have it so easy. :P
We has a small anime selection at the local Hollywood Video, but nothing really groundbreaking. Of course, it was all stuff way too mature for a preteen/young teen to be watching, like Ninja Scroll, Akira, Devil Hunter Yoko, Vampire Hunter D, and Ghost in the Shell (which I hated the first time I saw it when I was like...10 or 11, maybe), and then some Sailor Moon movies, but the selection did expand some over the years. I'm sad that video rental stores are no longer really a thing, for many reasons. :|
The JRPG I played most recently was Chrono Cross. I know, I know, I'm late to the party, but I avoided it for many years because of my love of Trigger. I'm currently working hard on a Harle cosplay, if that means anything about how I felt about it after avoiding it for so long. :P It's actually quite a good game. Not perfect, but what is, really? I've mostly avoided Final Fantasy because none of them have held my attention other than 8. Legend of Mana is my favorite game of all time, and that's...really something. Such a strange game.
The newest JRPG I've played was one that came out maybe 5 years ago or so called Radiant Historia. FANTASTIC game. Highly recommended if you have a DS and like JRPGs and haven't played it. Really underrated little game. It really hearkens back to the glory days of the genre, and has fantastic Yoko Shimomura music to boot.
So far, I'm maybe...18 or 19 episodes into Evangelion? I'm pretty disappointed with it, actually. I know that I still have 7 episodes or so remaining, plus End of Evangelion (should I bother with all the subsequent releases? where do I even start with those?), but it's been built up so much as this masterpiece, and I really don't see it. It's good, don't get me wrong, it's just not as good as I expected it to be. It's also not all that weird so far. Everyone talks about how it's weird and kind of out there and heavily symbolic, but it seems relatively straightforward to me so far. I know the ending is supposed to go off the rails, and that End of Evangelion is supposed to go off the rails in a totally different way, but still, not really impressed so far.
Also, this week's song is one of my go-to karaoke songs. :D That's the best version of it, too.
I was on the edge of the VHS fansub era outside of some episodes of the later Sailor Moon seasons. However I did buy many, many artbooks from "some random guy" in the back of many comic stores - including the absolute doppelganger for Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons in a tiny town in the central valley. "Which book I like least I will allow you the privilege of purchasing from me." I swear he said that!
I've never been able to really get into Chrono Cross. I've tried a few times over the years, since the day it was released actually, but it just doesn't click with me. It's just too different from what I expected it to be and I've never been able to get over that I suppose. The only Final Fantasy game I've ever really liked was IX but I've never been able to definitively explain why. I mean to swing around and play VII (I know, I know) and VIII but as with anime, there are always fan translation efforts coming out that pull my attention. The fan translation of Lagrange Point is next on my list and that's been out for over two years at this point.
For Evangelion, after finishing the original run completely, I think I went back and then watched the director's cut revised episodes 21 - 24, and then The End of Evangelion as if I'm remembering correctly that's how the new continuity ties together. It didn't improve or diminish my feelings concerning the show, but there are some really nicely animated sequences. If anything, I don't feel like it was a waste of my time to do so. Then again, Kaji is my favorite character in Evangelion, so no one cares about my opinions on the series anyway. haha
Good morning old schoolers! Another week passed already, where are they going?! Fanime Cosplay Gatherings Department has released their gatherings form and the Old School Cosplay Gathering has been formally submitted.
Our target day and time is Friday at 6pm, the last regular time slot. This will allow the most people to attend while still not interfering with Friday Swap Meet. Due to Gatherings G4 (The Hub) being reclaimed for Fanime Registration as per the Registration FAQ, the plan is to move the gathering just a bit toward the main Convention Center entrance, utilizing Gatherings G2 or G3. These are the tiered wooden steps that flank the main staircases just inside the entrance. This is literally a twenty second walk from the previous location, so it should be easy to find. Once the gathering has an official time and location they will be posted here as well as in the Fanime Forums thread.
The OP for today is my favorite "modern" mecha series, although it's from 1999. A combination of a super robot and a real robot - Dai-Guard is loving parody to the genre, not quite as much serious wit as Patlabor, but cut from a bit of the same cloth. Essentially a series about how ridiculous it is to use a giant robot for pretty much anything, as well as the bureaucracy that would come with it. It's kind of like Evangelion turned on its ear. It also has a pretty unique approach to its conclusion.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Earth Defense Corporation Dai-Guard (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mSdp6PCWj4
Friday is, of course, completely fine with me. XD I had already figured it would be the same time and day. :)
Looking forward to the gathering!!
(And I, too, love older anime a lot. But mostly 90s-2000s anime. So not too old, but still have aired at least 10 years ago. xD I should get back to watching Ghost Hunt and re-watching Matantei Loki Ragnarok....... >_> )
Quote from: Angelx624 on March 03, 2017, 07:58:09 PM
(And I, too, love older anime a lot. But mostly 90s-2000s anime. So not too old, but still have aired at least 10 years ago. xD I should get back to watching Ghost Hunt and re-watching Matantei Loki Ragnarok....... >_> )
Funny thing is I have a mess of different series working against one another right now with what I'm currently watching. - Approaching about a third of the way in re-watching Dragon Ball Z. Quickly going through the bulk of the 140 or so total episodes of City Hunter again so my wife and I can get our mannerisms down. A third of the way through Angel Heart and that's the first viewing of that. Always slowly chewing through Galaxy Express 999 a few episodes at a time. And just quickly watched My Neighbor Seki - wow, a little modern series I actually really enjoyed!
All that and our current plan for the Old School Cosplay Gathering is to wear Motoki Furuhata / Makoto Kino, as last time we cosplayed as them I wasn't feeling well and was only around for a few hours. Easily my favorite anime couple, and one that really never became a couple... except for that horrible live-action Sailor Moon series, and they made Motoki such a dope in that!
Anyway... the update for this week!
Good morning old schoolers! Another Friday is upon us but at least the weather here is getting better, which means paint will actually cure in a reasonable time frame! Why is it I always start planning future cosplay before the current projects are completed? Hope everything is going smoothly for everyone.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Kimagure Orange Road (1987)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTOZhZSr6RY
Alright everyone, we are official. Friday at 6PM, with Gatherings G2 as our new location. First post has been updated, as well as the Facebook event page.
Quote from: InsaneDavid on February 25, 2017, 03:57:20 PM
I was on the edge of the VHS fansub era outside of some episodes of the later Sailor Moon seasons. However I did buy many, many artbooks from "some random guy" in the back of many comic stores - including the absolute doppelganger for Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons in a tiny town in the central valley. "Which book I like least I will allow you the privilege of purchasing from me." I swear he said that!
I've never been able to really get into Chrono Cross. I've tried a few times over the years, since the day it was released actually, but it just doesn't click with me. It's just too different from what I expected it to be and I've never been able to get over that I suppose. The only Final Fantasy game I've ever really liked was IX but I've never been able to definitively explain why. I mean to swing around and play VII (I know, I know) and VIII but as with anime, there are always fan translation efforts coming out that pull my attention. The fan translation of Lagrange Point is next on my list and that's been out for over two years at this point.
For Evangelion, after finishing the original run completely, I think I went back and then watched the director's cut revised episodes 21 - 24, and then The End of Evangelion as if I'm remembering correctly that's how the new continuity ties together. It didn't improve or diminish my feelings concerning the show, but there are some really nicely animated sequences. If anything, I don't feel like it was a waste of my time to do so. Then again, Kaji is my favorite character in Evangelion, so no one cares about my opinions on the series anyway. haha
I just barely remember the days of only being able to get anime and manga from comic book shops, and I think that it helped that I have an older sister (two years older), since I'm only in my late 20s and would have been in my tweens during the tail end of that era. I think my sister got some sort of weird promotional set of Ranma VHS tapes from a guy in a comic book shop. I do remember in my tweens or early teens when Tokyopop became a thing and then the local bookstores got manga sections and it was the /best/ thing ever. Whether luckily or unluckily for me, the right age for weebishness happened to perfectly coincide with the era of anime just beginning to expand into the mainstream and become available. These younger weebs have it so easy. :P (Oh god and I was an obnoxious weeaboo...)
I avoided Chrono Cross for a LONG time because I was mad that it wasn't Chrono Trigger, but then actually at last year's Fanime someone convinced me to play it, and I'm glad I did, since I ended up really enjoying it. I can see why it's the kind of game that wouldn't click with someone, though, especially if you are someone who played Chrono Trigger heavily (like I did), since it really is very different.
I think I might like FFIX. Never got into VII (the blasphemy!), or, really, any other FF game except VIII. That one's kind of an odd one, and I think that's what I liked it. Wouldn't mind trying VI at some point.
I got to I think episode 22 of NGE, and I'm pretty sure it gave me a migraine, so I need to lay off the old school anime for a bit haha (too many flashing lights.) It seems to pick up around episode 20 or so, but still seems like it's overrated and still is not at all what I expected. I would have taken the pretentious, convoluted, obscure anime that all the detractors say it is over what I've actually watched so far. It's not bad at all, but it's still not the masterpiece it's been built up to be. Well, I suppose I'll reserve judgment until after my migraine gets better and I can finish out the series. (I was hoping to hold off on replying until I finished, but who knows when that will be now.)
I can see why someone would like Kaji. Honestly, Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko are the only characters I actually like in this show. I can understand the motivations for characters like Shinji, Rei, and Asuka, but I don't really feel any connection to them, and certainly don't feel anything resembling moe for them (especially the girls). We'll see once I finish. Still tempted by Misato cosplay, but probably not for Fanime. I think I'd also make a good Ritsuko, though.
Speaking of cosplaying characters voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, whether I can attend this gathering depends on panels scheduling first and foremost, since I put down the timeslot that includes 6PM on Friday as one of my available times. My plans are up in the air, but my current plan (depending on things like weather and if I can rustle up other Utena cosplayers) is to wear either Juri Arisugawa from Utena (if it isn't too hot out) or Mink from Dragon Half (if it is too hot out).
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on March 11, 2017, 09:36:11 AM
I got to I think episode 22 of NGE, and I'm pretty sure it gave me a migraine, so I need to lay off the old school anime for a bit haha (too many flashing lights.) It seems to pick up around episode 20 or so, but still seems like it's overrated and still is not at all what I expected. I would have taken the pretentious, convoluted, obscure anime that all the detractors say it is over what I've actually watched so far. It's not bad at all, but it's still not the masterpiece it's been built up to be. Well, I suppose I'll reserve judgment until after my migraine gets better and I can finish out the series. (I was hoping to hold off on replying until I finished, but who knows when that will be now.)
I can see why someone would like Kaji. Honestly, Misato, Kaji, and Ritsuko are the only characters I actually like in this show. I can understand the motivations for characters like Shinji, Rei, and Asuka, but I don't really feel any connection to them, and certainly don't feel anything resembling moe for them (especially the girls). We'll see once I finish. Still tempted by Misato cosplay, but probably not for Fanime. I think I'd also make a good Ritsuko, though.
Speaking of cosplaying characters voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi, whether I can attend this gathering depends on panels scheduling first and foremost, since I put down the timeslot that includes 6PM on Friday as one of my available times. My plans are up in the air, but my current plan (depending on things like weather and if I can rustle up other Utena cosplayers) is to wear either Juri Arisugawa from Utena (if it isn't too hot out) or Mink from Dragon Half (if it is too hot out).
Yeah, I wasn't in any hurry to re-watch Evangelion right after finishing up but I did go back and watch it a few more times and I can sorta see where the genius in it lies. The way it settled in my mind in the end, is that all the main characters - all the protagonists, are really the "bad" guys. They're who are trying to upset the natural progression of things for their own selfish ends. I see Kaji as what I refer to as a "Yamucha character" - completely out of place among their company, eventually the odd man out, deep connections to critical characters, however due to circumstance an outsider. I also sorta love how it trolls just a bit on toy merchandising with "mecha" designs that are anti-mecha and pretty much says "Even if we pack this full of crazy visuals, not much has really changed since this genre began with Mazinger Z."
My cosplay plans are pretty scrambled right now as well as Saturday / Sunday depend on when the Jump gathering falls as my wife and I are doing Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura from City Hunter this Fanime. There aren't a lot of Jump published characters we'd be interested in doing so I want to make sure that works out this year. Although we are planning on doing very early Dragon Ball Z era Yamucha and Bulma down the line, so I guess that would work too. I'm hoping not to have the allergy attack from hell like last year as I spent most of Fanime sitting around, which wasn't all that great.
Current plans are to do Cyber Formula on Thursday, Sailor Moon on Friday, Patlabor on Saturday (because I freaking love it and with the Reboot short that was released in October it's kinda relevant again), City Hunter on Sunday, and then dust off the shinkansen suit for Densha de Go! on Monday. Don't like missing the Sailor Moon gathering (especially since I felt like the walking dead at it last year) but I don't want to double-duty on Saturday or Sunday. That said, after City Hunter is finished up the next plan is to do either Rival Schools or another Sailor Moon cosplay so there's always another time.
Good morning old schoolers! Welcome to all those newly interested in attending the gathering. Everything is rolling right along, however I am going to be doubling down (x2 on top of that) on the amount of OPs I post as I have a ton of them that I want to get through! If I could nail down a specific aspect of anime I enjoy most, it would have to be the openings and endings. They're like the titles to a Bond movie, so important to set up what lies ahead and get you in the mood for what you're about to watch.
So moving forward I'll be posting two anime OPs every Friday and two anime OPs every Saturday. The Fanime Forums weekly post will simply be edited so I'm not spamming the boards with the gathering thread.
With that in mind, let's kick off Friday with a little old and new, starting with a little Go Nagai.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Mazinger Z (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR2JlePDgpg
And then about twenty-three years later, a genre-breaking modern equivalent.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-QSmNReDyI
And for Saturday OPs I went a little overboard. Let's do battle teams of legend today.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Cyborg 009 (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U97ZXoqdopg
Then another classic staple a few years later.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sxKcF4VE9s
Ah, let's get crazy and run down the decades. Ever played the Sega Master System games Zillion or Tri-Formation? Ever own a Zillion laser tag set? Ever see a Sega Light Phaser? Well here you go then -
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Akai Kodan Zillion (1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la-lgb-BPhI
One of these days I'm going to say to heck with vertical door clearances and cosplay as an agent of Big Fire. I do simply adore the first dub of Giant Robo.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Giant Robo (1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBxC7Gm8UDM
I will be doing Rurouni Kenshin and Yuyuhakusho, and I have a friend who might do Shenmue or something else old school. I'd like to join!
I'm super looking foreard to this gathering! I'm cosplaying Ichigo one of my favorite Magical girls from Tokyo Mew Mew. I don't know if she qualifies as "Old School" (2000) but it'll always be the nostalgic first anime I got into. 2 more months everyone
Quote from: bebop on March 22, 2017, 11:23:58 PM
I will be doing Rurouni Kenshin and Yuyuhakusho, and I have a friend who might do Shenmue or something else old school. I'd like to join!
Outstanding. As I posted in your Rurouni Kenshin gathering thread you're well within our pre-2001 gathering charter of sorts. Same with Shenmue, 1999 in Japan and 2000 abroad.
Quote from: Barely5feet on March 23, 2017, 11:51:25 AM
I'm super looking foreard to this gathering! I'm cosplaying Ichigo one of my favorite Magical girls from Tokyo Mew Mew. I don't know if she qualifies as "Old School" (2000) but it'll always be the nostalgic first anime I got into. 2 more months everyone
Yup, Tokyo Mew Mew is just within the gathering's pre-2001 limit (with the manga beginning in late 2000) so you are more than welcome!
Still haven't locked down my personal cosplay plans for Fanime but they're better coming together. Of course my biggest goal for FanimeCon 2017 is not to have the allergy attack from hell knock me out the Wednesday night before con. Seriously... on the third to last stitch of a small cosplay alteration on that Wednesday night I felt my throat get a little scratchy - and that was it. I was fine during the gathering but blew my energy out after that. Spent Saturday sitting around and standing in autograph lines - then went home. Went home at like 1pm on Sunday after the Sailor Moon gathering but came back that evening to poke around the halls. With the exception of Friday, it frankly sucked because I was so out of it. haha
Well, I finished Evangelion. Haven't bothered with End of Evangelion yet (I suddenly got myself into The Jojos and have been bingeing a little), so I'm not sure how much it'll change my opinion on the show, though considering that it replaces the last two episodes, it might improve my opinion a bit.
I have thoughts. And they aren't good ones. (https://fabrickind.tumblr.com/post/158684913273)
I honestly think that this show is generally good, and that it's important (if it resonates with someone or as a historical artifact), but I don't think it held up, and I think that it's WAY overrated. The fandom side of things and how much it's been held up in the anime community over the years as an example of ~weird deep philosophical anime~ really doesn't seem to mesh with the show itself for me, and without that, I may have enjoyed it more. Though, the last two episodes and how it feels the need to explain itself to me really rubs me the wrong way, fandom or no. Still has one of the best OPs of all time, though. I'll give it that. I've always loved that song.
Wow, I can't believe I'm on internet forums talking about '90s anime with people. This brings me back!
Update to my schedule: I have a panel from 3 - 4 on Friday, though I'm not sure if they've set all of the panels times yet (last year my two acceptances were staggered by about a week), but at least so far, I'll still be able to attend the gathering. Yay! It's looking more likely that I'll be doing Mink from Dragon Half, since I started making her sword and I'm not sure if I want to risk overheating in Juri again, but we'll see.
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on March 24, 2017, 09:11:17 AM
Well, I finished Evangelion. Haven't bothered with End of Evangelion yet (I suddenly got myself into The Jojos and have been bingeing a little), so I'm not sure how much it'll change my opinion on the show, though considering that it replaces the last two episodes, it might improve my opinion a bit.
I have thoughts. And they aren't good ones. (https://fabrickind.tumblr.com/post/158684913273)
I honestly think that this show is generally good, and that it's important (if it resonates with someone or as a historical artifact), but I don't think it held up, and I think that it's WAY overrated. The fandom side of things and how much it's been held up in the anime community over the years as an example of ~weird deep philosophical anime~ really doesn't seem to mesh with the show itself for me, and without that, I may have enjoyed it more. Though, the last two episodes and how it feels the need to explain itself to me really rubs me the wrong way, fandom or no. Still has one of the best OPs of all time, though. I'll give it that. I've always loved that song.
Wow, I can't believe I'm on internet forums talking about '90s anime with people. This brings me back!
I've always felt Hideaki Anno and company really hit their peak with Aim for the Top! / GunBuster which I still love to this day. Yeah it may not be as grand as Evangelion in scope but its tighter length makes for a better narrative and I've always found the whole thing much more interesting. I know I'm in the extreme minority with that opinion, however.
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on March 24, 2017, 09:11:17 AMUpdate to my schedule: I have a panel from 3 - 4 on Friday, though I'm not sure if they've set all of the panels times yet (last year my two acceptances were staggered by about a week), but at least so far, I'll still be able to attend the gathering. Yay! It's looking more likely that I'll be doing Mink from Dragon Half, since I started making her sword and I'm not sure if I want to risk overheating in Juri again, but we'll see.
Yay! I'm thinking of dropping out of the Sunday evening Jump gathering and doing Motoki Furuhata and Makoto Kino on that day instead and attending the Sailor Moon gathering Sunday morning, since I plan on rotating those out after this year. That would mean Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura from City Hunter (30th anniversary of the anime this year) for the old school gathering. It also means I won't be tempted to try to get into speed dating completely in character, and as my wife says, probably get my badge pulled. :P
And the Friday update for this week!
Good afternoon old schoolers! We've got about two months to go at this point, I hope your convention plans are starting to fall into place and the craft stores aren't out of stock of whatever it is you need but forgot.
Today I present a pair of OPs from two series that I really wish had some form of an English subtitled release. As massively iconic and influential as the first is, there seems to be very little interest in it these days, which is a terrible shame. That series features anime's first crime-fighting cyborg superhero and is, of course, Eight Man. Grab your energy cigarettes!
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Eight Man (1963)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE6V_PLn2IU
And second for today, a series that was reworked with a few very significant changes to become Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. To be very honest Saber Rider is an interesting example of how to redevelop an anime series with a relatively small cast to make a secondary character into the main character. Of course they cheated just a little and hand a handful of new episodes animated to better force the narrative change, but Saber Rider is still fondly remembered by many to this day. That all said, it is far past time for the original to get a proper subtitled release. Also contains one of my all time favorite endings, which I've included as well. Isn't that like the total prototype for a Sailor Moon ending?!
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Star Musketeer Bismark (1984)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA8OYMwqkM8 - OP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVKNA13C3yI - ED
For Saturday OPs this week, let's do two that feature a pair of professional heavily armed ladies, beginning with a classic of the genre.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Dirty Pair (1985)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4qMgIz6x0
And follow it up with another ten years later!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Gunsmith Cats (1995)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7HPyUcy37I
Good morning old schoolers! The last Friday in March is upon us and I'm still in the embryonic stages of building a prop specifically for Fanime. Costuming is pretty much done though, some wig work to do and a few dozen pleats to press. I do hope all your plans are rolling along smoothly and that you enjoy the weekend ahead.
Back to random choice for today's OPs, although we're going to do something a little different with this first one. I would assume that pretty much all of us attending this gathering have at least a passing familiarity with Project A-ko. My favorite film in the entire series is Project A-ko 3, as it's just a short little self-contained story that I feel shows how the films would have worked as a TV series. It also has a unique intro. I can't remember if it has ever officially been credited to Yasuomi Umetsu (who you may know from the Presence short in Robot Carnival, Megazone 23 Part II, Lily C.A.T., Kite, Mezzo DSA, and lots more) but if it isn't him then it's the most perfect recreation of his style possible. No one designs hands or eyes for animation like Umetsu, especially fingers. Wow, that's an odd thing to say - but it's true! I so wish this stylized alternate dream take of the Project A-ko universe would have spun off into something more.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F73M_DyZGW8
How about something that's kinda just really stupid and over the top for the sake of being such? While it can kind of drag on (which is strange for a seven episode OVA), I've always liked Aika for how little it cares to be any more than what it is. The opening here is actually the second opening (episodes 4 - 7, and specifically episode 4 in this case) which aired in 1998 because I like the song more than "Silent City" from the earlier opening.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Aika / Agent Aika (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcbUPOkovrg
How about a couple more OPs today?
While not my favorite slice of life romance series, Kare Kano / His and Her Circumstances was certainly a popular one - especially at the peak of the western anime boom. I still haven't read much the long manga series but the anime adaptation is really like two takes on the same material. It was a case of Hideaki Anno, who was serving as director originally, wanting to steer the ship his own way - while Masami Tsuda, the original manga creator, wanted to better reflect the source material. This results in the series having kind of a weird break in the middle that ultimately lead to it not having the most satisfying ending. My apologies for all the release group garbage atop the beginning of this one!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! His and Her Circumstances (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X00MpQERaPA
Followed up by my favorite slice of life romance series! Marmalade Boy also had a really nice DVD release by Tokyopop as four box sets but unfortunately it hit retail right as the old guard of media stores was breathing its last breath. This means that volumes three and four are generally fairly scarce, tend to have their barcodes defaced, and sometimes command insane money in the secondary market. However if you keep an eye out it can be found for a fair price, the last good deal I saw on a set was $177.55 shipped - amazingly with no RTV damage to the volume 3/4 boxes, which really isn't that bad for a 76 episode series - essentially fairly close to retail. One of those rare series to meet the trifecta of being currently unlicensed, relatively scarce, and reasonably in demand.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Marmalade Boy (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVgsNYfAdO8
And one more to round out the evening. For whatever reason videos featuring the OP to Blue Seed are next to impossible to find and are pulled down quickly. It can't be the theme song that is the problem, because it can be found in its entirety fairly easily. So the included video is the best compromise I can post - but I REALLY wanted to include this one last year and decided not to due to the availability problem - so here it is finally. I do believe this one is out of print but it had a couple of releases (one including the OVA sequel) and at last check it wasn't too expensive and pretty easy to find. It blows my mind to think how little this series is talked about these days when I can remember in late 1990's it being one of those "staple series" that everyone had seen and had a high regard for. To that end this seemingly popular series has become a nearly forgotten piece of 1990's anime - which is a terrible shame - as it is well worth seeking out.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Blue Seed (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4rRlyFmgQ
And now some Saturday OPs - beginning with what I consider to be Hideaki Anno's master work, GunBuster. Always awesome to see that this series is still remembered by many.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Aim for the Top! / GunBuster (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE5c7_5mLvI
How about an absolute institution in Japan, probably best known in the west as the basis for the early NES game Ninja Kid.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Gegege no Kitaro (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWAtSxvoe4g
I sadly won't be able to make the gathering this year because I'm giving a panel at the exact same time. I'll see if I can swing by right after and say hello if there's still people around, though. :D
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on April 03, 2017, 05:26:52 PM
I sadly won't be able to make the gathering this year because I'm giving a panel at the exact same time. I'll see if I can swing by right after and say hello if there's still people around, though. :D
Awww, well at least your panels got approved! Hope having them be Friday heavy won't cut too much into your karaoke time as if I'm recalling correctly, you said in the past that's something you usually attend on Fanime Friday.
Yeah, I'm happy that my panels got approved! I'm doing "Bunnysuit Boot Camp" and "Sewing with Knits" this year, and they're both brand-new panels, so it should be good :D
I won't be able to do the karaoke contest, but thankfully open mic tends to start much later at night on Friday, so that's not an issue. I'll be sure to sing plenty of old school songs (as usual)!
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on April 04, 2017, 03:18:22 PM
Yeah, I'm happy that my panels got approved! I'm doing "Bunnysuit Boot Camp" and "Sewing with Knits" this year, and they're both brand-new panels, so it should be good :D
I won't be able to do the karaoke contest, but thankfully open mic tends to start much later at night on Friday, so that's not an issue. I'll be sure to sing plenty of old school songs (as usual)!
All good to hear, congratulations on your panels being approved!
And now for the Friday update -
Good morning old schoolers! Looking out the window you would think it's mid February here in Fanime's backyard. Doesn't put a damper on my plans as it's all small papier-mache stuff right now anyway. I am curious as to whether a small package shipped from Kawasaki, Japan via SAL will get here before a small package shipped FedEx from Jo-Ann Craft Stores in Ohio. Shipped on the same day, I say it's 50/50 either way. If anyone is waiting on something in the mail for cosplay, I hope it arrives faster than my stuff is getting to me.
I'm going to run through a bunch of OPs today as Fanime is fast approaching and I'm feeling more in the vintage / classic / old school anime spirit than usual.
Let's begin with my favorite anime OP, from the original Mobile Police Patlabor OVA series. Bursting with positivity, looking toward the assumed endless prosperity of ten years into the future from a Japan still well within the bubble economy, we have a pop love song about a police officer and her hardware. As juvenile as Noa Izumi may seem while working on her AV-98 Ingram, which she christens "Alphonse" to follow in the lineage of her childhood pets, once an alert is sounded that all drops away and it's time for work. I've always loved Patlabor as it isn't just about ordinary people in uncommon situations, it exists in a world where those situations that would be uncommon to the viewer, are simply general mundane life to the inhabitants of the world.
I also can't think of many anime franchises that began as an OVA created by a group of people who were allowed to do exactly what they wanted, lead to a feature film (my all time favorite anime film at that), which in turn spawned a TV series that had two extensions and a follow-up OVA series of its own, with a separate manga series running at the same time, a second feature film (often regarded as Mamoru Oshii's master work), a later side-story film, a live action television series and film, and most recently an animated short last year.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Mobile Police Patlabor: Early Days (1988)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMpI_bc3LrI
Ah, speaking about the weather again - I had a splitting headache creep up on me earlier so how about a rapid-fire of OPs off of my list for the rest of the day?
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FphXw7YBqoo
Fifty years and a few days ago, the very first episode of Mach GoGoGo aired in Japan. Tatsuo Yoshida himself created the manga series, combining the automotive gadgets featured in Goldfinger with the rally racing and visual style featured in Viva Las Vegas - along with his experience creating earlier auto racing manga. While the anime version was only moderately successful in Japan, it took on a life of its own when it was redeveloped as Speed Racer for export into the west.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Mach GoGoGo (1967)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPR45cBkRq4
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Tiger Mask (1969)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdJVSFh6008
A favorite equally enjoyable in the original Japanese or the even more absurd English "dub."
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Kyatto Ninden Teyandee (1990)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP2ysAzHWAg
Easily the most unexpected series to be broadcast on limited basic cable in my opinion, with TechTV airing the series in the summer of 2003 during its final years on the air.
Celebrating An Era - 2000! Boogiepop Phantom (2000)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvW1w1zftqI
And to close out the evening.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! The Magic Angel Creamy Mami (1983)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF7FA60IF5I
Saturday Anime on Sci-Fi Channel may be gone (as is "Sci-Fi" but I digress) but your gathering host is here to overload your senses with Saturday Anime OPs! Yeah, I miss overly dramatic network narration like that. Anyway, here we go...
Let's kick it off with three from 1998.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Cowboy Bebop (1998)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw3fN3OPk3A
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Trigun (1998)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OxFSy8G5wk
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Outlaw Star (1998)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ7ufQugU6w
One of my personal favorites, and one of the greatest "hard science fiction" anime series ever. Also mentioned by Mamoru Oshii as an influence. I love these really brassy theme songs.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Armored Trooper VOTOMS (1983)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjJt58geu9U
And my favorite of all the VOTOMS sequels / spinoffs. A beautiful opening all around, visuals and music.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Armor Hunter Mellowlink (1988)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySnuPN_3Xts
Good morning old schoolers! With a holiday weekend on the horizon I hope you're all doing well and that your cosplay plans are coming along. More and more confirmed details concerning event details for FanimeCon are starting to roll out, so I'm sure many of us are getting a better grasp on our convention plans. I myself have decided which gatherings I'm going to attend and also finally worked out my convention weekend cosplay plans. For the OSG this year (and again on Monday) my cohost and I will be cosplaying as Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura from City Hunter.
As I'm going to be away tomorrow, there won't be any Saturday OPs this week so I'm going to go all out this morning and post a whole bunch of them over the next couple hours. I do apologize to the small group who may find the weekly rush of OP posts a nuisance, but man does it get me in the mood for this gathering - and for Fanime in general!
To kick things off, taking into consideration my now set cosplay schedule, I though we'd begin with another of my favorite openings. I love City Hunter, both the anime and the manga, the specials and movies and even the "alternate reality" spin-off Angel Heart. City Hunter '91 was the final TV series send-off of the franchise, featuring thirteen episodes that seem created specifically for fans of the series. Episode 10, "My Love For Tonight Only - Cinderella Story in the City" is one of my favorite stories Tsukasa Hojo ever created, and is extremely heart-wrenching for those who have spent over 120 episodes with the characters up until that point.
The City Hunter '91 opening is a callback to shots and scenes the very first opening from the original series four years earlier. Featuring Ryo and Kaori dancing in their performer outfits, Ryo with a montage of women who were all characters in the previous three series, the main cast either being carried by or riding on crows and dragonflies (the sweatdrops of City Hunter), pan shot of Ryo looking at Kaori over his shoulder - a direct rework of him looking at Saeko in the original OP - showing how he and Kaori have grown together, and the ending shot is a direct re-creation of the same in the original OP except it now features the expanded cast. I can't think of a better "thank you and farewell" OP than this one.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! City Hunter '91 (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz69tyXfhMA
Going to go outside anime for this one for a little old school tokusatsu. Ultraseven will be celebrating it's 50th anniversary this October. Easily my favorite tokusatsu series of all time and one of the classic Ultra series that you can get legally on DVD, subtitled in English, for like 35 bucks. Not just an amazing tokusatsu series, not just the perfect Ultra series, not just an incredible sci-fi drama, but an absolute labor of love that would have a profound influence on Japanese popular culture.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Ultraseven (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvXlnx-GiIQ
How about a series that has a little bit of Ultraseven influence in it? Yeah, I'm sure some you could guess this one. I recently watched all of Dragon Ball again (and I'm currently slowly working my way through Dragon Ball Z once more) and was reminded of how much I really enjoy it and how visually interesting the entire series is.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Dragon Ball (1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkCTQ-nwjuo
Here's an amazing series that finally got a DVD re-release just a couple months ago!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Key The Metal Idol (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y7KrcfuxAw (Japanese version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBP3JMaQj8E (English version)
An OVA that never seems to get old, just as funny now as when I first saw it.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Dominion / Dominion Tank Police (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGTZLuuTPi8 (Dub opening because, come on, when you think of the Tank Police this is probably what comes to mind)
A legendary series that continues to have a presence to this day.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Space Battleship Yamato (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BkppT5YNjU
And to finish off for this week, and because I'm a total ham and I've been listening to the soundtrack albums all morning, the second original City Hunter OP. Seriously though, if you like 80's anime tunes and especially if you like jazz music, check out the City Hunter soundtracks - especially the four albums that make up the soundtrack from the first two series. Outstanding stuff!
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! City Hunter (1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hJ9tHvP55g (second opening)
Good morning old schoolers! I have so much convention activity to catch up on after being away for a week. Also locking down my final FanimeCon cosplay purchases this morning and with just about a month or so of real "work time" ahead, I do hope that everyone's plans are coming together well. I actually think I'm starting to get a little behind myself - time to fix that!
I'm going to post a bunch of OP's today, as with the last couple weeks, there are a lot of them I want to get through and they motivate me to get working.
I'll kick things off with a series that is FINALLY (and understandably very slowly) being fansubbed. Based very loosely on E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman books - a masterpiece of science fiction that would go on to influence, if not nearly create in a sense, the entire genre itself - the anime film "SF New Century Lensman" was released in 1984. It would be dubbed into English a couple times, the second dub by Streamline being tremendously better than the earlier rework. Along with Robot Carnival and Vampire Hunter D it would be one of the first three anime films shown on The Sci-Fi Channel, eventually kicking off their annual anime showcase, which eventually became a weekly anime block. However in Japan a twenty-five episode expanded alternate retelling of the story was created and released shorty after the film, titled "Galactic Patrol Lensman." To be very honest, neither the film or series have much to do with E.E. Smith's original story, which is rumored to be the sticking point as to why there never really was much of a home video release of either. Yeah, it can be really cheesy sometimes and seems to want to be Star Wars a little too much (ironic as Star Wars is very obviously influenced by what was originally the first Lensman book, Galactic Patrol), but damn do I love the art style, think the spacecraft designs are beautiful, find the music outstanding, and just enjoy the film and what I've seen subtitled of the series immensely.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Galactic Patrol Lensman (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgMH_pydMEQ
An absolutely stunning opening and an outstanding OVA at that. The first Zeiram live action film (which the anime serves as a loose prequel to) is a lot of fun as well, although the sequel live action film isn't that great in my opinion.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Iria: Zeiram the Animation (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBZuBUw_F68
1994 was such a great year for anime, let's stay there for awhile. Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero is my personal favorite series out of the franchise, as it's when the story really gets room to breathe, sideline characters come into their own, and everyone starts to begin to grow up. Osamu Sugo also has a much larger and more grounded role at this point, being my favorite character in Cyber Formula.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Future GPX Cyber Formula Zero (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR0L9IfLJQg
1994 was also host to the greatest single season of Sailor Moon ever broadcast!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB7Wuz9tbxE
Another series from 1994, and one that surprisingly seems to have a minuscule fandom compared to what it once generated. Doesn't keep the localized version of the Sega Saturn game from reaching the pricing stratosphere in the resale market however!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Magic Knight Rayearth (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtFYF4LtvNQ
Talk about a forgotten series! I can remember a time when it seemed anyone with even a passing interest in anime was at least loosely familiar with Airbats. Two years ago at Fanime I ran into an Arisa Mitaka cosplayer but she was snapping pictures on the lower concourse and moved on before I could complement her. If by some strange chance you happen to be reading this, the guy who was wearing the bullet train that day says, "You are awesome!"
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! 801 T.T.S. Airbats / Aozora Shojotai (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5stkSssFXnI
And we'll finish off today with the Macross series that everyone seems to be completely divided on, with the exception of the opening theme Seventh Moon, which is outstanding.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Macross 7 (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga_aTC1MCY0
Saturday OPs return! Let's go way, way, way back for this one - although it'll get suck in my head now.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Tetsuwan Atom (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSbaZuTW1Q0
Just realized we've been Gundamless so far this year, time to fix that!
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0FJlQDKVa0
How about a little more Gundam for the time being? Here's the Gundam OVA that people who don't even like the mecha genre seem to enjoy.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket (1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlmknkCxJX4
One more Gundam series for today and my personal favorite, although I do admit that the story itself is very ho-hum compared to some others. However the visual style and over all art design still makes this my favorite Gundam series.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsw0bP7A3Ko
One I still haven't gotten around to watching in any real capacity, however I'm MUCH more familiar with the awesome puzzle-platformer Super Famicom game based on the earlier manga series.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Violinist of Hameln (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d7wM6A1KtY
Finishing off the day with another one I've only seen a very little of, but I've always really liked the opening theme.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Hana Yori Dango / Boys Over Flowers (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul9WDDBBrzM
Good morning old schoolers! We're about ready to flip the calendar over to May, leaving just a little over three full weeks until Fanime is upon us. I hope everyone else isn't as far behind as I am! Pretty crazy since I thought I was quite a bit ahead for a change. It appears that the Cosplay Gatherings Department official gathering list will be set in stone next week and while this shouldn't affect the Old School Gathering any, it will make definitively laying out convention cosplay plans far easier.
For OPs today let's do a morning batch of a few and then an evening batch of a few more. How about a manga series set in 1974, that began publication in 1986, had its first anime adaptation in 1990, then a second anime series that is running to this day? Although everyone is far more familiar with the first ending theme, Odoru Pompokolin (which had a wonderful English cover by Captain Jack, eventually featured on DDR 5thMIX), the opening for Chibi Maruko-chan is one of my favorites. Additionally it's also currently being fansubbed - finally!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Chibi Maruko-chan (1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bLyZnwewXo
While Chibi Maruko-chan is an institution in Japan and a fansub finally beginning this late in the game is more due to differing cultural appeal, things are a bit different with this next series. Finding success only in Japan and with a later Italian dub, F is one I'd really love to see subtitled in English one day. I tend to enjoy motorsports anime (especially Cyber Formula and Bari Bari Densetsu - well, the short little movie that the manga spawned) and everything about this series seems like it would be right up my alley. As for the opening, I love the visual design, the music, the animation - everything. This is in my top three for "most desired English subtitled series."
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! F (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iflsELvgrfw
Okay, both of those may be relatively obscure to the mainstream audience in the USA, so here's the other side of the coin. Apparently Atsuko Nakajima, who had a rather large hand in the anime adaptations of Rumiko Takahashi's works, such as Ranma 1/2, was an animation director on F.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Ranma 1/2 (1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syd129Vla0Q
Now a few for the evening set. Haven't featured any Go Nagai for awhile, let's change that!
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Devilman (1972)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTVj-4uiOt4
Another fan favorite that finally had a proper licensed subtitled release just a few years ago.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Neo Human Casshern (1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozyqVUILNFw
One more for today. There's something about this late 1960's / early 1970's animation style from many studios that I find appealing. Character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, in what I believe to be his first project!
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Sasurai no Taiyou / Wandering Sun (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_mECfBV2T0
Time for a few Saturday OPs! Going way back for the first.
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Tetsujin 28 (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2zYuQqzEJQ
A genre-creating tactical RPG / dating sim set in a mashup of fantasy and science fiction, Sakura Wars soon exploded into one of the most popular gaming multimedia franchises of the late 1990's / early 2000's... in Japan. It spawned a ton more main series games and spinoffs (my favorite being Hanagumi Taisen Columns for the Saturn), a bunch of OVAs, a film, stage shows, light novels, a manga series, and in 2000 a television adaptation. This is one of those massive series that is only known very narrowly in the West.
Celebrating An Era - 2000! Sakura Taisen TV (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71L-EEB7yJE
After yesterday I'm trying to work the desire to watch a bunch of motorsports anime out of my system, so let's see if this OP will clear that up. Short as Future GPX Cyber Formula SIN was (only six episodes) it had multiple openings, this one being my favorite of them. Somewhat of a somber send-off to the series, as was SIN as a whole, the emphasis was placed on the redemption of Bleed Kaga. Originally a secondary character in the first series, he becomes more and more predominate in the cast throughout the franchise. While SIN concluded in 2000, Cyber Formula video games would be released until 2012, all generally fitting into the same coherent timeline. I still consider Cyber Formula the most realistic motorsports series as the characters, the teams, the corporations, the technology, all grow and change in a realistic fashion as the different series play out.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Future GPX Cyber Formula SIN (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBwncst1NkM
Good afternoon old schoolers! Fanime is getting REAL close REAL fast, hopefully you're farther ahead of the game than I am currently! FanimeCon Cosplay Gatherings Department has finalized their gatherings list, which can be found on their Facebook page. Be sure to thank CGD staff if you see them at FanimeCon as they do so much to ensure we are able to have these official gatherings.
Rather than OPs today, I though we would mix things up and do a few EDs! That's right, anime endings are sometimes just as impressive or impactful as their openings. Starting off with the series that features an ending theme said to be most popular ending theme of any anime series of the 1990's, returning once again from last week, Chibi Maruko-chan.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Chibi Maruko-chan (1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W39vRbDuH_4 [ENDING]
I know it was mentioned before when the Bismark OP was posted, but the Bismark ED is an amazing little piece of animation in my opinion. The ending for so much 90's shojo anime seems to mirror it in some way. Still my number one series that I wish was available subtitled!
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Star Musketeer Bismark (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVKNA13C3yI [ENDING]
One of the more stylistic endings I can think of, once Macross settled in, it would end with this live action sequence of Hikaru flipping through his photo album. This sequence also ties into the ending of the final episode, a really nice touch.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuVCJ84aZT0 [ENDING]
I couldn't post endings without this one, as it is just so spectacular and bittersweet and the perfect way to conclude each episode of Cutey Honey. And yes, I will always spell it that way, because that's how it was spelled for years and years.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Cutey Honey (1973)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-XKYCaIq-8 [ENDING]
Ah, I do love Tsukasa Hojo's creations. Always glamorous, detailed, humorous, and with very interesting concepts. They are also some of the best representations of 1980's animation and Japanese popular culture in general.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Cat's Eye (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5in0X-Ic_Rw [ENDING]
To finish off Friday and this special selection of anime endings, my favorite ending anime theme, from Sailor Moon R. In the late 1990's into the very early 2000's a MIDI file of this is what used to greet visitors to my Sailor Moon fansite. Ah, those golden days of online fandom!
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7habakK5OYY [ENDING]
Before today's Saturday OPs, I want to announce that re-licensing hell has officially frozen over and Discotek Media has announced they will be re-releasing Marmalade Boy on DVD. Pretty crazy, all things considered.
Let's kick today off with a series that everyone likes, if even just a little. I remember the first time I saw Urusei Yatsura was on San Jose public access television, and then of course later the amazing second film reaching so many audiences via the Sci-Fi Channel.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Urusei Yatsura (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Jiic05C0M
Next, another series that everyone seems to be at least a little okay with, even if they have only passing interest in the mecha genre. Similar to 0080 War in the Pocket, the 08th MS team has a much more practical and approachable viewpoint than a vast bulk of the Gundam franchise, and really requires no preconceptions from its audience going in. It's kind of like if there was a Gundam series that leaned more toward Armored Trooper VOTOMS.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKlR_J2H6YA
Need more Tsukasa Hojo today! Pretty incredible intro with tons of complex film techniques, especially for 1983. This is the type of thing that is lost with the modern digital animation platforms.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Cat's Eye (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JULWSLPMA1A
If a series started pre-2001, but is still ongoing today, does it still count as old school?
Quote from: Sora on May 08, 2017, 08:40:16 PM
If a series started pre-2001, but is still ongoing today, does it still count as old school?
Yes, the conclusion date or span of duration of which a series ran doesn't matter, it just has to begin before 2001. A good example is Sazae-san, for instance. The manga began in 1946 and the TV series that began in 1969 is still running to this day.
What series were you thinking of?
One Piece or HunterxHunter.
Quote from: Sora on May 09, 2017, 12:47:28 AM
One Piece or HunterxHunter.
Cool. Yup, both are good, 1997 and 1998 respectively.
Quote from: Sora on May 09, 2017, 12:47:28 AM
One Piece or HunterxHunter.
Ahh yes Hunter x Hunter! I've been watching the 2011 one on Netflix and I really like it so far. :3
Good morning old schoolers! Here we are, two weeks out until the gathering! How are everyone's plans coming? I need to finish up painting and sealing a prop and do some wig styling but it's all within the timeline. I'll also be expanding the photography order list later today to try and encompass everything I can think of that may involve this massively diverse gathering. As with last year, my wife (then girlfriend) is planned to be the gathering's unofficial photographer - and as with last year, we will get the pictures online within a week of the gathering's conclusion.
Since we're so close to Fanime, I'm going to do rapid fire OPs for today, beginning with a series that was massively important for a franchise to gaining ground in North America, although it's a series in that franchise I personally don't care for all that much.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBqDyAvv-_M
Here's one that most people that are my age (30's) I meet seem to really enjoy, or at least remember. I recall that when it was in syndication as Ronin Warriors, on the leading edge of the anime boom in the USA, it was easily the most "Japanese" of the shows we got and pretty much left intact.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cw9AR2R-JI
Got to working on a prop and was distracted, here are a few more for today.
Celebrating An Era - 1970's! Ashita no Joe (1970)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Z8gXOxNQQ
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Space Runaway Ideon (1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AaQbPQ2xEg
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Future GPX Cyber Formula Double One (1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BOHVR9aqIQ
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Jungle Taitei (1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgeBFRjWxiU
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Hundred Beast King Golion (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtYiOSNEV_Y
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_xhAxuUvGE
And one more to close out the evening.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmCys68ELpg
Good morning old schoolers! Here we are, one week away from the gathering! Before we get going today I do want to make sure and continue to spread the information that if you are planning on staying at a Fanime hotel that you check your reservation and make sure everything is still in tact. There have a been a reasonably large number of cancellations due to the hotels attempting to place an advance charge, especially with the Fairmont. With that out of the way, back to fun stuff.
I'm going to post a bunch more anime OPs today, and then again tomorrow. Immediately after this post goes live the gathering photography order list will be given its final update. If you attended last year then you know I am not a rigid gathering host in any way, so if there is any kind of grouping, pairing, or whatever you would like a picture of, just let me know at the gathering - requests at the end of the photo list are there for that reason! Hosting this gathering is a way for me to give back just a little to the massively diverse fandoms that created the anime industry in the first place.
Well I had another OP to start out with, but pretty much exactly one week from right this moment I will be settling into the Nostalgia Room at Fanime to watch City Hunter, so I'm leading off with something different. I am so stoked that my wife and I decided to cosplay City Hunter on Friday for the Old School Cosplay Gathering. However I've burned through the City Hunter, City Hunter 3, and City Hunter '91 openings, but hey there's still City Hunter 2. City Hunter 2 easily contains some of the most dramatic story arcs in the entire franchise, more or less culminating with episodes 49 and 50 which are, in my opinion anyway, the pinnacle of the more serious side of Ryo and Kaori's adventures as sweepers in Shinjuku. So here we are, kicking off one week until the gathering.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! City Hunter 2 (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE2zdDUydCk
Celebrating An Era - 2000! Android Kikaider: The Animation (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6oSVBKLaoo
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjkXzHzUIGA
Here's one I've always really liked, as ridiculous as it can be, that not too many people seem to remember anymore. Also features an early David Hayter voice credit in the dub.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Moldiver (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nasofB06is
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Aura Battler Dunbine (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3uaqnP7MzQ
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Skyers 5 (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DppZEqP6aJ8
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Magical Emi The Magic Star (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jo-xmOfypA
And to close out the evening -
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! El Hazard (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO0kljcs5Cg
See you all in just about exactly one week!
Time for Saturday OPs - the final Saturday OPs of the year! AAAAAHHHHHHhhhh! Seriously though, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - the calm before the storm.
I will probably make a final rallying post around Wednesday or so, however I do want to make a note, that unofficial photos from the gathering will be posted at Mokkori Cosplay (facebook.com/mokkoricosplay) within a week of the gathering, just like last year. These will be high resolution, non-watermarked, completely untouched photos that you are free to tag, download, put in your cosplay profiles, whatever. This link will also be provided in the Old School Cosplay Gathering thread on the Fanime.com forums.
As Facebook tends to eat event pages from search after an event takes place, you may want to bookmark the event page, follow Mokkori Cosplay, or keep an eye on the Fanime.com forum thread a week or so after the gathering concludes.
On this last Saturday before the con I want to say again to each and every one of you, thank you all so much for your interest in this gathering. If you know of other pre-2001 series cosplayers, please spread the word - let's eventually build this into a 100+ strong attendee gathering into the future.
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79MN_w0VMPE
Celebrating An Era - 1960's! Osomatsu-kun (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjzVewfIAU
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Hokuto no Ken (1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s15JKP_TpIY
Picture this, you're NEC and you recently partnered with Hudson Soft to enter the video game industry as a console manufacturer. The release of your console, the PC Engine, has been extremely successful in Japan, finding a massive mainstream audience. Far too much later, you decide to release it in the United States, as the TurboGrafx-16, and you need to choose what the pack-in title will be. How about The Legendary Axe? That's a great game, and would blow away Sega's Altered Beast (the pack-in with the Genesis at the time, which is having abysmal performance in Japan as the Mega Drive). But no no no, how about we rework a licensed anime game, that's rather underwhelming, and release it as Keith Courage in Alpha Zones? ...wait, what?! Yup, here's the anime series that in an indirect way doomed the PC Engine outside of Japan.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Mashin Hero Wataru (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bimWq6_oUcc
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! Kaitou Saint Tail (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZppUBAPT9w
Ah, the black sheep of a humongous franchise. While Macross II isn't terrible or anything, and in my opinion the good does outweigh the bad, at the end of the day it's just kind of boring. But what do I know?
Celebrating An Era - 1990's! The Super Dimension Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again (1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ppTY6EmTeE
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! Dragon Ball Z (1989)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHnfX1RmZX8
And one final OP / ED post for this year! As I stated this morning, I will make a final rallying update post both here and on the forums during the middle of next week. Thank you again everyone! I hope to see you all at the gathering on Friday evening!
For the last video, well, I couldn't resist. Amazing to think this was 30 years ago.
Celebrating An Era - 1980's! City Hunter (1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84GYa28nZcY [ENDING]
There's an outside chance I'll show for this. I'm one pair of yellow baggy pants away from having a complete enough Secret of Mana cosplay (it looks like a darker yellow on the spritesheet anyways; this character is so minor I can't find even a fanart reference)
Alternate option is pulling Final Fantasy 8 Laguna out of the closet.
Quote from: Love Sign Master Spark on May 25, 2017, 01:03:26 AM
There's an outside chance I'll show for this. I'm one pair of yellow baggy pants away from having a complete enough Secret of Mana cosplay (it looks like a darker yellow on the spritesheet anyways; this character is so minor I can't find even a fanart reference)
Alternate option is pulling Final Fantasy 8 Laguna out of the closet.
That would be outstanding!
Okay old schoolers!!
Just about 24 hours to go until the gathering. We should be in the gathering area around this time tomorrow, getting checked in at the gathering's table and so forth. (and probably running props back and forth to the car)
I've updated the second post with some visual aides for those who may be unfamiliar with the new gathering location, Gatherings G2.
See you all tomorrow evening!
Thank you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU to all who attended or showed interest in this gathering!!
Thank you to the awesome Cosplay Gatherings Department for all the support they provide to allow us to host these gatherings!!!
Unofficial photos from the gathering co-host will be up within the week at facebook.com/mokkoricosplay (http://facebook.com/mokkoricosplay) - when that gallery goes live I will also add it to the first post here, as well as post it on the Facebook event page (although Facebook likes to hide events after they happen).
As other gathering albums surface after con, I will post their links in the first post here as well!
If you have photos from this gathering, PLEASE post a link to your gallery as a reply and I will collect them for a photo index on the first post!
We will absolutely be back for 2018 to host this gathering on Friday evening!! Bigger and better every year!
More of a placeholder and a quick posting for those anxious for pictures from the gathering.
Official FanimeCon pictures can be found here -
Tye / Imperal, FanimeCon Friday, 4pm - 7pm Gatherings Gallery -
https://fanimecon.slickpic.com/albums/FanimeCon-Friday-4pm-7pm/?wallpaper (https://fanimecon.slickpic.com/albums/FanimeCon-Friday-4pm-7pm/?wallpaper)
(scroll down to see an awesome set of official pictures from the gathering)
Unofficial photos from your gathering hosts will be up mid-week. If anyone has pictures from this gathering, please post them in this thread! During the middle of this week I will begin to assemble a gallery index listing as pictures surface after Fanime wraps up.
Thank you again to all who attended or showed interest in this gathering!
I had sooo much fun at the gathering!! ^^ Will get my pictures up soon! <3
Also hope to see everyone again next year. :) I'm sure I'll be doing another old school cosplay(if anything I'll be Aerith/Aeris next year so already got one XD )
Okay, unofficial gallery is up, as well as the official Fanime gallery. Both these are linked in the SECOND POST on the first page of this thread.
Quote from: Angelx624 on May 29, 2017, 11:13:14 PM
I had sooo much fun at the gathering!! ^^ Will get my pictures up soon! <3
Also hope to see everyone again next year. :) I'm sure I'll be doing another old school cosplay(if anything I'll be Aerith/Aeris next year so already got one XD )
Thank you so much for attending once again!!
The gaming theme for next year means it might be time to bring out the Densha de Go! bullet train suit again (which hasn't been to a convention since Fanime 2015) or Taizo Hori from Dig Dug (which hasn't been to Fanime since 2015 but I've worn it elsewhere since) for the 2018 Old School Cosplay Gathering.
New gallery added, check the second post!
Final Facebook Event post for 2017, mirrored here for completeness:
Hello old schoolers! I hope everyone has decompressed from Fanime by now, is finishing up cosplay cleaning and/or repairs (I know I still am), and getting things in order for next convention - next cosplay - next vintage anime purchase.
Thank you again to everyone who attended or expressed interest in this gathering! It means so much to me that so many of us keep this gathering alive. Now Facebook gets kind of weird with gatherings that have already occurred, so I'm not sure how much traffic this post may get, but I want to kind of open things up to our gathering attendees...
Does anyone have any comments about the gathering or suggestions for 2018? Both moving the gathering to 6pm and the massively expanded photo order were based upon suggestions from the previous year!
It's a long way off but for 2018 we plan on keeping the same day and time, Friday at 6pm. Additionally we will be in an indoor location as long as it is possible. I'm not opposed to moving the gathering to a less traffic-heavy location and have discussed such unofficially, but anything concerning that will have to be sorted out next year when Fanime 2018 is closer.
Additionally for 2018 we will be providing some sort of giveaway to ALL Old School Cosplay Gathering attendees. Some may remember the tons of stuff I gave away in 2016 (thank you again for giving a lot of my duplicates and excess anime merchandise a good home). I wanted something similar for 2017, but it to be gathering specific, however ran out of time. I was thinking something along the lines of a yearly button or ribbon.
If anyone has any suggestions or comments I can be reached via PM or comment here, or a message to Mokkori Cosplay on Facebook. I will continue to collect gathering galleries as they are posted, they can be found right here in the second post.
Thank you one more time! I look forward to seeing everyone again on the Friday evening of FanimeCon 2018!
...which will be the 50th anime anniversary of Cyborg 009 and Gegege no Kitaro.
...the 40th anime anniversary of Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999.
...the 30th anime anniversary of Samurai Troopers, Mobile Police Patlabor, and GunBuster.
...the 20th anime anniversary of Card Captor Sakura, His and Her Circumstances, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, and Serial Experiments Lain.
...and those are only off the top of my head! What an anniversary year!
The 6pm time on Friday is perfect, I think. And I loved the expanded photo order. ^^ Definitely think it should stick. <3
But maybe we can have a photo request/suggestion for dead characters? XD I'll try to remember tossing in that request for next year, if I'm not the only dead character at the gathering. :P
Aww, looking at the photos, I'm sad that I missed it. :[ (My panel at that timeslot went well though)
Well, there's always next year! Glad it went well this year, and I hope everyone had a good time :D
Quote from: Angelx624 on June 04, 2017, 06:16:36 PM
The 6pm time on Friday is perfect, I think. And I loved the expanded photo order. ^^ Definitely think it should stick. <3
But maybe we can have a photo request/suggestion for dead characters? XD I'll try to remember tossing in that request for next year, if I'm not the only dead character at the gathering. :P
Yup, 6pm seems to be the best time. Late enough for most people to be off work and checked in, yet not too late to interfere with those wanting to sell at Friday swap meet. It's kind of a good "gathering, dinner, swap meet" little block because if you're an old school cosplayer you probably like buying older stuff at swap meet - or you have things to sell yourself.
I'll add a dead / expired / lifeless item to the photography order for next year.
Quote from: Nina Star 9 on June 05, 2017, 11:24:34 AM
Aww, looking at the photos, I'm sad that I missed it. :[ (My panel at that timeslot went well though)
Well, there's always next year! Glad it went well this year, and I hope everyone had a good time :D
Glad your panel went well!
I ran into a few people throughout the convention weekend that were at the gathering on Friday (some at other gatherings, most just out and about) and they all seemed to enjoy it. While I would love to hit 100 attendees next year, truth of the matter is I'm super humbled that anyone shows up at all. I really can't wait to do it again for 2018.
I was planning on bringing back some of my gaming-themed cosplays for the gathering next year (either Namco X Capcom / Dig Dug / Baraduke or Densha de Go!) but with it being the 30th anniversary of Patlabor, I see Friday at Fanime in blazing orange in my future.
Another day of people assuming we work for the convention center, assuming we work for facilities, assuming we work for the convention, assuming we are security, assuming we are parking attendants, and generally thinking we are authoritative and asking questions when they need help. Still always happy to help out any fellow con-goers and point them in the direction of official channels for things I don't know or are beyond a question suited to ask another attendee. Ah, but it's all fun. They do serve as a beacon to the older fandom otaku though, which allows us to meet a lot of cool people when we wear it.
As Shigeki Arakawa says in Patlabor 2 The Movie, "Your unit's uniforms stick out like a sore thumb."
And as Kiichi Goto replies, "Yeah, and they're not the best for us middle-aged guys either."