... daisuki
POTENTIAL SPOILERS: BE WARNED!
I watch a lot of romance anime, so I get to see a great number of kokuhaku (confession) scenes. Honestly, they are some of my favorite scenes, but even I will admit that they tend to be a bit cliché. They usually fall into one of four categories:
The Taciturn
This is one of the more common ones. Basically, the one confessing is rather shy and stutters while speaking. There is often a great deal of blushing and eye aversion. An example of The Taciturn Kokuhaku would come from Lovely Complex between Suzuki and Chiharu. The guy was a blundering mess, but eventually got his point across. And there was much rejoicing. (yay!)
The Sudden
Here's another confession I see a lot of. Without really meaning to, the smitten character blurts out his or her feelings, much to the shock of the receiving party. A prime example of this type comes from Midori no Hibi the manga, where Ayase blurts out her feeling to Seiji. I also group into this type the complete lack of a confession. The main character just skips all that fluff and proceeds to kiss / make out with / copulate with the other party member. See Kimikiss - pure rouge. Kai finally got the courage to kiss Mao. And there was much rejoicing. (yay!)
The Final
I also call this the last words confession. Just before the two love birds meet their final fate, they confess to each other. I don't see this one very often, and I feel it's rather cheap, but it seems to be fitting in some anime. Here specifically I think of the first season of Shakugan no Shana, when Shana confesses to Yuuji just before unleashing a huge F(ire)-Bomb. As a result, Yuji hardly heard a word of it, but it did lead to a second season. And there was much rejoicing. (yay!)
The Reluctant
This type is a favorite with tsundere characters. They hate themselves for it, but they fall for the other, generally wimpy character. As a result, their kokuhaku lacks confidence. While this can often be mixed with The Sudden type, I consider it to be separate. One of the best examples comes from Love Hina the manga when Naru (finally) confesses to Keitaro. She thinks he'll laugh at her for the turn around, but he takes it all well. And there was much rejoicing. (yay!)
Manga
191 volumes (counted at $10 each)
$1,910
Anime DVDs
41 single DVDs (counted at $25 each)
$1,025
4 box sets (counted as $40 each)
$160
2 limited edition Haruhi Suzumiya DVDs (counted at $50 each)
$100
Video Games
45 PS2 games (counted at $45 each)
$2,025
7 GCN games (counted at $45 each, -1 as a gift)
$270
2 Wii game (counted at $50 each)
$100
16 DS games (counted at $30 each, -1 came with system)
$450
(Note: PC games vary so greatly in price that I decided to omit them from this list. Also, it would be difficult to keep an accurate count since I'm missing so many of them. I have also omitted N64, NES, Genesis, and older GameBoy games because most of them were gifts and did not come from my own wallet.)
Anime Models
5 PVC models (counted at $50 each)
$250
4 Gachapon models (counted at $10 each)
$40
Grand Total Spent on Vices: $6,330
Important note: This list does not include other vices, which I was too lazy to count up, which include books, other DVDs, music CDs,
"And Jimbo saw Otakon, that it was good"
-- Jimbo 10:23
Yes friends, I am back from my trip to Otakon. I really enjoyed myself. It was a fun couple of days where I got to meet lots of people and have, generally, a really good time. In all, it was worth the hour-and-a-half drive to and from the Baltimore Convention Center (BCC). So, without further ado, I thought I would give you my report on all of my adventures.
On the first day, my goal was to go into the Dealers' Room and get my autograph from Fred Gallagher before the crowd got unbearable large. I waited in line to get to the Dealers' Room, which opened at noon, for over two hours. It was totally worth it. As it turns out, he was a fairly cool and mellow guy. He managed to whip out a drawing of my favorite character in the series in a few seconds. In short, he did in a few seconds what I could not do even with several hours. Anyway, I asked him if he ever planned on ending the series, and he told me that he did, but it was a long distance away. Now, my signed copy of MegaTokyo five is sitting in my room in a plastic cover. That’s one goal out of the way.
I suppose I should also mention how many people were actually at attendance. To put it simply, there was a lot. The picture above shows only a tiny portion of the BCC. Let me tell you that most of the areas were just as packed as this one, not to mention all of the sidewalks outside. It was pretty funny watching some of the legitimate business men's faces when cosplayers walk by. Some laughed, while others were clearly thinking "what the hell is going on in my fair city." Speaking of cosplay...
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There was a good amount of it. There were a lot of Naruto cosplayers. When I say "a lot," I mean A WHOLE MOTHER-F~CKIN' LOT of Naruto cosplayers. I mostly saw a lot of Itachi, Gaara, and Naruto costumes, but almost every character was represented (even a really good-looking Anko, which I did not manage to take a picture of, much to my chagrin). Another big problem was the lack of Haruhi Suzumiya characters. During my whole time there, I saw maybe three Haruhi and a single SOS-Dan (see above). I also have pictures of Midna (from Zelda: Twilight Princess) and Saber & Rin (from Fate / stay night), but they turned out poorly, and will not be shown. I didn’t take too many cosplay pictures, but it was still fun to see some of my favorite characters doing their rounds. Amazingly, however, there was more cosplay at the midnight Harry Potter release party per capita than at Otakon. Interesting...
I spent a large amount of time (and money) in the Dealers' room. The picture above shows the spoils of my battles with other overzealous customers. All the things shown above cost a little over $150. Amazingly, the Yuki Nagato figure was the most expensive of the lot, practically doubling the total cost of the other items. It was totally worth it, though. I also picked up and official Otakon polo shirt (for work) and an Otakon umbrella (for when it rains). I debated whether I should have bought a replica of a samurai sword, but decided against it. I did not need to spend a whole lot of money on something that served no useful purpose. So I bought a Sgt. Frog throw pillow and went on my merry way.
Things to keep in mind when going to next Otakon:
- Bring more water
- Bring more trail mix
- Bring Nintendo DS
- Leave GameCube controller at home
- Leave car parked on sidewalk. It would be cheaper to get it out of hock than pay for a parking garage.
You know what they need to do? They need to just go ahead and remake the anime Tsukihime as a school-life harem-comedy. There, I said it. It would just make sense, wouldn’t it? You already have all of the characters you need. You have the older, flirtatious temptress in Arcueid. You have the violent girl with the good heart in Ciel. You have the quiet one in Hisui (or Kohaku, depending on how you look at it), and you have the sporty one in Kohaku (or Hisui, for the same reason as before). Lastly, you have the siscon fodder in Akiha. The only problem that would arise is who gets Shiki at the end. I, personally, would like to see Hisui (as the shy one) get the guy, but this would be non-canonical for a harem-comedy. The quiet girl never gets the guy. Ever. Still, it’s comforting to know my favorite character class is still single (my life is a lonely one). The most likely choices would be either Ciel (á la Love Hina) or Akiha (á la Da Capo). As for plot, that’s practically pre-packaged too! Three of the girls already live with Shiki, and the other two visit frequently enough. They could all be made the same age, with maybe Ciel and Arcueid in another class, where they are bitter rivals. With Ciel’s penchant for swords, she may as well be a kendo club member. Lets see… there will be the obligatory Valentine’s Day episode, beach episode, yukata festival episode, and the kokuhaku episode (among others). Heck, why not keep Arcueid a vampire, just to keep things interesting. Maybe that could be the plot device that separates it from other harem-comedies (wait, already been done. See Karin). Come on, who agrees that this is a good idea?
Definitely, my favorite character is Taiga-sensei. She is the comic relief, and I am totally okay with that. Her over-reactions and funny facial expressions add a much-needed boost of humor into this anime. When Rider and what’s his name were draining the life out of her, I personally wanted to jump into the scene and kick his patootie across the hall. I need to teach them their place. Kudos to Taiga-sensei, nya.My next favorite character is Ren. Something about her just seems fun. She’s probably going to turn on Shiro nearer to the series’ end or protect him in an act of love (personally, I’m rooting for the latter). She’s just a fun character to watch. I’m hoping to learn more about her motives as the series progresses.
Saber isn’t even my favorite Servant in the series. That spot goes to Rider. I know she tried to kill Taiga-sensei, but I think I can forgive her. She’s got the emotionless attitude that I think is awesome, and – AND – she uses spikes on a chain. I think this weapon is really cool-looking and needs to be implemented more often.
After all of these characters comes Saber. Even then, she’s probably tied with Sakura. Sakura is just adorable with her timid attitude and obvious crush on Shiro. I don’t know whether to root for her or Ren when it comes to Shiro’s affections. I plan to watch the remainder of the series as the DVDs are slowly released. This list is subject to change.
Wii Headband*
This amazing new device for Nintendo's beloved Wii is a welcome addition to the already growing list of controllers. The Wii Headband has a motion-sensor, just like your WiiMote, and is capable of sensing the speed and ferocity of your head banging. This has many implications in some of the new games coming out for the system. For example, in the soon to be released Harvest Moon Wii, you will be able to use the Wii Headband to nuzzle up to cows, answer questions with a nod or shake of the head, and even bang your head against a wall when your "significant other" turns down your blue feather. The rumored Guitar Hero for the Wii supposedly uses it as well. At certain points in the song, you can increase your star meter by head banging violently. Cheaters are already developing motorized mannequin heads to head bang constantly while the player plays the song. Various X and H-rated games also use it for <<naughty-content removed>>! Look for the Wii Headband sometime around the turn of the century.
* This article is complete and utter fabrication. Duh.