October was full of... movies. I watched a ton of movies and shows to make the most of the Disney+ subscription.
Outings / Events in October:
- Had a voice chat with my LINE friends. It was fun as usual :)
- Attended a Hallowe'en party with my boyfriend. It was a nice time.
- Watched Stephen Georg's 20-hour Extra Life stream on Twitch. It was hilarious and fun. I nodded off a few times during the night but I was there until the stream ended the next morning.
Exposures:
- Nothing this time.
Finished...
Watching:
- (Movie): Glee The Concert Movie -- There were some fun songs. If I grew up with the series, it would have been nostalgic. - (Movie): Ratatouille -- This was very fun.
- (Movie): The King's Man -- Not as good as the first one, but it was interesting to see the origin story.
- (Movie): Into the Woods -- I liked it a lot. I want to check out the musical it's based on.
- (Movie): Blade II -- It was decent. I had no idea Norman Reedus was in the movie.
- (Movie): Barbarian -- The atmosphere was great. Some of the characters could have been smarter but overall this was a well-made horror movie.
- (Movie): Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings -- This was pretty decent.
- (Movie): Disenchanted -- I enjoyed Enchanted a lot. This had its merits.
- (Movie): Ad Astra -- It was done well and had some interesting scenes but very slow-paced.
- (Movie): Mulan (Live-Action) -- No thanks. I re-watched the animated Mulan to get the live-action version out of my mind.
- (Movie): National Treasure -- Quite entertaining.
- (Movie): Black Widow -- It was okay.
- (Movie): Fant4stic -- Best to skip this one.
- (Movie): Willow -- This was the first time I watched Willow in its entirety. It was a bit cheesy but decent.
- (Movie): Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End -- What a long movie.
- (Movie): The Imitation Game -- This was very good.
- (Movie): Coco -- I enjoyed this a lot. It was very fun and creative and had lots of heart.
- (Movie): Imagine Dragons Live in Vegas -- I tend to enjoy songs by Imagine Dragons so watching this was nice.
- (Show): Criminal Minds -- I finally finish the series! I personally think the strongest writing was in the earlier seasons, but it was neat to see the characters grow and develop.
- (Show): Big Hero 6 Shorts -- It was short and cute.
- (Show): The Strain -- I think it would have been more interesting if the series ended on Season 3's finale.
- (Show): What If...? -- The first episode didn't do much for me, but all the episodes afterwards were interesting and good. My favourite was Dr. Strange's episode.
- (Show): WandaVision -- It was really good. It gave a lot of context for Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness.
- (Anime): Birdie Wing -Golf Girls' Story- -- It was very good in the beginning but the last half kinda had some pacing issues. Overall it was good.
Playing:
- Nothing this month.
Reading:
- Nothing this month.
Currently...
Playing (not all at once):
- (PS4): Dark Cloud 2
- (PS4): Skyrim - (PS4): Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered - (PS4): Moon: Remix RPG Adventure - (PS4): Yakuza 6: Song of Life
- (PS4): Baldur's Gate I: Enhanced Edition
- (PS4): One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (PSP): Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure
- (3DS): Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies - (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition - (Wii): Fortune Street - (PC): UnEpic - (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)
DAYS SPENT: 1 OVERALL THOUGHTS: I wasn't intending to visit Nakano this year but when we couldn't find the Gunpla my boyfriend wanted to get at Gundam Base Tokyo, I thought of this place. If you are looking for older (and potentially cheaper) anime merchandise, Nakano Broadway might have it. PLACES VISITED:
Nakano Broadway (RE-VISIT)
It's the same as before: lots of anime shops at varying prices. There were tons of places that sold second-hand goods in clear cases similar to what we saw in that shop in Akihabara. I remember seeing that the last time I visited Nakano Broadway, but I didn't realize that's what they were. There were other shops in Nakano Broadway but we stuck to exploring only the anime-centric ones.
If only I had this much Persona merchandise! :O
An Animate outlet shop that had a bunch of certain merchandise at cheap prices.
A shop with a lot of Junji Ito merchandise and other horror-specific goods. I saw some SMT merchandise as well.
A mini-exhibit of some of Junji Ito's illustrations.
Some more of Junji Ito's illustrations.
And more.
OTHER PHOTOS:
After exiting Nakano station, walk through this mall to get to Nakano Broadway.
MEGURO
DAYS SPENT: 0.5 OVERALL THOUGHTS: I mainly visited Meguro for two things: I wanted to show my boyfriend the Parasitological Museum, and I wanted to check if that takoyaki place across the museum was still in business. Thankfully both places were still there! :)
I do have to say... when walking back to the subway, there was a long strip of sidewalk that was uphill. Partway through my feet were getting so tired but I couldn't stop. With the hot sun beating on us I knew that if I stopped walking I'd probably die from the heat. >_>
PLACES VISITED:
Meguro Parasitological Museum (RE-VISIT)
Call me morbid, but the idea of visiting a parasite museum is fascinating to me. All the parasites were dead, of course, but it's pretty neat and educational. The admission is free as well, though you can make a donation (I donated 1000 yen on our way out).
The nice thing about the parasite museum this time is that most of the exhibits have a QR code that takes you to a site with English translations. It was a pleasant surprise :)
When my boyfriend and I bought something from the gift shop, the employee asked where we traveled from. I wonder if they are trying to gauge how to improve the museum.
The hours of operation. Make sure to check this place out when they are open! :3
Some enlarged parasite exhibits.
An exhibit showing parasites that could live in different parts of the body.
Some notes about parasites.
OTHER PHOTOS:
A nice view over a bridge. I took this exact shot the last time I visited Meguro, haha!
I thought this was a moth, but it might actually be a butterfly. If anybody can confirm what it is, please let me know!
A short video of the moth or butterfly on the subway.
ASAKUSA
DAYS SPENT: 2.5 + many evenings OVERALL THOUGHTS: With Asakusa as our base in Tokyo, we explored the area quite a bit. The streets close to Sensoji Temple had more traditional architecture. Once you walk far enough, though, the "traditional" transforms to "modern". Overall, this was a decent base of operations if you like being close to temples and good food.
If I had to choose between Shinjuku or Asakusa as a base... it would depend on your preference and where you want to go. Many places tend to close up earlier in Asakusa than in Shinjuku, and Shinjuku tends to have more for nightly entertainment. Asakusa is much closer to Akihabara, while Shinjuku is much closer to Shibuya.
Please keep in mind that Asakusa tends to be a tourist spot so if you plan to stay around there, book early! My first hotel choice was all booked up for the days I stayed there. PLACES VISITED:
Nakamise Shopping Street (RE-VISIT)
Do you enjoy large crowds? Crowded stalls? Long walks through large crowds? You do? Well, have I got the place for you! Nakamise Shopping Street is a long street filled with various stalls. There are snacks, souvenirs, clothes -- a bunch of different things. It tends to get crowded quite often so try getting there early in the day if you want to check it out. Prices will vary for each stall so try scoping them out before deciding what to get and where.
I've been to Nakamise Shopping Street years ago and I have to say -- it hasn't really changed. It was crowded then and it's still crowded now!
The entrance to Nakamise Shopping Street.
This was on one of the edges of Nakamise Shopping Street.
The "Not Suspicious" signs just make me suspicious, haha. After some research, this seems to be a well-regarded bar so I may check it out next time.
Sensoji Temple (RE-VISIT)
This place is the same as last time -- very beautiful and full of people! My boyfriend noticed some sermon being held in the back of the main hall and wanted to come back another day around 6:30 AM, so we did... o_o! I was surprised to see some people already roaming about during that time! Sadly when we reached Sensoji Temple we just missed the morning sermon.
If those were not sermons but were other services instead, please let me know!
I'm glad the Drum Museum is still active after all these years. It's a museum with a lot of drums and many of them can be played on. I took pictures (wherever I could -- some displays didn't allow it) and played on everything that I could. It was a very fun time! Admission costed 500 yen each and we were led to an elevator that took us to the drum museum.
The entrance to the Drum Museum is inside this drum / instrument shop. You buy the admission tickets from the cashiers.
Drums!
More drums!
And more drums!
Japanese Sword Museum
I remember the traveller I spoke with two trips ago mentioned the Japanese Sword Museum so I thought, why not? After entering the main entrance, we purchased admission close to the gift shop. The first floor was actually free to explore, but the exhibit with the swords were on a different floor. The exhibit room was quite small, but it was pretty neat. Several swords were displayed with notes in Japanese and English. Please note that pics are only allowed for certain swords.
Something I learned was that each sword has the swordsmith's signature at the base (usually covered by the handle). After learning that fact, I looked for it in every sword on display. Admission was at 1000 yen per person, and many items in the gift shop was a bit on the pricey side. I should also note that the Japanese Sword Museum is not that commuter-friendly. It is about a 13 minute walk from the closest subway station (Kuramae), so take that into consideration if you want to avoid walking for that long.
The front entrance to the Japanese Sword Museum
The sword-making process.
How swords were documented back then.
One of my favourite swords on display. The wavy shine looks really nice!
Hozuki Market
We stumbled upon this by fluke. When my boyfriend "dragged" me to Sensoji Temple that morning around 6:30 AM, I noticed a bunch of empty stalls were set up around the temple. Curious, we decided to check back around 7:30 PM and the temple grounds were alive with colourful stalls and people. Did we stumble upon a festival?! We walked around, bought some foods, and enjoyed the sights. Stalls were closing up around 8 PM, but it was a blast.
After getting back to the hotel, I googled it and apparently we stumbled upon something called Hozuki Market -- a festival that happens every year on July 9 - 10 around Sensoji Temple. If you happen to be around Asakusa between July 9 - 10, don't miss out! :)
Sensoji Temple with some empty stalls to the side. I wonder what they could be for?
So this is what the stalls were for!
A shot of some more stalls.
Ooo, a goldfish scooping game. I wanted to try it out, but I'd have nowhere to keep the goldfish.
A stall with a bunch of face masks.
OTHER PHOTOS:
This was close to the hotel. Apparently it's a shoe repair shop. I wanted to check it out.
Asakusa in the evening.
Does that building say "Bandai"??
We found the building. :) We didn't go inside.
A batting cage. This area looked pretty old school.
A sad moment during a crane game.
I imagine these are handprints from celebrities.
That's it for Part 3. The next two blogs will focus on areas we visited while in Osaka. After that will be the usual blog on foods and things I bought, plus a couple more miscellaneous entries. It feels like these Japan blogs will never end, hahaha XD
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments about any of these places I visited, feel free to say something in the comments box or fill out a contact form!
I was waiting for this convention for soooo long. Back in 2019, this convention was called International Fan Festival Toronto (IFFT). It took place over Easter weekend in the Metro Convention Centre. I attended it and despite some organization issues, enjoyed it immensely! Since then I have been waiting for it to come back to Toronto. There was another date scheduled for 2020, but then COVID happened and the whole thing was cancelled. :(
Then in March of this year, I got an e-mail saying that the convention will finally be coming back. It would still be taking place in the Metro Convention Centre during Labour Day weekend. I was so excited -- but sad at the same time. Unfortunately for me, I had a wedding to attend on the Saturday... so I'd be missing out on the most busiest day of the convention Dx This is why this blog has "PARTIAL" in the name.
I do have to say that Labour Day weekend for Anime Toronto was a much better choice than Easter weekend (or Father's day weekend, if the convention had actually taken place in 2020).
Here's the link to the first convention in 2019 if you want to check it out:
Like I've done with all my convention entries, I've lumped all my pics of cosplayers into one section. If you want to see just that, search for "Photos of Cosplayers". For the section of what I've bought, search for "My Convention Purchases". I didn't really do much of either but I like staying somewhat organized :)
A photobooth area for attendees. I didn't try it out by myself, haha.
The Little Details
Dates of Anime Toronto: September 1 - 3, 2023 Location: Metro Convention Centre Ticket Price Total: $282.50 (Premium admission -- I purchased this premium admission back in December, 2019)
Friday Time Attended: 10:21 AM - 7:00 PM (SUNNY)
When I arrived at the Metro Convention Centre, I saw... slight disorganization. The attendees were spread out in small groups around the area. I checked to see if there were any line-ups to the opening ceremonies, the only thing starting at 10:30 AM (the Vendor's Hall opened at 11 AM), but there wasn't. Unsure of what to do, I added to the disorganization and leaned against a pillar close to the entrance. A few minutes to 10:30 AM, the doors opened and everybody from all directions went inside.
Anime Toronto 2023 Opening Ceremonies -- 10:35 AM - 11:10 AM
Jeremy Androsoff being emcee to the Opening Ceremonies.
The opening ceremonies was a bit... lacking. An intro video played but it was an intro video for AniRevo (another anime convention run by these organizers). The video quality also looked very washed out on the screens since the room lights were bright. We were shown a video from one of their sponsors (Sega), but the video also looked very washed out. The video shown was Sega's VTuber Popona singing and dancing to a couple songs. The only good part (at least in my opinion) was the emcee, Jeremy Androsoff, and his musical performances (it really takes a lot of guts to perform onstage and to put lots of feeling into it).
There were no guests present during the opening ceremonies... no words from the president of Anime Toronto... no extra performances from the other guests... compared to IFFT, this opening ceremony was a shell of what it could have been. :(
With almost an hour until the next thing, I went into the Vendor's Hall. Some of the booths were tempting, especially the ones in the Artist Alley but my attempt to be more minimalist kept my wallet safe... for the most part.
The booth for official IFFT / Anime Toronto merchandise. The mascots are really cute.
A bunch of crane games. I didn't feel like trying my luck, hahaha :)
Lots of pretty merch. I think they are keychains or lanyards.
AMV Showcase -- 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
What am I seeing right now?
This was another disappointment for me. Why would an AMV event take place in an area where the lighting was sooo bright? Similar to what happened during the Opening Ceremonies, the videos looked washed out. The AMV Showcase would have worked better in a darkly lit room. I had my notebook out to jot down some memorable AMVs, but almost all of the AMVs had no credit information. I did my best to write down the series and any unique song lyrics or unique things so I can try searching for them later.
The AMV Showcase was scheduled to happen again but on the Saturday when I wouldn't be at the convention, so I sat through the entire 2 hours of washed out-looking AMVs. As I've mentioned in previous convention blogs, I love AMVs a lot. This is probably the worst treatment to AMVs I've ever seen.
Below is a clip of the video quality on the screen and then a couple AMVs that I think were played during the showcase.
A short clip of an AMV. I can't make out what's going on here :(
"Light Switch ~ Orange Road AMV" by Simplyfx. The song is "Light Switch" by Charlie Puth. I've never watched this series so I'm not sure if there are any spoilers.
"The Ouran Side AMV" by BecauseImBored1. The song is "The Other Side" from The Greatest Showman. Watching this makes me want to re-watch the series. <3
I made a couple purchases from the Artist Alley and sat at a chair downstairs to wait for the next thing. Eventually I saw a friend and spoke with him until doors opened for the next event. He made a killing with the crane games, lucky him.
When everybody walked in, we were handed an "Anime Speedtune Qualifier Exam" card. Pretty much, this was to see who would make the cut to participate in the actual Anime Speedtune event on Sunday. Gippy, the host, explained this preliminary was to offset anybody waiting in line for hours when contestants were originally determined via a first come, first serve basis.
Gippy would play 25 tunes for I think 10 seconds each and we had to guess if the tune was an opening theme, ending theme, or an insert song. A tie-breaker tune was also played with a question that asked for a numeric answer. I didn't originally plan to be a contestant, but I wanted to see how I did in the qualifier. Embarrassingly, I recognized only one song. For many of the tunes I just guessed.
After the tunes were all played, the exam cards were quickly collected and Gippy opened an Excel file with all the answers. He then proceeded to score each person's card live, automatically disqualifying any without a name.
Somehow, even with all my guessing, I made the cut! :O
My Qualifier Exam card and how each correct answer would be scored. I'm #4.
Gippy, the host of Anime Speedtune.
The answers to the qualifier. I can't believe I didn't recognize a tune from Parasyte: The Maxim! I love that show! DX The tune I recognized was from Detroit Metal City.
My overall score, if you can find #4.
Scoring is done. If you take a look at the "ID#" column, I believe that the column on the left counts how many people answered correctly for each row. This Excel sheet is very nicely organized! XD
Misc. Photos for Friday
The "life story" for one of the artists in Artist Alley. There was so much text I felt compelled to read it and so I took a picture so I wouldn't look all creepy standing by her booth for a long time trying to read it there. I could relate to her story somewhat :)
The Vendor's Hall and Artist Alley! There weren't too many attendees. I'm hoping that's because it was a Friday.
Saturday Time Attended: N/A
As mentioned earlier, I had to attend a wedding so I missed this day entirely. All I hoped was that the turnout for Anime Toronto was much, much better on Saturday.
Instead, here are a couple of Anime Toronto-related videos I found on YouTube:
"Anime Toronto September 2023" by The Great Canadian Explorer. This video walks through the vendor hall and artist alley. Music starts playing randomly at some point -- I imagine this is because of the singing in the background that had to be covered up due to copyright.
"Anime Toronto 2023 VLOG" by Ricoanmf. This short-ish vlog details his experiences on Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday Time Attended: 4:30 PM - 7:30-ish PM (SUNNY)
I woke up pretty late today (I wonder why, lol) and missed a couple panels I wanted to check out. The only thing I still had time for was Anime Speedtune.
As I was making my way to the Convention Centre, I noticed several attendees walking past me (i.e. heading away from the convention -- they were likely going home already).
While I was in the line for Anime Speedtune, I ran into the same friend I saw on Friday and we chatted. He also passed the qualifiers. When the doors opened, 10 tickets were given out to attendees who wanted a chance to participate in case there were no-shows.
Anime Speedtune Grand Final -- 5:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Anime Speedtune!
I was a little nervous. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a participant for Anime Speedtune because I was sure I would make a fool of myself. My anime music knowledge is pretty limited since I tend to watch a mix of new and older shows. I also think I don't watch enough anime. My friend said that I didn't have to participate, but I was very undecided.
To briefly sum up how Anime Speedtune works, it is a name that tune-type game but with a lot of extra elements. There are four rounds and the contestant with the highest score from each round moves to the final round. Contestants score points by answering correctly, but there are multiple difficulties. Answering correctly to a tune from a higher difficulty will earn more points. On top of there being multiple difficulties, there are also various modes like medleys and ramps that offer a slight variety in gameplay. And on top of that, there are also other things that can earn more points, if the contestant is skilled enough. It really is the most competitive name that tune game I've ever seen.
Overall instructions for Anime Speedtune.
More instructions.
All the categories.
A clip of Speedtune with quick guesses.
One of the medleys. I recognized two tunes, though I should have recognized four.
How many do you recognize? :3
The answers for the medley. I recognized Fullmetal Alchemist (I even remembered the song was called "Melissa"), and I was familiar with the song from Buso Renkin. I should have recognized K-On! and Sword Art Online.
Partway through Game 2, some water accidentally got on Gippy's laptop (the host). Soon after the screen froze for a few seconds and turned off. My internal reaction was D:! Gippy tried to dry the laptop but it didn't work. In the end, they were able to borrow a spare laptop and continue the gameshow that way, but the song categories were displayed as a bunch of files instead of the original layout. The contestants also had to raise their hands to answer instead of buzzing in. In order to make sure the event didn't run too over time, a couple games were shortened to playing only 10 seconds per song instead of 25 seconds. I have to commend Gippy that despite the mishap, he was still able to get the event done.
I did end up participating in Anime Speedtune, and I did embarrass myself -- I only got one correct guess, and it was video game-related, haha. ^^;
Anime Speedtune continues!
Misc. Photos for Sunday
How the Sunday afternoon looked like.
Overall Thoughts
From what I experienced (Friday and part of Sunday), Anime Toronto was unfortunately pretty lackluster. However, I can't be completely upset. Below were some of my thoughts while attending the convention:
Did it cost anything for the organizers to cancel IFFT back in 2020 (cancelling any contracts with the venue, guests, vendors, hotels, etc)? What are the logistics involved with running a convention? This is the organizer's second time running a convention in Toronto, but it's under a new convention name -- how many new attendees would come?
I believe that if there was sufficient funding, Anime Toronto would have been an awesome experience. Then again, this is based on my experience on Friday and part of Sunday. The Opening Ceremonies and AMV showcase needed improvements, but the Anime Speedtune events were good. Maybe I missed a lot of good panels that could have changed my impression?
Despite my feelings about Anime Toronto, I really hope it comes back next year. I want it to grow and flourish. I loved IFFT 2019 and I really hope to see its spirit continue on in Anime Toronto.
Photos of Cosplayers
As mentioned earlier, here are some photos of cosplayers. I didn't see too many, but I'm sure that's because many were roaming about on Saturday. The most popular cosplays I saw were from Genshin Impact.
Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui.
Keqing from Genshin Impact.
Nahida from Genshin Impact.
Zhongli! He looked too comfortably seated so I didn't want to bother him for a photo.
Cosplay I wanted to take a pic of, but missed my chance -I can only imagine a bunch who attended on the Saturday
My Convention Purchases
Since I'm trying to be more minimalist these days, I didn't do that much spending. We'll see if that stance changes in the future. I do like supporting artists I like.
I've said this in previous convention blogs, but I'm saying this again. When buying fan stuff, I often have this frame of mind:
1. Does the art style align with my tastes? 2. Does this work express the kind of fandom that expresses me? (like, if I saw a poster of Zuko and Katara holding hands and gently smiling, I might get it, because it expresses how I feel about their relationship -- a sense of deep understanding for each other) 3. Is this a piece of work that will evoke something in me every time I see it?
For what I've bought that I haven't yet watched / experienced the series for, I'll note it like this: (*) Here is what I bought:
A couple picture / sticker keychain from Next Stop Please. The idea is to draw an image or put a photo sticker on the white piece of paper and slot it in. I thought it'd make for a nice personalized gift :) The paper template can be found on their site.
A bunch of things from Kelly K (the artist whose "life story" I took a pic of on Friday). Her style really appealed to me! Hopefully I'll get to see more of her stuff at future conventions.
So, to calculate the "damage" to my wallet: 2 picture / sticker keychains from Next Stop Please: $25 2 zines + stickers + print from Kelly K.: $50
Total "Damage": $75
If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading! Here's hoping that the next blog for Anime Toronto will be a more positive one (if it comes back -- please come back)! If you have any questions about anything I experienced at Anime Toronto, or just comments and questions on anything, feel free to comment! Thank you again for reading and have a wonderful rest of the week! :)
