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Ami-Chan meanwhile was attending several cultural panels, including
ones on J-Rock and J-Dorama. For those unaware of the term, J-Dorama
refers to live-action Japanese TV drama series, a medium that is
growing in popularity in the West. It was the first time in
our convention "career" that we have came across J-Dorama being
featured as an event, and the panel itself was presented by Frances
Barber (Arisu). At first the presentation began with the basic
description of what J-Dorama is, what it is based upon and where the
source material originally came from. She then went on to
describe the many different talent groups responsible for providing
the actresses \ actors for the shows. It was interesting to
find out that often the stars of J-Dorama series are of famous in
their own right. For example, members from the leading
Japanese pop band Kat-tun have appeared in several J-Dorama
series, including My Boss My Hero and Ichi-Pondo no Fukuin
(One Pound Gospel). The panel finished with the last 5
minutes dedicated to "J-Dorama Oscars", which was a fun concept that
saw awards being given in categories such as Strangest Love Story!
It was unfortunate that the panel ran out of time before this was
finished, as the Oscars provided a brilliant introduction to the
different and varied J-Dorama available. There were numerous
J-Dorama screenings throughout the weekend too, including the
live-action Nana
film and My Boss, My Hero, but unfortunately they always
seemed to clash with something else so we ended up missing most of
them. Hopefully we'll have better luck next year. |
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The Yaoi Panel was one that Webmasters Tom and Rich gave a miss, but for Ami-Chan it was one of the highlights of the weekend! Yaoi is a genre of anime and manga which focuses on same-sex relationships between men, but are conversely aimed at women. The panel was hosted by Ehryn and Samantha who spoke about what Yaoi is and what themes are found in it, as well as discussing individual titles and suggesting series for beginners to watch. They were good hosts, and had some funny anecdotes about the perils of being a Yaoi fan. Apparently you have to be careful when buying it in Japan as confused clerks can instead direct you to anime titles featuring young boys that |
would probably be banned here! There was a fun and friendly atmosphere at the panel, and an impromptu Yaoi Pairings game made for plenty of audience participation! The panel rounded off with screenings of a selection of episodes from Yaoi anime series, including Sensitive Pornograph and Junjo Romantica. Much of the anime shown was fantastically cheesy, but sadly an equipment failure meant that the screenings were cut short. However, it was probably for the best considering one explicit scene included the line 'it hurts dad!'...
The next panels Ami attended took in some more reserved aspects of
Japanese culture, as convention regular Akemi Solloway presented a
marathon set of demonstrations and lessons. During her 4 hour
stint the tireless Akemi explained the importance of the Kimono
and demonstrated how to wear one, as well as describing the history
and process of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. She also gave
lessons in Japanese language, calligraphy and
origami, as well as and explanation of Japanese traditions
and customs. Akemi's demonstrations and lessons were then
followed by a demonstration of traditional music played on a
Japanese stringed instrument called a Shamisen. Akemi
Solloway is a good and extremely knowledgeable lecturer in all
things Japanese, and her lessons were fun and interactive. The
insights she gives into Japanese culture, traditions and customs
brings an extra dimension to a convention and Alcon was no
exception. Unusual as it was to have all of her lessons
back-to-back on the schedule, she seemed to take it well in her
stride and keep everyone interested. It's always good to see
that conventions recognise that anime fans are often fans of
Japanese culture as well, and there's no better guide to Japan than
Akemi. |
Continuing on the cultural theme we all attended the Japanese Cooking Workshop held in the Bede Hall Accommodation block. Unfortunately however, we got there after it had finished! The cooking workshop was one of the only missed opportunities of the weekend, with it's only mention being a small note at the foot of a page in the convention planner. This meant that a lot of people didn't seem to know it was happening and the kitchen used for the lesson didn't really have the best layout. Marius did the best with what she had, but wasn't supplied with the cooking equipment she was expecting. It was a shame, as she made for an enthusiastic and |
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