Animax’s Blog

Animax enters the Third Quarter of 2008 with lots of news shows and exciting events for everyone!

New Shows!

If you haven’t been paying any attention to the previews for July, the premiering title for next month will be Sergeant Keroro (aka Keroro Gunso).
It’s one of the most popular serial anime in Japan about the many
misadventures of Keron military misfits Keroro, Giroro, Kururu, Tamama
and Dororo in their futile attempts to invade Planet Pekopon (That’s
Earth, to you!). Sergeant Keroro is particularly infamous for
poking fun at Gundam fandom, especially since Keroro is such a huge fan
of Gundam models. Oh, if you’re one of those lazy sorts who don’t know
which end of the broom to use to sweep the floor, watch the show!
Keroro has cleaning tips for everyone.

For August, we’ve got one sporty title. The Big Wind Up (aka Ookiku Furikabutte)
follows the humorous trials and tribulations of a down and out baseball
team as they work their way towards competing in the prestigious High
School Baseball Tournament, Koshien.

CLAMP fans have a lot to celebrate in September when Animax premiere’s xxxHOLic,
which focuses on the adventures of a young boy who works for a
beautiful witch, who was the power to grant wishes but for a hefty
price.

Big Events!

To those of you
who live in Malaysia and are not subscribed to the Animax newsletter,
you probably don’t know that there will be an Animax Youth Festival
coming your way in August. There will be a lot of interesting and fun
activities in line with the event, so stay tuned to the website for
more details.

There are two
major competitions coming your way in the latter half of this year.
Sadly, I can’t tell you about the first one, but I’m sure you’ll be
hearing about it very soon. It’ll be of particular interest for those
who are musically inclined.

The second event
is the highly anticipated Animax Awards competition, wherein a select
contestant from Southeast Asia will compete with contestants from Japan
for the chance to see their scripts turned into anime. In line with
this event, Animax will be premiering the original production LaMB (aka Laminated Woman), which won for writer Carmelo S.J. Juinio the Special Jury Prize at last year’s competition.

Indeed, there are a lot you could look forward to on Animax in the coming months! So please stay tuned!!

~~~~~~~~~~

More Cosplay Tips

Because of space
constraints in the last blog, there was something very important that I
inadvertently forgot to mention about coming up with costumes for
cosplay.

If you have been one of those people who have gotten hooked on The Count of Monte Cristo (aka Gankutsuou)
on Animax, then you would definitely have noticed the elaborate
costumes in the anime. Unlike other anime, the particular challenge
posed by Gankutsuou for the cosplayer is finding the EXACT
textile that matches the textures used in the anime. Just take a look
at the pic of the cast below and you’ll understand what I mean.

© 2004 Mahiro Maeda GONZO/MEDIA FACTORY GDH

The obvious
option is to go out to your local textile to find the fabric that
matches the textures. Some were lucky enough to be able to find the
matching fabric or a close approximation of it, but it’s a long tedious
search in bargain bins and markets. Others who could afford it could
actually purchase the dress that fashion designer Anna Sui designed for
the anime in her boutique. But, there are some fans who are actually
ingenious and resourceful enough to do the designs on the costumes
themselves through silkscreen painting and other methods. Believe me!
If one is indeed patient and resourceful enough, the outcome would be
pretty astounding. Just take a look at this group of cosplayers below.

© 2006 By Jason/i360.com

How To Mainstream Cosplay

Probably the most
common comment that I’ve received from blog readers is that they don’t
see cosplay happening in their respective countries. Cosplay was
unheard of in the Philippines, but it has now become an almost
bimonthly affair in my country. The funny thing about Filipino
cosplayers that I’ve heard from Japanese acquaintances is that it is
probably only in my country wherein you actually see cosplayers
brazenly walking outside of the convention hall dressed in costumes.
The Japanese, you see, limit their cosplaying activities within the
event venue. They remove their costumes immediately once the event is
over. So you could say that when Filipinos cosplay, they do it with all
their guts, ingenuity and, as a result, they reap the glory as well.

Okay, I know not
everyone has iron guts, but if you want cosplay to become popular in
your country, you need to have that cocky attitude to get it going.
Just how could you make cosplay a mainstream affair in your countries?

1. Start small.
Organize small cosplay gatherings among the youth in your community. It
doesn’t even have to focus on characters in anime or manga. You could
cosplay as your favorite scifi or fantasy film character. Is there a
popular actor/actress/singer in your country? Then, you could cosplay
them.

2. Start
simple. You don’t have to start cosplaying using costumes as grand as
the CLAMP characters. You could try something simple, like the casual
wear in Honey & Clover or the school uniforms in Ouran High School Host Club or Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

3. Get
information about any conventions or events happening in your area. You
don’t need an anime convention to cosplay in. Gaming conventions allow
cosplayers of every genre to participate in them. Even if there are no
cosplaying competitions at a con, get into the festive spirit by going
to the con dressed in your favorite anime and game character.
Malaysians, you have an Animax Youth Festival coming up in your
country. Fuel the need for cosplay by attending the festival dressed as
your favorite anime character. Mark my words on this! During Animax
Fashion Ability, we actually had cosplayers dressed as Naruto, Miaka
Yuuki and the characters in Paradise Kiss mingling among the crowd.

4. Again, be
cocky, be bold. You can’t achieve ANYTHING if you just sit around and
say that "it couldn’t be done in my country" and other such negative
sentiments. Think positive, work hard, and GO FOR IT!

CARD CAPTOR SAKURA: THE FAVORITE OF CHUBBY COSPLAYERS

© CLAMP/SUNRISE•Bandai Visual

Let’s say you’re
hanging out at your favorite mall when suddenly you find yourself
surrounded by wizards, sorcerers, warriors with swords, robots and
aliens. You might even find yourself bumping into a deadringer of a
hugely popular Japanese comedian, who dresses in an outlandish all
black leather ensemble that would make full-blooded males cringe or run
away. Before you think you’ve been sucked into a wormhole and taken to
another dimension, don’t panic. Chances are there’s a cosplay
convention happening nearby.

What the heck is Cosplay?

Cosplay is a
contraction of two words — "costume" and "play." While certain fans
would dress up as their favorite characters in sci-fi conventions as
early as the 70s, it was in Japan wherein cosplays has been elevated to
an art form. Fans would go out dressed as their favorite
anime/manga/video game characters, popular J-pop and TV stars to
compete in prestigious cosplay competitions or to simply show off their
elaborate costumes to fellow fans. In recent years, cosplay has not
limited itself to Japanese pop culture. They have also included popular
characters from Western novels and movies. The Star Wars characters remain a huge favorite among fans. Don’t be surprised if you also happen to bump into students from Hogwarts.

Some of the major
conventions in Japan that feature cosplay competitions include Comiket
(which is held twice a year, usually in August and December), Tokyo
Game Show in September, and Jump Fiesta in December. There are also
numerous cosplay competitions held in every prefecture in Japan. All
you have to do is check schedules on the Internet. If you’re that
frustrated and excited enough to cosplay, then go to Harajuku and
Akihabara where cosplay gatherings are held every Sunday.

Becoming a Cosplayer

While to the
dubious onlooker, cosplay may seem like an outlandish form of
frustrated theatrics, ask any cosplayer and they’ll tell you that
cosplay is not just simple acting. To be a successful cosplayer, you
have to BECOME the character you’re playing. This is not only through
the elaborate costumes they wear; they also need to project the
character’s personality, so that even for a moment, you would think
that you are indeed looking at and speaking to the character. In fact,
during cosplay conventions, you never address a cosplayer by his or her
real name. You call her by the name of the character she is playing.
You can tell a real good cosplayer if he or she exudes the personality
of the character.

I spoke to Marvel comic artist Wilson Tortosa (who is presently hard at work on the Wolverine Manga)
and his pretty lady friend Mic at the recently concluded Toycon in the
Philippines. Both are avid cosplayers. In fact, Wilson has served as a
judge in several prestigious cosplay competitions in the country.

"While most fans
think cosplaying is all about the costumes, actually it’s just a part
of what makes a cosplayer," Wilson explained. "When I was a judge, I
was often disappointed by the way certain cosplayers would just march
on stage and model around as though they were in a fashion show. That’s
not what cosplay is about. You have to be the character you’re playing.
It’s usually the cosplayer who convincingly portrays the character who
wins the competition."

Wilson cited two good examples of Filipino cosplayers. "JM Chua who portrayed Saitoh Hajime from Samurai X
was the winner of the first AXN Anime Festival in 2001, which first
introduced cosplay competition to the Philippines. He later went on to
compete in the HK Comics Festival, where he also won First Place. A lot
of Chinese contestants complained about his win in both competitions on
the basis of the costume, because their costumes were certainly pretty
and elaborate. However, while JM’s costume may be simple in comparison,
he floored the judges with his dead on portrayal of Saitoh, complete
with the mannerisms of the character. It was like you were looking at
Saitoh himself." (BLOGGER’S
NOTE: Lamentably, despite the huge popularity of the two AXN Anime
Festivals, neither AXN or Animax were able to continue these festivals,
much to the disappointment of Filipinos anime fans and cosplayers.)

Filipino JM Chua and Singaporean Huang Zhilong as Saitoh and Shishio

© September, 2001 by Bamboo_Vine

Another cosplayer
who has captured the hearts of Filipinos is Hard Gay Philippines, who
made his debut at Ozine Fest this year. Laughs Wilson, "Hard Gay
Philippines (HGP) is undoubtedly a smash because he truly captured the
flamboyant spirit of original Hard Gay Masaki Sumitani of Japan. There
is one cosplayer whom he left in absolute shock though I overheard her
saying to her friend, ‘Oh my God! That’s my UNCLE!’" All the Obataku
could say to this is "BE PROUD OF YOUR UNCLE, KID! He’s got a lot of
guts!" XD

Hard Gay Masaki Sumitani and his Filipino counterpart, Hard Gay Philippines

© April, 2008 by Alvin and Hard Gay Philippines

To all those who
have been bombarding me with questions on where they could buy or rent
cosplay costumes, that would probably be a point AGAINST you. According
to Mic, "Japanese judges specifically look for creativity in the
cosplay costume. They can tell if the costume was simply made-to-order.
You need to show and prove to the judges that you have added your own
personal touches to your costume."

If you were to
have a dressmaker or costume maker do your costume for you, it would
cost you from between USD 200 to as much as 1,000, and this is
excluding the accessories. However, if you are that creative and
resourceful enough to make your own costume, you could slash this
estimated value by half or even more.

Pointed out
Wilson, "There are two things that cosplay judges look for in the
costumes — creativity and cosplayer resourcefulness."

To those who
couldn’t sew a full garment even if their life depended on it, Mic
suggested that you have a dressmaker sew the BASIC costume, without the
embellishments. A good example are the long coats in D-Grayman.
Have a dressmaker sew the basic black coat. You then will sew on the
elaborate laces, beads, buttons, zippers, etc. that would transform it
into the character’s costume.

Some characters
obviously have their trademark weapons, such as fancy fighting staves,
swords and big guns. As Wilson himself demonstrated at the con, a
wooden staff and sword can be made to look like a convincing metal
weapon by using the right type of paint. Bazooka-type guns that are
strapped to the arms could be made from large plastic soda bottles. Add
some embellishments using a little cardboard, styrofoam, colored paper,
glitter and a lot of glue, and voila, you have yourself a weapon.
Sentai helmets could be made from styrofoam, papier mache or by
recycling old motorcycle of bike helmets that you have at home.
However, certain helmet embellishments like the visor may need to be
manufactured by a professional. As Mic narrated, what is preventing her
and Wilson from cosplaying Jun and Jinpei from the Gatchaman anime is that the bird-like visor for the helmet alone would cost USD 150.

Characters like the monsters from Alien
and other video games and robots would require a lot of creativity and
imagination. Obviously you cannot use metal because it is not only
expensive, it can also be very heavy and hot to wear. Some players have
made robot costumes out of very stiff cardboard, but as Wilson pointed
out, it could also be very flimsy. Just one hard bump and it could
create a dent in the cardboard. He and his friend have found a perfect
solution to this. Instead of using cardboard, they used sheets of stiff
leather which they purchased from shoe manufacturing companies in in my
country.

One mustn’t
forget. Henna and cosmetics are also a cosplayers best friend for those
tattoos and fierce face paints. And don’t forget the colored wigs,
which you can purchase from your local wig shops.

Someone inquired
about purchasing special contact lenses that would make him/her have
Kakashi’s sharingan. These lenses are called theatrical lenses,
specifically "scleral lenses", because they don’t just cover the pupil
but also the white of the eyes. I have asked around and you can only
order them online. Most optometrists would not make scleral lenses
because prolonged use may cause visual disturbances and eye damage.

As Wilson himself
also put it, "While having Kakashi’s sharingan may seem impressive,
please take note that you are up on stage and the judges may not even
be able to see your special lenses that clearly. You don’t convince the
judges you’re Kakashi by the theatrical lenses you’re wearing; you have
to be Kakashi himself."

COSPLAYING TIPS

After reading the
above and you still want to be a cosplayer, here are a few tips from
yours truly and a few people who have cosplayed in the past.

1. Because
cosplaying could be expensive, select the events that you would like to
participate in. If you are going to compete, better to give a few
months to prepare your costume and accessories.

2. DO NOT
immediately choose a character you want to cosplay. Take a long hard
look at yourself in the mirror, choose a character who closely
resembles you in appearance and body build, and apply the basic tips of
fashion. If you are fat, for heaven’s sake, please don’t wear those
frilly mini-skirt ensembles from Card Captor Sakura and Paradise Kiss because
the added volume of the garment could make you look even fatter. Call
me snooty if you will but it really makes me cringe whenever I see
chubby girls dressed in billowing, frilly dresses. Let’s face it. I’m a
bit on the hefty side myself and I know what I look like when wore
voluminous dresses. Go for a dark, streamlined garments, such as
trenchcoats or basic shinigami garb to hide the flab.

3. Study closely
the character’s personality and mannerisms. By knowing every nuance of
the character, this would make you a convincing cosplayer.

4. If you are
competing in either the individual or group cosplay competitions,
REHEARSE. Yes, it could be nerve-wracking on stage. But with constant
practice and rehearsal, you will find that you will become more at ease
when you finally face the adoring crowd.

To conclude this
blog, a bunch of people were asking me where in their countries they
could buy cosplay costumes and accessories. For heaven’s sake, I live
in the Philippines. How would I know the answer to that question? If
you are that desperate to cosplay, inquire from local costume
manufacturers, use the yellow pages of your phone book, or better yet,
do what Mic had done and just have a dressmaker sew your basic costume
and you add on the embellishments yourself. If you live in the
Philippines, you can join Cosplay.ph: The Philippine Cosplay Compendium,
where you can communicate with fellow cosplayers who can give you not
only valuable tips on how to make your costumes, but can recommend
stores wherein you can buy the necessary items for your costume at a
cheap price.

BLACK JACK FANART By ClaudiaKat

Okay…I was
supposed to post the blog on cosplaying, but as it turned out, I would
need more material for me to actually write it. Since I’ll be attending
a convention over the weekend, it will be the perfect opportunity for
me to get reunited with and gather information from friends who are
avid cosplayers. Expect it very early Monday morning.

Anyway, I’m
thankful at least that some people are now posting real comments below,
although I must be honest enough to admit that I am still NOT keen on
RETAINING the "Members Speak" section. But since the "issues" and other
questions keep on getting resurrected over and over and over again,
this will be my FINAL word on the matter. To those who continue to
bother me about how they should post their profiles, put up an avatar,
etc., etc. INSTEAD of writing to the webmaster with their complaints,
I’ve posted a simple tutorial on how you could do it. I’ve also posted
a few rules on how you should conduct yourself in the blog and in the
profiles of others. PLEASE COPY/PASTE THIS TO YOUR WORD PROGRAM SO I
WOULDN’T HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN AND AGAIN. If there’s one thing I
really hate, it’s repeating myself over and over again.

ANIMAX WEBSITE TUTORIAL: HOW TO GET AROUND THE GLITCHES

As a user of this
site, from what I’ve observed, the glitches of the website DO NOT occur
because of the number of inactive users. Neither do these inactive
users and their profiles occupy a significant amount of space that
would cause the problems that are plaguing the site of late. As I
mentioned in the previous blog, the glitches occur because of the
constant wear and tear that the ACTIVE members have been pushing this
site through, especially during high "traffic" hours, usually in the
afternoons and evenings. Sadly, this is at the expense of new members
whose profiles and avatars end up being lined up in a sort of "virtual
queue", so that their information pop up days after they had joined.
Plus, there are also quite a few problems that I’ve noted.

I’ve decided to break up this tutorial for NEW MEMBERS and for ACTIVE MEMBERS.

1. Think
carefully about the nick you would want to be known by and STICK WITH
IT. I really don’t see any reason why a person should constantly change
his or her nicks.

2. There is a
section in the Profile called "About Me" wherein you put all the
information that you would want your future friends to know about you.
DO NOT TYPE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION DIRECTLY INTO THE BOX.

3. First, TYPE or
DRAFT your "About Me" information on MS Word or any other word program
that you have. "About Me" has a character limit of around 850
characters. Keep your information WITHIN that limit. If you don’t know
how to check for the word/character count, on your Word Program, Click
"Tools" > Click "Word Count". Another good reason why you should
draft your "About Me" info first is for you to be able to read
beforehand what information you would want included and delete those
that you feel are unimportant. Make sure that ALL the info is there, so
you wouldn’t have to edit it time and again. STICK WITH THE PROFILE
THAT YOU’VE POSTED.

4. I should
mention this. Include in your "About Me" Profile about the friends you
would like and do not like to have. There is one new member whom I
admire for posting, even in the blog, about people NOT adding her if
they don’t like to make friends with Vietnamese, or other nationalities
for that matter. Specify what you DO NOT LIKE in people. Some members
act as if they are way too familiar with the other person when they
don’t know them at all. This way, you can avoid rude and nasty
arguments.

4. Once you’ve made your FINAL version for "About Me", copy/paste it to the box and click "Update".

5. Have a folder for Avatars inside your computer. Select ONE avatar that you would like to use for ONE MONTH.

6. The avatar
should be EXACTLY 75 x 75 pixels in size. Even if it says the system
will automatically resize larger images, DO NOT post a 100 x 100 pixel
or larger sized avatar.

7. Some avatars
despite being at the exact size may not load immediately because it is
in high resolution. Try to lower the resolution first using Photoshop
or other imaging program.

8. If your
profiile or avatar does not load, then it is on queue. Wait for a
minimum of 24 hours to a maximum of 3 days for the profile/avatar to
appear.

9. If avatars or
profiles still don’t appear after 3 days, CONTACT THE WEBMASTER at
webmaster@animax-asia.com for SEA and webmaster@animaxindia.com for
India. DON’T BUG THE BLOGGER ABOUT TECHNICAL MATTERS.

1. DO NOT CHANGE
NICKS. Think about the nickname you want to go by and STICK WITH IT. I
don’t see why anyone should constantly change aliases. Sorry, but only
criminals do that.

1. DO NOT
CONSTANTLY UPDATE YOUR PROFILES. Same as for new members, do a COMPLETE
and FINAL version of your "About Me" information using the procedure
above. STICK WITH IT!

2. DO NOT CHANGE
AVATARS FREQUENTLY. You are preventing newbies from posting their own
icons. Limit avatar changes to ONCE A MONTH!

1. ALWAYS BE
POLITE AND COURTEOUS, not just to the blogger and moderators but to
your fellow members as well. DO NOT USE THE BLOG AS A CHATROOM.

2. WATCH WHAT YOU
TYPE! Some members tend to act as if they are already "familiar" with
or have judged their fellow member to be of a certain type of
personality. If you feel someone is being way too familiar with you,
then say so nicely. There are also certain members who have offended me
greatly with their comments about me being a "racist" and exchanging
similar offensive name-calling to their fellow members. IF YOU CAN’T
SAY ANYTHING NICE, THEN SHUT UP!

3. The "Member
Speak" section of the blog has a 3,000 character limit. To make sure
that your comments are within the character limit, PLEASE TYPE THEM OUT
FIRST ON A WORD PROGRAM.

4. Although I do not consider myself a grammar nazi, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR COMMENTS ARE COHERENT AND WOULD NOT BE MISREAD.

5. "Greetings"
and "Add me’s" will be tolerated but up to a certain point. To newbies
who are looking for new friends, INTRODUCE YOURSELF PROPERLY. Let me
give you an example: "Hi, I’m Charisa. I’m a huge fan of Animax,
and I particularly love anime like ‘Colourcloud Palace’ and ‘Honey
& Clover’. I even participate in cosplays. I am looking for friends
who share the same interests as me. However, I have to admit to not
liking rude and arrogant people. If you think you can be my friend,
then just click on my nick and visit my profile. Let’s chat a few
times. If we could be friends, then ‘Add Me’. THIS IS HOW I WOULD LIKE YOUR FRIENDSHIP SEARCHES TO BE FROM NOW ON.

6. To active
members who are looking for friends among the newbies, just simply
invite them to your profile by telling them to click on your nick.

7. LIMIT ADD ME’S AND GREETINGS TO ONLY ONE A DAY. There is no need to put a string of it up in the blog.

8. DO NOT POST
FRIENDSHIP SPAM, ANIME LYRICS OR ASCII ART IN THE BLOG OR MEMBER
PROFILES. You are cluttering up the site with useless stuff when the
space would be best used for offering/sharing information, comments and
suggestions.

9. If you have a
picture or read a news item that you feel would be worth sharing to
fellow members, POST THE LINK TO IT WHEN YOU COMMENT IN THE BLOG.

10. POST YOUR
CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE BLOG, THE ANIMAX WEBSITE
AND PROGRAMMING, INCLUDING REQUESTS FOR NEW SHOWS, IN THE MEMBER’S
SPEAK SECTION. Especially when the members are being polite about it, I
would often compile the comments and submit them as a complete report
to the Animax management. However, I must point out that not all
suggestions could be accommodated due to certain constraints. When this
happens, DO NOT GO ON A RANTING SPREE. You only make things worse for
yourself.

A FEW FINAL WORDS

Mizuha, I have to
agree with you about the Fan Ranking, although I don’t agree with you
regarding the inactive members. While Fan Ranking is meant to monitor
the activity of the members, it has been used as a gauge by a misguided
few to measure their "dubious" popularity. I’ve said it before in a
previous blog. JUST A CLICK OF "ADD ME" DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE FOUND A
GOOD FRIEND. If you want to find a friend, then get to know them first.
Don’t just add them automatically.

Regarding those
who have asked me why I have rejected their "Add Me" request: Put it
simply, you have insulted me and you have offended me. I certainly
wouldn’t like to have a friend who has judged me to be someone I’m not.
If you have gotten on my bad side, and believe me I am a very patient
and tolerant person, I would never like to have you for a friend.

Regarding those
who left: All I could say is this. They have posted certain
suggestions, which were not really feasible, given the attitudes and
behaviors that their fellow members here have. While chatrooms, etc,
would’ve made interaction easier, the members have NOT demonstrated
that they are capable of behaving properly. Ask any website moderator
how much trouble flame wars are. This is what I’ve been trying to
avoid. Unfortunately, these people have taken my comments in the
previous blog negatively and have taken the immature route by choosing
to leave. It’s one thing to give criticisms, but if you yourself can’t
handle receiving criticisms, frankly, I don’t know how you could
survive in the real world. The world does not revolve around one person
alone; there are also others to consider. I was happy to ignore all
the"Add Me’s", rude comments, etc. But when I saw members hurting other
members, that’s when I couldn’t take it anymore. I won’t deny that I’m
a very pretty straightforward person, but only when I’m forced to be.
Up to now, I DO NOT regret what I have written in the two previous
blogs. So, no, I WILL NOT make any apologies.

Finally to UNIQUE
and anyone else interested in cosplaying, better give me specific
questions so I could ask them from real live cosplayers and the
organizers of the cosplaying event this weekend.