#hagaren

Let’s get started READY STEADY GO!!

The person who see ahead.

Without looking back

Fullmetal heart doesn’t melt even though blood is boiling

The person with the most warm-hearted

Even if he forgot what the warm is

Random WIP some time ago because I wanted to draw him for no absolute reason

Related Japan Trip Posts:

• Akihabara
  

I got lucky that both events fell in the week I was there :D I attended Haru Comic City on Monday (Mar.20) and AnimeJapan on Saturday (Mar.25) Both conventions were held at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. 

Again, these are my personal thoughts and experiences, so take whatever information is useful to you. Image heavy under the cut~

I didn’t research Haru Comic City beforehand, so my observations are based on what I saw in person. I know about Comiket, but it seems that smaller doujin conventions are quite common (this one was still quite large imo!) There are tables everywhere advertising future doujin event dates. I think each event selects certain fandoms (YOI, Haikyuu, Otsumatsu, and some lesser known titles). You could grab free “save the date” minicards that advertise when a doujin event will host a series you like~

The event was one day only and lasted for 5 hours. According to my local friend, he says this is quite common for conventions to last such a short time, which is different from US conventions that continuously last over 3-4 days. Tbh, it looked like it was as important of a social event as it was an opportunity to promote/sell your latest doujin. The atmosphere was felt very friendly, welcoming, and refreshingly down to earth. Artists seemed genuinely enthusiastic to chat, to fangirl, and to get to know you. There was a strong sense of community that differs from the atmosphere of US Artist Alleys. To me, US AAs seem more competitive and more “to each their own”. I’m quite envious, haha.

It was interesting that everyone looked and acted very…ordinary and polite. I’m not quite sure how to word it, but there was definitely a demeanor where it’s “just another typical day” or something. I guess I’m trying to describe a contrast to US conventions where people see conventions as a super special event and get very hyped up about it. I believe part of it is Japan’s collective culture and part of it is that anime/manga is so thoroughly integrated into everyone’s daily lives (I’ll explain more of this phenomenon in another post~).. After all, it’s only a train ride’s away to Akihabara and Ikebukuro, and special events are constantly happening in Tokyo. It’s not unreasonable to perceive conventions here as a much more relaxed social gathering. I also found it interesting that the age of artists and attendees range from high school to much older women. I saw some middle schoolers wandering around, too… (elementary school kids were banned because of some of the many…suggestive posters HAH). Again, I’m used to the western mentality of associating anime/manga to teens and young adults. The language barrier and having the artists present with their works intimidated me, but I managed to work up the courage to buy this cute Kageyama keychain ovo;9

A friend recommended that AnimeJapan was worth going for one day. I arrived at 10AM, but it took about 2 hours to get to the front door..Because check out this line LOL:

I was concerned that the con would have closed by the time I got in. AnimeJapan spanned over 4 days, but it only lasts a few hours each day (10AM-3PM). It’s a convention for official companies and studios to show off their newest merch and/or advertise upcoming things. You can go watch VA/animator/producer interviews, line up to play game demos, stage concerts, etc. As a general attendee, I managed to explore the whole venue pretty quickly. My main goals were to grab a copy of the limited FMA leaflet, see the prototypes for FMA figures/nendos, and find Hinagarasu and Kagegarasu at Toho Animation’s booth~ Unless you are lining up for a certain show, to purchase a limited item, or if you simply just really enjoy being in queue lines, I think this event is worth going for one day.

I pretty much gave up going for the FMA leaflet when I saw how long it took to get into the venue. There was not a specific booth for the FMA live movie announcement, so it took some further wandering once I got in. But alas I found it, along with a display of Roy Mustang’s costume used in the movie!

And..miraculously, wedged between the leaflet stands was the last copy…//breathes

Hiromu Arakawa drew the artwork specifically for AnimeJapan to help advertise the FMA exhibition held later this year. Talk about lucky! \(*A*)/

Goodsmile Company did not display the FMA nendo prototypes, but I found prototypes of Roy Mustang and Edward Elric //breathes heavily against glass

I arrived at the Toho Animation booth just in time for Hinagarasu and Kagegarasu showed up *A* Again, I was super lucky after learning that they only came out for that 30 minute window on Saturday. The birbs were very cute and in character, I loved them <3

They also had the team flag pinned up and you can go and write on it! Karasuno fighting!

The cosplay area was…sad. It was off to the side of the venue, outside in a way too small fenced off area of parking. From mile long queue lines to get into the venue, having only a small window to change into costume, paying extra to cosplay, and being fenced off in a cramped area with an asphalt backdrop…I personally think it’s not worth cosplaying at this particular convention. There was so little room for cosplayers to pose, and you practically had to crowdsurf your way to see them. Granted, the cosplays were beautiful, but it was way too cramped for me to take a good photo of anybody BUT HERE’S ARMSTRONG.

And finally, these are more cool things I saw in no particular order. Thanks for reading \(*^*)/