We're Back!
Hello! It's been almost a month since the last blog post, and as seems to be my current MO, I have enough material for at least three more blog posts, so prepare for quite the information dump!
As with many events, there were a tonne of promotional stalls and so on, meaning when Hamish was waiting for his turn, I was taking a look around things I had no idea about, getting freebies of things I had no knowledge of, and generally looking oblivious.
However there was one thing that Hamish and I felt we had to do, however terrible it made us feel - getting a photo with the promo girls! Fortunately it was very warm in there so they were at no risk of getting cold - and the characters they were dressed as can apparently kick a lot of ass so I think they could handle themselves!
Unlike the cat cafe experience I had with Mum in December, this one was a bit less interactive, as the owls just chill on their branches, not clambering over you as the cats could. There was a huge number of owls that you could walk past, though it felt less like a cafe and more like a walk. The staff emphasize how the owls are well treated, allowed to fly at night and so on, so while we had a slightly sketchy feeling in there, you can make your own judgement. They were very pretty, if nothing else!
The exhibition was The Illustrator, looking at the works of the late Japanese illustrator Ohrai Noriyoshi, which proved a very diverse one! He was an illustrator of many things, from book and comic covers, to movie posters, sci fi art and portraits. We were very pleased to see some Star Wars works in there, as well as classic Japanese cinema such as Godzilla. Unfortunately photography wasn't permitted everywhere in the exhibit, but he had some phenomenally realistic WWII artworks as well, very much worth checking out on google!
There was some character that he had evidently drawn up, and had been the antagonist of various Japanese pop culture, with an incredibly detailed figure being on display, as well as a cardboard cut out for the obligatory photos....
Maru-san is a Japanese shiba inu dog, made famous by Instagram, with over 2,500,000 followers. Our friend Josh King is infatuated with the canine, and so Hamish and I resolved to visit his shop (yes, in Japan the celebrity dog has his own store). All manner of Maru branded things could be bought, from clothes, chocolates, calendars and cups, but for me there was a visitors book, into which I wrote a message on Josh's behalf. Josh, when you finally get to Japan (honeymoon location perhaps?), I will take you to your Mecca and you can satisfy your Maru cravings!
Hamish's last day was somewhat truncated by the fact I had work in the evening, meaning we had only the morning and most of the afternoon to finish up exploring. Hamish was wanting to visit as many new parts of Tokyo as possible, so I took him along to Roppongi to visit the Mori Hills Art Gallery, in which there was a Final Fantasy exhibition on, to celebrate 30 years of the series. It seems Hamish's trip was full of me going to things for games about which I had virtually no knowledge, and Final Fantasy is no exception, having played less than an hour of the 13th in the series.
Nevertheless, it was a very cool exhibition, as anyone who knows the series will know, the art and visuals of the games are incredibly beautiful. Entering the exhibition, we were given an iPhone, which served as our audio guide, but also as an interactive game. The first part of the exhibition had us in a big room, with a huge screen in first person showing us on an airship, flying among the clouds. The peace was not to last however, as we plummeted into a void, with huge fans blowing air into our faces, and a huge dragon appeared. In order to combat this beast, we had to summon magic missiles, which was done by tapping various power crystals on our iPhones. Eventually we prevailed over the beast, and the exhibition began proper.
Through our audio guides we were told the history and plots of the games, as well as the thematic and emotional moments that underpin them. Most interesting to me was the concept artwork on display, as having played very little, I know more of the imagery in the games. In this I was not disappointed, with many sculptures and paintings on show.
As the exhibit ended, we walked out and the name for which we used to battle the Dragon at the beginning appeared on a huge credit screen (Toroi in my case), which was a nice touch, made us feel as though we were in the game itself.
As Hamish and my time came to an end, we made sure to get our own version of a classic Shibuya photo, in front of the famous Hachiko statue. In this we are wearing the Cup Noodle T-shirts we were given after our EVO interviews, something that only added to the bizarreness of the whole EVO experience for me!
Hamish now joins another good friend and former flatmate, Scott, as having had a Hachiko photo taken - Josh, I am now waiting for you!
My friend and former flatmate, Hamish, has come and gone, and what a time we had together! He was here to take part in a fighting game tournament called EVO (short for Evolution), and while these games aren't my cup of tea, I figured I would never ordinarily go to such a video game tournament, and so along I went - with absolutely no idea as to what to expect.
Arriving in the venue, with hundreds of gamers ready to prove their mettle in a number of video games, I had no idea really of what was what - my understanding of the games and their intricacies is embryonic at best! But nevertheless I threw myself into things, making myself out as EVO Team New Zealand's coach, with Hamish being our solo athlete! This was solidifed when we were approached by a camera crew asking to interview us, something we were only happy to take part in! Asking about what games we were here to play, and how we were finding Japan, I couldn't rightly claim to be playing any of them (not knowing many of the names didn't help), but when I claimed to be the coach it was met with surprise - who knew NZ was such a stronghold of fighting games as to have coaches that travel with the competitors!
The calibre of the players was incredibly high, with Hamish not progressing beyond the first heats, however he had a great time of being there, experiencing the atmosphere of fighting game's biggest event.
As with many events, there were a tonne of promotional stalls and so on, meaning when Hamish was waiting for his turn, I was taking a look around things I had no idea about, getting freebies of things I had no knowledge of, and generally looking oblivious.
However there was one thing that Hamish and I felt we had to do, however terrible it made us feel - getting a photo with the promo girls! Fortunately it was very warm in there so they were at no risk of getting cold - and the characters they were dressed as can apparently kick a lot of ass so I think they could handle themselves!
As an unrelated aside, there was a restaurant close to the venue that absolutely demanded a photo, because Hamish and I have the minds of a 12 year old:
Hamish mentioned wanting to go to an owl or cat cafe, so along we went to Harajuku, getting the obligatory Cookie Time photo on the way
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| Harajuku street art never ceases to surprise |
Unlike the cat cafe experience I had with Mum in December, this one was a bit less interactive, as the owls just chill on their branches, not clambering over you as the cats could. There was a huge number of owls that you could walk past, though it felt less like a cafe and more like a walk. The staff emphasize how the owls are well treated, allowed to fly at night and so on, so while we had a slightly sketchy feeling in there, you can make your own judgement. They were very pretty, if nothing else!
Our other big day out was to Ueno Park, where we did the typical Temple visit at Kiyomizu Tera, as well as some general wandering around. One thing that took my attention, however, was the fact that one of the many museums there had no queue. This was peculiar because every other time I've been to the park, this museum has had queues with wait times of up to three or four hours. So naturally I was keen to at least go into the lobby to see what was there, as this was a previously unfathomable opportunity!
The exhibition was The Illustrator, looking at the works of the late Japanese illustrator Ohrai Noriyoshi, which proved a very diverse one! He was an illustrator of many things, from book and comic covers, to movie posters, sci fi art and portraits. We were very pleased to see some Star Wars works in there, as well as classic Japanese cinema such as Godzilla. Unfortunately photography wasn't permitted everywhere in the exhibit, but he had some phenomenally realistic WWII artworks as well, very much worth checking out on google!
There was some character that he had evidently drawn up, and had been the antagonist of various Japanese pop culture, with an incredibly detailed figure being on display, as well as a cardboard cut out for the obligatory photos....
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| Also a cardboard cutout of some dinosaur series he illustrated, much to my pleasure! |
Having had our fill of art (and bags full in Hamish's case of posters and books), we made our way out of the Park to visit a place that our good friend Josh King holds very dear. But before we could do that, we came across Seseragi, one of the street performers in Ueno. He is a giant sheep/goat thing, that looks like he has come from some horror movie - but he is quite friendly! Indeed if you dropped some coins in his box, he would rear up on his legs and give you a hug with his long forearms. Nevertheless, I found him a bit creepy, so I kept my distance - though this did not stop Hamish!
Maru-san is a Japanese shiba inu dog, made famous by Instagram, with over 2,500,000 followers. Our friend Josh King is infatuated with the canine, and so Hamish and I resolved to visit his shop (yes, in Japan the celebrity dog has his own store). All manner of Maru branded things could be bought, from clothes, chocolates, calendars and cups, but for me there was a visitors book, into which I wrote a message on Josh's behalf. Josh, when you finally get to Japan (honeymoon location perhaps?), I will take you to your Mecca and you can satisfy your Maru cravings!
Ueno is very close to the famous Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, a huge tourist spot, and so we finished up the day with a quick visit there, looking at various knick-knacks and taking a wander.
Hamish's last day was somewhat truncated by the fact I had work in the evening, meaning we had only the morning and most of the afternoon to finish up exploring. Hamish was wanting to visit as many new parts of Tokyo as possible, so I took him along to Roppongi to visit the Mori Hills Art Gallery, in which there was a Final Fantasy exhibition on, to celebrate 30 years of the series. It seems Hamish's trip was full of me going to things for games about which I had virtually no knowledge, and Final Fantasy is no exception, having played less than an hour of the 13th in the series.
Nevertheless, it was a very cool exhibition, as anyone who knows the series will know, the art and visuals of the games are incredibly beautiful. Entering the exhibition, we were given an iPhone, which served as our audio guide, but also as an interactive game. The first part of the exhibition had us in a big room, with a huge screen in first person showing us on an airship, flying among the clouds. The peace was not to last however, as we plummeted into a void, with huge fans blowing air into our faces, and a huge dragon appeared. In order to combat this beast, we had to summon magic missiles, which was done by tapping various power crystals on our iPhones. Eventually we prevailed over the beast, and the exhibition began proper.
Through our audio guides we were told the history and plots of the games, as well as the thematic and emotional moments that underpin them. Most interesting to me was the concept artwork on display, as having played very little, I know more of the imagery in the games. In this I was not disappointed, with many sculptures and paintings on show.
As the exhibit ended, we walked out and the name for which we used to battle the Dragon at the beginning appeared on a huge credit screen (Toroi in my case), which was a nice touch, made us feel as though we were in the game itself.
 |
| There were a series of miniature scenes showcasing key plot moments in the games, but juxtaposed against everyday objects - a cutting board in this case |
As Hamish and my time came to an end, we made sure to get our own version of a classic Shibuya photo, in front of the famous Hachiko statue. In this we are wearing the Cup Noodle T-shirts we were given after our EVO interviews, something that only added to the bizarreness of the whole EVO experience for me!
Hamish now joins another good friend and former flatmate, Scott, as having had a Hachiko photo taken - Josh, I am now waiting for you!
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