SMASH! 2012

Righto, SMASH! (Sydney Manga and Anime SHow) is less than a month away, and not only will Yuko Miyamura be making an appearance, but she will also be hosting a Voice Acting Workshop. So, all you have to do is apply and you could win the chance to hang with Miyamura and have her teach you the tricks of the trade.
Here are the details: http://www.smash.org.au/2012/events/panels/voice-acting-workshop-with-yuko-miyamura/

I will once again be attending, hanging around the Macquarie Uni Anime Club stall with a few friends of mine, and officially representing EvaGeeks.org by wearing my EvaGeeks top-hat. EvaFan will also be along on the day, so if anyone is interested in meeting up just let me know in this thread.

It should be a good year.

I shall indeed be attending SMASH! this year. I have yet to organise my transport, but as with last year I will be booking a return bus fare from Canberra to Sydney. I'll have information about my arrival time and how I'll be hanging out closer to the convention date and/or a schedule and floor plan release.

...

As Fazmotron said in his newspost, there has yet to be an announcement for a Yuko Miyamura panel, so it is uncertain if fans will have the opportunity for Q&A this year. I don't plan to apply for Miyamura's Voice Acting Workshop - it would be nice to meet her but the application isn't my sort of thing.

For those who would like help identifying Fazmotron on the day, here is a photo of his EvaGeeks Hat TM as it appeared in 2010. I am currently uncertain if I will also have a branded trinket to identify myself with, but I do plan to meet Faz again so at the least you could probably meet me through him.

Other SMASH! Info Spoiler: Other notable events at SMASH! include but are not limited to: - Vendors i.e. Exhibitors and Artist's Circle (at the main floor of the exhibition centre, is where stalls such as the Macquarie Uni Anime Club will be set up) - Cosplay Competition (I intend to attend this) - Cosplay Chess - Cosplay Panels (which will be held on rooms in the upper floor of the exhibiton centre) - HobbyCo Gundam Workshop - Gunpla Builders World Cup (at last year's con, some Gunpla models were put up for display in a special section of the exhibitor's area - AMV Competition (I didn't see this last year so I may make an effort this year) - Art Competitions (including a DeviantArt competition, a Themed Art competition and a doodling competition) - Karoke (includes competition called 'SMASH Idol' and freeing singing) You can read the previous SMASH! threads here: [Cons] SMASH! Sydney Manga and Anime Show 2010 SMASH 2011

Unfortunately it seems that Miyamura will not be hosting a Q&A panel this year, and her only appearances will be the Voice Acting Workshop and the signing area.

However, it may be possible for me to sneak a few questions in, or maybe an interview, if Miyamura or her translator recognise me and my hat from previous appearances, so send me any questions you may have.


Also; c'mon Aussie EvaGeeks, out of the woodwork with you!

The downside of living in the Far North...

[UPDATED]
Clarified some details about Pokemon Battle Arena event
Added link to schedule with note to important events
Added links to Exhibitors, Artist Circle and Clubs pages


News news news!

Beyond Home Entertainment is hosting a Pokemon Battle Arena in the Vendor Hall at SMASH! Register your rule-abiding team of 3 mons with a staff member at the game area where you will be able to battle other registered people! Battles will be held in the gaming area all day, with registered participants returning at 4pm for a prize raffle.

The Schedule for SMASH! has now been made available on the main site. You can see the full .pdf here, but I will summarise what I feel are the notable events in the spoiler field below:

Spoiler: Notable Events On the Main Stage: 10am: Tange Sakura panel 11am: Miyamura Yoko voice acting workshop 12pm: Miki Shinichiro panel 2pm-4pm: Madman Cosplay Competition 4.30pm: Karoke Finals Panels & Workshops Room: 12pm-12.30pm: The Japan Foundation Panel 1pm: Madman Industy Panel Madman Screening Room: 10.30am-12.30am: The Secret World of Arrietty 3pm-5pm: FullMetal Alchemist: The Movie The Sacred Star of Milos Signing and Activities Room: 1pm-2pm: Miyamura signings Art Stage: 10am-11.30am: Animal Logic Art Panel 12.30pm-1.30pm: Comic Creators Panel 2.30pm-3pm: AMV Screenings 3pm: AMV Panel 4pm: AMV Finals

A full list of the Vendors (Exhibitors) at SMASH! has been made available here. You can expect to see big name stalls such as Madman, Hobbyco and Siren Visual, as well as local stores such as Anime At Abbotsford and King's Comics. In addition, The Japan Foundation, the Academy of Information Technology and Supernova will also have stalls.

In addition, the Artist Circle listing can be found here, and a list of Clubs and Community Groups can be found here.

Still haven't decided what I'm going to wear though...


[UPDATE - 8th July]
- An Event Map has been released.
- A Trivia Competition will be held in the panel workshop room from 2pm-3pm. Winners will recieve gift cards to the Anime at Abbotsford store.
- You can now find information on all of the screenings at SMASH! here.
- Guest signings are free to attendees, but only one item per person is allowed. Items must be official merchandise or personal fan art.
# Yuko Miyamura will be signing for fans between 1 and 2pm at the Signings and Activities room.
- Applications for the Voice Acting Workshop with Yoko Miyamura closed last Tuesday night. Successful applicants have been advised to register at the information desk at 9.30am. As neither myself or Fazmotron applied for this, we do hope there is an EvaGeek out there who got in who can tell us all about it afterward!
- If you are interested in being served High Tea at the Maid Cafe, you will have to make a booking before 9am this Friday. It will be served exclusively between 12pm and 2pm.

As I'm having a bit of trouble with University at the moment I won't have time to prepare my Pokemon team as much as I'd like, and as a result I probably won't be participating in the Pokemon Battle Arena on the day. I will let you know the day before, but, on the flipside, I would have more time to spend on other activities.

Expect a post from Fazmotron soon, I hear he's got a new hat...

Sup sup sup Geeks.

SMASH! is tomorrow and I'm heading down to Sydney today to stay at a friend's place in order to get prepared.
So, if you wanna try and spot me on the day, here's what I'll be wearing;

A stylish and sophisticated black suit with Evangelion inspired purple tie:


A NERV flag fashioned into a cool and casual cape:


And a brand new, much nicer EvaGeeks.Org top-hat:



Of course, I'll be at the Miyamura Voice Acting session at 11am at the main stage, but if you don't catch me then I may be with some chums over at the AnimeMQ stall, or just wandering around the con, so keep an eye out and come up and say hello.

^ I want that badass top hat.

NEXT TIME ON EVAGEEKS

Fazmotron and EvangelionFan were at SMASH!

The Yoko Miyamura voice acting panel was great and if you weren't there it is a sad day to be you but hey you might be able to hear Faz's recording of it later
At the Madman Industry panel we saw some trailers for awful moe anime asked the panelist about the out-of-printedness of the original series and films (his answer probably won't surprise you), and inquired about the possibility local release for 3.0 in the future
People saw Faz's hat and said things about Evangelion
Strolled around the exhibitors place, looked at stuff, and bought some stuff
Saw some cool stuff and some drull stuff at the AMV Panel
Asked someone to take a photo of the two of us which will probably be the first time an image of my person appears on EvaGeeks, when Faz gets around to posting it


All this and more, TOMORROW, after I get some sleep
peace out girl scouts

SSSsssSssSo fucking tired. You managed to beat me home as well it seems.

I'll post stuff later, y'know, whenever I'm awake again.

GLORIOUS THINGS TO COME GEEKS.

SMASH! 2012 Part 1 of 2or3

I got up at half past five in the morning to have breakfast and catch the 7am express bus to Sydney. Listened to Amelia Piano Trio, Beck and Sonic Youth over the course of the three hour bus ride. I arrived at central station in Sydney at about five past ten in the morning, and after a brisk walk arrived at the exhibition centre to find that they had gotten the lines right this time, as I swiftly walked by all the hundreds of people who had lined up to buy tickets on the day. Advance tickets rule, yo.

So by about twenty-five past I was inside. I first went looking for Faz at the AnimeMQ booth, but he wasn't there, so I had a little look around before going to the Pokemon Battle Arena to sign up for the raffle. Met some people, battled one guy with my team of Mienshao / Zoroark / Volcarona, I would have stayed to battle more peeps but I needed to go the main stage area.

The Yuko Miyamura Voice Acting Workshop was set to start at 11am. It started a little late, but it gave me time to send Faz a text and wander about to see if he was in the audience. About ten minutes into the panel I saw him in one of the front rows; but we wouldn't meet up until sometime after. Anyway...
Onstage with Yuko was a SMASH! translator/mc by the name of Kay (?) who spoke quite well and meshed well with Yuko's lively personality. The hour-long workshop was divided into three/four activities for both the audience and the six on-stage attendees who had been selected based for the workshop on their video applications. First Yuko took us through some voice clarity&projection exercises that were fun to watch. Second, we were shown a seiyuu script in Japanese and (a scene from Episode 9 of Neon Genesis Evangelion) and were told some of differences between American and Japanese scripts (e.g. meaning of 'ad lib' as breathing sounds, gasps, etc., rather than improv dialogue). Third we were shown the scene from Episode 9 of Evangelion without the dialogue, after which the on-stage peeps did a live dub of it in Japanese. It was quite good! This was followed by Yuko giving some suggestions/tips to the folk, before they went through it a second time and it was even better. It was apparently recorded SMASH!, so when it shows up on their site/boards Faz or I will link it so you folks can hear Yuko as Rei =) And finally, Yuko and Kay dubbed the final scene from Episode 9 where Asuka and Shinji go off at each other on the Eva-phones; it was really good! And Yuko was so cute ;_;
I could go into this a little more, but I think Faz can elaborate on it better. I'll come back later to add to his recount.


There is also a Photostream on FlickR for those of you who would like to see some photos of people in costumes and of the cosplay competition, it is updating every couple of hours so I'll mention if I see new pics on it or somewhere else.

I'll be back in an hour or two to continue my recount of SMASH!, please post if you have any questions so far!

I want pics.


I also want Faz's hat but I know such wish is futile

Hope he links the vid's soon.

SMASH! 2012 RUNDOWN

It was a long day for me.

Here's my haul from the day.

This year I decided to drive down the day before and stay with a friend who was also going, which I'm not sure was a good plan or not as we stayed up drinking then I ended up getting about 3 hours sleep on his lounge.
So the next morning we got there at about 8:30am and I went straight through the pre-sale line while my friend had to wait in the day purchase line (he said he was waiting for 2 hours to get in).

The one on the left is the pre-sale line.



Once I had my ticket checked I was led into the holding area until 9am.

The Holding Pen


Then we were all led in and had free rein of the place before the rest of the riff-raff were let in.

First stop was to check on my friends at the AnimeMQ tent, then a wander for a little while before heading off to the front row of the Miyamura Voice Acting Workshop.


Photo from the SMASH! website.

Then I went to a small Japanese Society Panel because they were giving away signed copies of 1.11 and 2.22, but my Japanese onomatopoeia skills let me down.

Then I met up with EvaFan and inhaled some lunch before heading to the Madman Industry Panel, where they revealed what they are planning to release, some of their new acquisitions and answered some questions from the crowd.
I asked a few questions about Evangelion; First was whether or not the original series is now out of print in Australia, which it now is and while they did manage to stash away a few copies before the the license ran out they said they'll only be selling them now at special events like cons.
The second was if they had any plans to do a screening of 3.0 once it's released, which they confirmed they did have plans for, if not with another ReelAnime film festival as they did with 2.0, than as a standalone title, as they said Evangelion is big enough for them to do it.

After that was the AMV panel with some pretty well made videos, including this awesome video, and this really cool one made by the host of the panel satirising the Australian Election back in 2010.

EF had to leave so I headed over to the main stage where I caught the end of the Cosplay Competition, and it was swarming with people.

After that it was pretty much over.
I went out with friends and had some dinner, then had a long drive home and got there a bit before midnight.

Here's some more photo's from the day:

There was one Eva model in the Gunpla builders world cup display area:



After a while things started getting a bit more crowded (this is in the main area with all the stalls).






The gaming area.


The AnimeMQ Stall.


Some Community Stalls, selling fan artwork and stuff.


The Madman Stall was awesome.



Cosplay Comp.



I only saw two Eva cosplays this year, both of them Asuka.



Some Kaworu & Mari plushies:


I was surprised to see some Diebuster merch:


The Crowd dispersing after SMASH! was over:





Me and my Nerv cape


Me and EvaFan



News post.

Oh, I didn't actually mention anything about the reactions I got throughout the day.

The first guy approached me in that little holding room after seeing my hat, he said he was a member of the forums, I believe his name was Dark Elfen, and he took a photo of my cape.
A few people asked me where I got the flag, and were disappointed to hear that I had to go to Japan to get it, and that they couldn't get one online.
One guy came up and showed me his EvaPhone (one of the first ones), which he paid $500 for. He even had the strap holder thing that came with it. It was very awesome.
One of the guys that EF was Poke-battling asked me since I was wearing the hat and cape, if I understood the series, which I answered with a resounding "maybe".
Outside the con someone yelled across the courtyard asking why I was wearing a NERV cape?, to which I replied "Because it's awesome".

Other than that there were a few High fives and handshakes throughout the day, as-well as questions about what EvaGeeks.org is.

Was a great day.

Xard wrote:

This guy's hair....

I know right, it's freaking awesome.

Dear Faz and Xard Spoiler: Fazmotron wrote: This year I decided to drive down the day before and stay with a friend who was also going, which I'm not sure was a good plan or not as we stayed up drinking then ended up getting about 3 hours sleep on his lounge. So the next morning we got there at about 8:30am and I went straight through the pre-sale line while my friend had to wait in the day purchase line (he said he was waiting for 2 hours to get in). I don't remember you mentioning this on the day. Fazmotron wrote: I asked a few questions about Evangelion; First was whether or not the original series is now out of print in Australia, which it now is and while they did manage to stash away a few copies before the the license ran out they said they'll only be selling them now at special events like cons. To clarify: the panelist said that Madman has been blocked from renewing the license / printing new copies until after all four of the new Evangelion films are out. I forgot to inquire as to whether this referred to the release of the films in Japan or an eventual local release. Fazmotron wrote: I only saw two Eva cosplays this year, both of them Asuka. I said thought I saw a Misato cosplayer in the vendor hall, but I guess she vanished away somewhere. Edit: turns out there was a Mari Cosplayer at one of the artist stalls. Fazmotron wrote: Some Kaworu & Mari plushies Xard wrote: and a shitton of Macross ones too... damn there's even iSlug, I want one ;__; I know right? I was like 'here's a Ranka there's a Ranka' Fazmotron wrote: I was surprised to see some Diebuster merch So was I, and they are rather nice portait statues, but unfortunately I didn't want to spend my money on figures so... Fazmotron wrote: Me and EvaFan Xard wrote: You guys look like jewish nerd kids from 90s sitcom and I mean this positively!

...

SMASH! 2012 Part 2 of 3

If you haven't already listened to Fazmotron's recording of the Yuko Miyamura panel I highly recommend you listen to it as Yuko's use of English is really, really funny. I also recommend having Episode 9 at-the-ready so you can watch it on mute alongside the live dubbing; for the first scene you'll want to start where Touji and Kensuke are in the elevator, and for the Kay and Yuko dub you'll want to start at the shot where Unit 01 and Unit 02 have fallen in the crater.

I attempted to chase down Fazmotron after the panel, but alas, he got away. So I went and looked around for a bit, bought some CDs, until I saw I got a text from Faz. We met up near the gaming area, and went to look for food and get food and eat food before going to the Madman Industry panel.

Fazmotron has already mentioned our asking about the original series license and a possible local release Evangelion 3.0, and I've added to it a bit in the spoilers above, so I'll talk about the other stuff that was at the panel. As we sat down they were playing the dub trailer for the upcoming Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt release, and although it's taken ages for it to get licensed and dub from what we heard I thought the dub sounded decent. But that was the only tolerable trailer, because the others, well... sufficed to say it was great to have a friend with whom to riff on these anime trailers:

Sample: Faz and EF riffing Spoiler: Mahoromatic: I'm Home OVA EF & Faz: *sigh* "moe" EF: And now she's flying! Faz: They're all flying EF: So it's a show about maids doing everything but being maids Faz: And wearing the costumes, and look there's a harem too [but it wasn't really] ??????? EF: I have no idea what this is Faz: I've never seen this before EF: Could it be Fractale? Wait, no... Faz: It sort of looks familiar... On the screen the title Shangri-La appears EF & Faz: Haven't heard of it Faz: Oh, hold on EF: Yeah maybe we have On the screen the text STUDIO GONZO appears EF: And there's the dealbreaker Faz: Yep As it ended, text said 2008 EF: Oh well that explains it, it's old Faz: Yeah [something something I forget] ???? EF: Okay which one is this Faz: Oh wait... no it's It becomes evident that we are watching a trailer for Strike Witches S2 EF and Faz innermonologue: Oh god EF: Another Studio Gonzo show Faz: What the hell are their legs? EF: I don't know, but KillerBee used to say they were planelegs and/or magic or something Faz: It's all just fanservice EF: Yes, though the characters are apparently based off of WW2 soldiers/pilots Faz: It's fanservice for the history people [but why would history enthusiasts watch this, Faz? And Xard don't say FINLAND because that is not an answer] As the trailer ended there was a title card with an obnoxious pantsu shot, Faz and I looked down and sighed in disappointment and disbelief, so did a few other people sitting nearby But there was one more, and while it didn't look like just moe, it was the most confusing Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere Sufficed to say that there was a lot of stuff going on in it, moegirls, genki moegirls on computers with screen glare in the dark with big keyboards, mecha fights, girls wearing mecha armor having fights, sword fights, werewolves (?), and it ended on a wide shot showing twenty or so characters in a style reminiscent of the Code Geass OPs... EF: So much stuff going on Faz: *brainfreeze* EF: Usually you just pick one thing and be good at that one thing Faz: *mumbles agreement* If there were any moe I MEAN if there were any more trailers I think we would have died inside

As the panel went into Questions & Answers, it was time for Faz and I to ask about the status of the original series license in Australia, but I've said that already. I asked about the possibility of localising Blu-Rays of Haibane Renmei and The Vision of Escaflowne but it was more or less said that it has to be financially feasible because of the cost of buying the BD license and how they sell less BDs than DVDs. I should have asked if they planned to bring the remastered Revolutionary Girl Utena sets here, but someone else in the audience asked about other Geneon titles and apparently Madman is having trouble with Geneon titles at the moment so yeah. At the end of the panel some signed posters of FMA:B:Sacred Star of Milos and CardCaptor Sakura were raffled off in Japanese-style scissors paper rock.

It was 1.30 by that point and we soon realised that aside from attending the AMV panel later there really, really wasn't anything else of interest. So we went looking around in the vendor hall together, and I bought some more stuff - I'll make a post about it in the Hauls topic soon. For a bit Faz was thinking about buying some more little Eva figures, but he decided not to, and when we passed the place with the NewType filmbooks it went something like this: first we saw book nine, I gave that to Faz, he said to look for more, so I look at what was directly in front of me and proceeded to pull out a handful of NewType books, we he subsequently bought. We also went by the Madman booth twice, in fact it might have been the first thing we did... Faz asked about Berserk and I asked about Bebop, I was interested in picking up a Howl's Moving Castle Blu-Ray but as I'd already spent a fair amount of money I decided not to. And sadly there weren't any copies of the original series of Evangelion so I missed out on that; should have got it years ago heh.

I suppose I should close this post off here for now, I've covered most of SMASH! and Faz's recording of the Yuko workshop should certainly please those of you who weren't there or couldn't be there for various reasons (like being in Finland, for instance) so if you do listen to it please extend your appreciaiton and thanks to Faz for recording it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have. I haven't gone looking for videos since yesterday, and I probably won't again until later today, but for now I can say that SMASH! has yet to make any announcement as to whether or not they plan to upload their recording of the workshop so it is possible we may not see it at all.