An Ichigo Masimaro Signing Event

(tags Ichigo Masimaro, signature, DVD region 2)

It really was an Otaku Sunday: Dream Party Osaka was on. But I didn't bother going. Instead I attended this:

Yes, Barasui-sensei was in the house. I was able to get a signed (copied) illustration for Ichigo Masimaro (苺ましまろ). As a fanatic for this series, being able to meet Barasui-sensei in the flesh, have something personally signed by him (with my name!), and actually shake his (drawing) hand is really one of the high points in my hobbies.

Basically I won a raffle (like 99 other people in the Osaka area) to attend this signing event after buying his latest tankoban manga volume 6 and the two recent DVD OVAs in the Encore series. As with the previous outing, I had to send the proofs of purchases through the mail and wait for the good news. It came as a small postcard. I saw a Yahoo Auction for this postcard asking for 15_0000 yen, but there were no takers.

I came in later, so I had to wait about 20 minutes, with 30 people in front of me. The stench in the room was typical otaku-funk, yuk. It didn't help that today was a bright, sunny day in the middle of tsuyu (monsoon) season. Perhaps as I get older, I am more sensitive to odor? That runs contrary to my body running down.

The first 50 people were told to sit in comfy rollable chairs, as if Barasui-sensei was holding a class. He was sitting at the signing desk, with a bunch of IM derivate goods (like the DVDs). They had the opening and ending themes playing in the background to get us in the mood. It was pretty spooky. I was able to stare at him while the first 39 people had their turn. Barasui-sensei himself looked pretty slim and healthy. He drew himself in one of those pickup collections (Ichigo Masimaru Yorinuku ?) as a sports or soccer nerd, and he definately looks it. I would have never guessed by appearance alone that this man would like to draw you some elementary school life manga.

Barasui-sensei and his two female handlers paused when before writing my name. Since my name in Japanese is 11 katakana characters, I suppose it was much longer than he expected to write. Huh. So I just requested my last name. Also, perhaps I was the only foreigner able to attend this event. (except I spied the Japanese guy with a foreign sounding first name, oh.) That must be why he asked where I was from. (I do recall that he did signing events in Taiwan, though.) He wasn't talkative and I wasn't talkative so I left with an Arigatou Gozaimasu, a handshake and a bow.

On the way out, one of the lady handlers asked me which character I liked and I said "Miu" because I blanked out. (I should have said Ana.) So I received a candy with a small Miu illustration as well. Finally I received a A3 sized Encore "activity" paper, intended for kids, like one of those McDonalds tray papers.

You know about 98% of the attendies were guys. Well there was a guy in a suit and tie, so he obviously wins the most normal prize. The one girl that was in the group in front of me was spastic and talkative. Not normal. Every other guy was in typical backpack/messenger bag and casual otaku long pants denim.

There are a couple of things I regret. I wish I said more, like "I like your comics", or "I am glad to finally see you", or "I will continue to support you". I suppose I panicked, and instead I have an awkward silence as a memory. Another thing I wish I had done was to prepare some kind of omiyage or gift. I am reminded of that female illustrator Aoi Nishimata and her copious pictures of gifts from fan events. As a guy, Barasui probably doesn't get many gifts. There was one fan in front of me that gave something, but no else seemed to bother. Ungrateful fans, myself included.

So this is it. I don't bother buying the monthly magazine with his manga any more. I just wait for his next collected release. Hopefully more OVAs will come out, but he seems to be skipping monthly issues or just losing initiative or ideas. I don't know what else he's been doing. I don't expect IM to last much longer, to tell you the truth. So to me, this send out was a final delectable bang.

It's not enough just to be in the right spot: Pokemon DLC Jirachi

(tags food, Pokemon, DLC, Dual Screen, failure)

Actually I'm not playing Pokemon Platinum ever since I got Sudoku DS "The Final Version We Really Mean It This Time by Hudson". But I read at the Pokemon fan blog "ピカのお気楽ポケモン日記" had details on the free DLC available from McDonald's, of all places.

マックでDS Nintendo Zone （ニンテンドーゾーン）で「ジラーチ」を受け取る方法

You can download "Jirachi", which is a rare Pokemon that you can only get through connection to the old Pokemon Advance games.

On my way home from work I gave it a try at two seperate locations. The free pamphlet had the instructions, even explaining how to unlock the "Mystery Gift" menu entry. The first location didn't seem to have its "Nintendo Zone" turned on. The second place was really flaky, dropping my connection at times. Plus, as I figured out from actually reading the fine print, the DLC download requires Japanese versions of the DS software. Looks like I'm going to pick up another Pokemon DS game pretty soon.

At least before 7/17. Heh.