c73 day one
I set my alarm to go off at 6 in the morning so that I could leave right at about dawn to line up for day 2 (no homo), but despite my mind saying yes, my legs said “no fuck you sit right back down and don’t you dare use me, write a blog post or something.”
So! Yesterday was the first day of c73, the second event of any importance that has occured since I touched down in Narita on the 28th. (the first was eating some great tonkatsu, and the nearly-second was going to see Kara no Kyoukai 1 but falling asleep at 8 instead. Good thing it’s still showing, thanks second-run theaters!) I woke up bright and early at 6 and started the trek over to the Big Sight right at about daybreak on a monstrously leisurely 10 hours of sleep, as observant readers will have noted.
I live fairly close to the big sight, so the trip over took a little over an hour after a conbini stop where I bought some expired negitoro maki. I went over on the Yurikamome/monorail from Shimbashi because I was going late enough for the thing to be running, and it was pleasantly empty. No pushing or shoving, and I even managed to get a seat (!!) without excessive harm to myself or others. A+ would ride again. I hope to in a few hours. After arriving at the con site, I stood in very large line for a very long time. They seemed to line everyone up at the front of the Big Sight today as opposed to next to the bay doors for the east/west halls. Maybe I got there a little too late? Did anyone in the English-speaking world get there at 5 or earlier so that they could clarify? Anyway, I stood fairly miserably in a light drizzle with no entertainment for about 2 and a half, maybe a bit more, hours. Applauding at 10 am when the thing opens and not moving for the next 45 minutes is a morale-killer, let me tell ya.
A timely (for me) aside: why didnt anyone tell me that Japan has mosquitos that are TEN TIMES BIGGER than the ones we have down south? God damn this place is scary.
Anyway, if you’re wondering why I don’t have pictures for you: sooo touriste, next to staring up at skyscrapers and walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk. Actually, I just don’t have a camera yet.
Some highlights of my modest purchases:
- Getting the second-to-last copy of one of two of Hinketsu Elevator (Ueda Hajime)’s new offerings. The other was sold out by the time I got through the line, despite me beelining straight there once I got inside the Big Sight. That’ll teach me not to run through the halls!
- A Rozen Maiden/F1 racing crossover. Spoilers: Raikkonen gets Shinku-chan.
- New offerings by the MercuriusLAB/Iconographica collective, definitely in my top five as far as doujin artists go. For all you American con-goers out there, I will here note that I saw “the white guy from Hen Da Ne,” whose real name is apparently “Andrew.” I will try to remember this in the future, as I hate calling people “HEY.” We talked for a minute or two, then parted ways.
- Things I didn’t buy out of embarrasment that I now regret: Rip Slyme yaoi. Pretty Cure kigurumi convention reports. Mononoke yaoi. Gatchaman yaoi. R-type fanfiction.
I finished up with most of my shopping at around noon, and instead of aimlessly wandering around the bemani section like I had originally planned, I met up with Chiku, who has no weblog so I cannot link you to his weblog. We ate soggy ten-don and wandered around the west halls and bought nothing. In fact, all he bought was a paper copy of the catalogue, and if he hadn’t done that I could call him a bad consumer of fan products.
We met up with Shingo and a host of others at around 2:30 and talked for a while. We eventually made it over to Akiba and a izakaya in the area and had a jolly old time while knocking back some drinks, the first alcoholic beverages I have ever legally bought and consumed. Actually, I might have been the only one who consumed plural-s-drinks, an astonishing two. I almost ordered a moscow mule for a third, but the thing was winding down and I didn’t want to look like an alcoholic.
While I was in Akiba I picked up ABe’s Gaisokyu for a measly 4800 yen, which considering the quality of the thing I would (although begrudgingly) pay double that price for, along with a second copy of Nazo no Kanojo X because I don’t remember what manga I buy. I also got a Maritan card that says “HAPPY FUCK’IN NEW YEAR.” I will take these words to heart.
On that note, it’s already bright outside and I should start punishing my legs again. So in case I don’t do another update until 2008: HAPPY FUCK’IN NEW YEAR.