"MIKUNOPOLIS" was a part of "ANIME EXPO 2011". First I reported the nitty-gritty of the whole event. Secondary I'm going to report about the main exhivition.
So, again, I'll report it in my English that is under development... (re, really...?)
"ANIME EXPO 2011" was held from Jul.1 ~ Jul.4, at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), Los Angeles, California, US. That is the largest animation festival in the North America.
I got the LACC at around 3pm, July 1. However, I've only bought 1 day ticket for Jul.2... It means that I can't enter the inside on that day.
I could enter the lobby without ticket. And there were...
There were "Itasha" Toyota Corolla!
(A car that body is decorated by illustration of animation/video game character. You know that Miku is not an animation character though.)
We could get a poster when we answered a sheet of simple survey about car.
The next day, they were giving another poster. And more, the other group were distributing different poster in front of NOKIA theater. Totally I got 3 different posters.
However, I couldn't get the fourth design that was released Jul.3, my leaving day. Moreover, I couldn't grab a (kind of) cushion designed Miku at the NOKIA theater. These are strongly regrettable point of this journey.
Later, I bought a 2-feet-long drain pipe at the DIY store. It helped to bring these posters to Japan in perfect condition!
Stick to the main hall. I went to the reception and asked "I have a pre-registration for tomorrow. Can I exchange my real(?) ticket now?". The answer was "Yes, you can.". I will save some time tomorrow...
Anyway, my ticket was only for tomorrow. Can't wait!
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
...July 2 is coming!
I arrived at the LACC at 8:30 because I'd misunderstood it opens 9am. However, the hall opened at 10am. I had to stay in a line to wait for the opening of the door.
At five to ten, the line advanced inside of the hall. Unlike Japanese similar festival, there were no clapping hands.
I went to the already crowded "MIKUNOPOLIS" booth first, bought the official brochures and coasters. I also stood in a line to buy Nendoroid... but I got out from the line several minutes later. Because, I thought that just making line is waste of my time (aroumd 1 hour). And I also thought that the Nendoroid should be bought by the American. It's a kind of charity for the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami victims.
I chose walking the whole area of the hall. As I see it, it's not as large as the West hall of Tokyo Big Site. But, the width of corridors and the size of each booths were enough for many visitors. Also, there were many tables and chairs to take rest. It was possible to have a light meal from a booth.
Most booths were by the companies. Some Japanese companies also displayed their products....By the way, "YAOI"...
The innermost area was "Artist Alley". It was a doujin... amateur illustrator's booths. The number of booths were not as many as Japanese event such as "Comic Market", but the quality of their illustration were quite high! I couldn't find any "Thin Book" as a derivative works that is very common in Japanese events. Mainly, posters, postcards and badges were sold. Some group were selling big tapestries.
I bought these illustrations. It costed around $10 each. Personally I think these were expensive although I don't know much about the average price of Doujin in Japan.
There are many print shop among Japan because Japanese loves books, magazines and fliers... so, it is very easy to publish anything in Japan. American situation must be very different.
I'm not sure that American point of view for copyright and derivative works influences Doujin or not. Also, I can't speculate that whether many American illustrators are not aiming for their original (includes derivative) scenarios. The price might reflects that American doujin is not matured yet. Although their works are rising remarkably high level, American doujin world is still under construction, I think.
On the other hands, Japanese prices are rather cheap than American are expensive. A day in this travel, I paid $30 for my dinner at a casual restaurant. (I ordered a mug of beer, salad and pasta (including tax and tip)). Certainly, the pasta was delicious and it had many large scallops and shrimps. However I was confused the price actually. If I ordered soup and dessert, it would cost up to $50.
When I set this price as a kind of guideline of all prices in the States, paying $10 for each illustration may be reasonable...
Back to the main hall.
There were many cosplayers. And they were real.
When I asked "Would you mind taking your picture?", many cosplayer showes a little shy smile. But the next moment, they answered "Not at all!" and posed for my photo.
(To tell the truth, the shy smile must be the prettiest face for them, I believe! But you know, only photographers can know the smile...)
These costume can be bought from web shop even in the States, and of course it's possible to import them from Japan personally. However, the cosplayer should think about the size of the costume. These for Japanese women must be to small for westerners.
Then, I suppose many cosplayers sew their own costume by theirselves. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was Hollywood, as the home of entertainment. People seeks reality and accuracy.
She could become Rin Kagamine with her natural hair. That must be a kind of advantage.
Some cosplayers are dressed in special costume about particular song such as "Matryoshka" and "magnet".
Of course, there are many many cosplayers without VOCALOIDs.
And they leave the hall with their costume. I found GUMI was walking downtown near the next station of the LACC.
After the lunch near the Nokia theater, I went to the West building of LACC to listen to a conference. There were Mr.Sasaki (Crypton Future Media Inc.) and Mr. Onyx Kobahashi (the vocaloid producer who composed "Saihate").
That conference was also aimed a sort of marketing in the North America by Crypton Inc. Hatsune Miku English edition is going to be developed. However, unlike Luka, English Miku may speak and sing "Engrish" =Japanese-like English because Ms. Fujita Saki, as "the person inside of Miku" (Ms. Fujita gave Miku the voice.) can't speak English well, according to the conference.
During the conference, Mr. Sasaki said that "I suppose, the song by the prototype of English Miku might be listened near here, tonight... ". The large conference room was filled by shouts of joy! You should know what it means... yes, of course!
Mr. Sasaki asked many questions to the audience. Do everybody choose and listen to VOCALOID songs by the name of producer, Where do you find new VOCALOID songs...
The supplier's point of view, they are very important question whether English Miku will succeed or not. It is, so to speak, the possibility of the advent of English-speaking producers from the US, currently only as a consumer.
Mr. Onyx Kobayashi also emphasized that "I want to listen to music that was produced by the American sense of music." Definitely, I think so, too. In near future, when many nice songs get across the Pacific Ocean West bound, that must cause the improvement of skills and senses together. Also, that improvement will bring international collaboration, a song by American and an illustration by Japanese... for instance. The Web make us realize international exchange quite easily!
Personally, for the future of VOCALOID, it must be very important test whether Miku is sold well in the US or not, equally means whether many American producers appears or not.
However, double check the current situation.
Actually, although there are many English VOCALOIDs, I've never heard that these VOCALOIDs are popular and common among the World. That's regrettable. You know that Luka can sing Japanese and English songs now. Also, there are other English VOCALOIDs such as SweetAnn and BigAl who has VOCALOID2 engine. But still, why American prefer Miku? Is the US still sticking to the character? You never forget that she and her mates sing YOUR SONG on your desktop!!
I sincerely expect that how many American change their class from consumer to producer because of their strong desire, "I want Miku to sing my song!".
After the conference, I went to NOKIA theater for the live!
All photos about this report are on Picasa.
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