October 2009 Events: Update #1

Things seem to be moving with exponential momentum in our Greek J-scene: a new team, J.A.P 団 (DAN)  (composed of  N-TG and Kakashi_Sensei) has made its presence known and announced their first party, which seems to be filled with goodies and surprises.

Greece's newest J-team!

Their post in Anime.gr announces 4 contest categories:

(1) Best In-Character Cosplay: This category will be judged by the organizers and some “deputies” and the award will go to the person most in character and faithful to the persona of their cosplay for the WHOLE night.

(2) Best Cosplay: You know the drill and you have loved it for over 2 years. Best cosplay as voted by the attendees.

(3) Best Photo-shoot: A category for the photographers! At last! Hurry up and bring that stuff over here! The best photography taken during the event will receive a prize. A few hours before the end of the event, a selection will be projected for open voting, so any photographers present are requested to turn in their photos in time for processing.

(4) Best Role-Play Acting: An especially creative initiative, cosplayers will be called upon to perform a small anime or drama scene (crossovers accepted). Therefore you are requested to e-mail the team any content you plan on presenting, as well as any songs you want to use, so they can have them on hand. Anything except vulgar material of any sort, is permitted.

All the prizes are a contribution of Cine-Shop and Comics Cave.

The party takes place at To Kryfto (31, Valaoritou St., Salonika – see the poster for a map).

For more information, contest material, song and AMV requests, send mail to japdan2009@gmail.com. You can always add the team’s Facebook and MySpace, if you use either of these networks.

Welcome to the fold J.A.P 団 (DAN)!

Speedgrapher

October 2009 Events

As September nears its end, in a short couple of weeks we expect Sakura Syndrome over here in Athens, which besides the usual anime, Visual Kei, J-Rock, boy band fare of DJ/VJ, contests and presentations, will feature a couple of particular extras. First off, it’s a double release party, presenting new material from OZ and SCREW, who recently signed on with CLJ records (Sakura Syndrome’s new sponsor). Secondly, a short tribute to the late Jasmine You of Versailles will be part of the program, as the party takes place 2 months after his death, almost to the day (August 9th, 2009). Plus, guest DJ set by the mighty KrizD-sensei!

Sakura Syndrome Double Release Party.

The party takes place at Da Sein (Solomou 12 Exarheia) and starts at 21:00. I have noticed that, during the last two Athenian parties, Sakura Syndrome were represented only by Somnium in Tenebris. Now, that is all well and good and it is always a pleasure having her over here, but I sincerely hope Mona Risa will be able to make her appearance this time: it’s not the same having this dynamic duo with only ONE of its explosive components…

See you there (hopefully),

Speedgrapher

Oni Market #19: Guin Saga

If the title is not expletive enough, this Oni Market will be dedicated solely to my current fixation, a new anime called Guin Saga.

So here goes:

Item #1: Guin Saga. I have been going on and on for years how there hasn’t been a good, decent epic fantasy anime since the original Record of the Lodoss War, with the possible exception of Berserk (which was cut horribly short, compared to the manga),  Shadow Skill: Eigi (the TV series), Scrapped Princess and a feeble fix from Wellber no Monogatari. That’s… four series in over 10 years and none matched the spine-tingle of the original Lodoss OVAs (well, Shadow Skill was a close second). Before you ask, no, I do not count Slayers and all its sequels as decent fantasy. Well, it seems my petitions to the Powers That Be were finally answered, with Guin Saga.

Guin Saga Vol. 1 in English.

Based on the late (she died this May past) Kaoru Kurimoto’s character, protagonist of 126 novels and 21 side-story novels, Guin Saga tells the story of the amnesiac, leopard-headed warrior of the title. The story begins with the destruction of Parros, during which the twin heirs Linda (or Rinda – it’s Japanese after all) and Remus escape, only to be stranded in the vastly dangerous Rood Forest. There, they are found by a patrol of the enemy who killed their parents and took over their country, the Mongaul army. However, it is during their arrest that Guin first appears, while previously unconscious – and without thought, bare-handed, he crushes the patrol. Thus the adventure begins…

Guin Saga Vol. 1 in French.

Guin Saga has  – so far – all the elements that make an amazing epic: an amnesiac warrior rivaling Conan himself, stuck with magical leopard-head mask and only the faintest bits of his memory, warring nations, a land beyond which “There Be Monsters”, prophecies, intrigue, strategy and exciting heroics. Besides, magic is not of the usual bubblegum sort (“hey, I cast a Fireball”), but instead richly portrayed as cloaked in mystery, superstition and fear.  I am presently at episode 17 and the series is supposed to to end at 26 – so far I have been hooked and utterly impatient for every new episode. Music-wise, this series is an exceptional treat, seeing as the soundtrack is composed by Final Fantasy’s own Nobuo Uematsu of the Black Mages. The exception is the ending song, “Saga ~This Is My Road”, by Kanon.

Do I really need to tell you that I HIGHLY recommend this series?

I am pretty dissappointed that no one has seen fit to upload the opening sequence, small though it may be, but here is the PV.

Next up is the end song, edited with many of the backgrounds and locales of the series (yes, they look that way in the anime!).

Then, this is an AMV featuring footage from the opening and first episodes, with the TV size ending.

An audio of the full opening.

Finally, the full song performed live by Kanon can be found here. Sadly, its embedding is disabled.

That’s all for now, so go check it out!

Speedgrapher