MDL film screening -- Day 3 (final)

Our MDL screening was simply awesome. Even for me, watching the films for the second time was still entertaining and interesting. I was told that the program was well made, and the films were indeed different from each other and spoke to different type of audience all the time, which makes me happy, since this is the thing I was aiming for.

The last day featured 'Fish Story', 'Boku Wa Kuma' and 'My Wife is Gangster' which were extremely interesting and light in a way. I tried to make the last day lighter than the others, with less 'thinking' involved, but at the same time to have refreshing films. Hopefully it was good enough.

I want to credit and thank all the people who helped us with the screening, because without them this event would have never been so entertaining and special.

Katen No Shiro translation team:
Bluechan
Komorebi
Suketeru
Akiraka
Yoko

Film Picking:
Alleinr
Bluechan
Machan

Designs:
Machan
XDsmile

MDL film screening -- Day 2

Hooray! day two is behind us, and we are all delighted and happy and glad. I got to eat awesome sweets, and I'm thankful for yuyu for exposing me to this tasty thing.

Which reminds me, this was the day where most people attended the event, so it was extremely nice. However, it had it own disadvantages, because there was some random guy (have no idea who it was XD) who just went in with his child (who was extremely annoying by the way) and ruined us a major part of the film. Luckily, they went away and I didn't have to kick them out at the end of the film. I really dislike people like this one, who only have things to complain about and ruin other people's fun. He complained that there is echo in the room (which was true :P) and it disturbs his great Japanese abilities from understanding what the people on the screen are saying ('cause his great English reading abilities are not good enough, you know). I listened afterwards with my eyes closed, so I won't be able to read the subs and I understood what they were saying perfectly. Other people understood it good as well... so I assume the guy had too much pride and didn't want us to kick him out? xD

Anyway, aside from this guy, the whole day was just gorgeous. We got us pizza in the second break and ate it together, we watched films and had a lot of fun. In fact, we even watched Egao (the short by Makoto Shinkai). I love this one, it's so cute.

At the end of the day, everything was just so fun. I hope the last day will be fun as well! Day 3... here we come!

(pictures coming soon)

MDL film screening -- Day 1

(The screening room without the viewers, made by linguist)

Oh God, despite the fact the event itself is rather small, it took a lot of effort and time to prepare it. We worked all week long to make it possible for everyone to enjoy the screening, torturing our poor feet to death :P all that aside -- we watched films, made subs and created the whole program for half a year (or more).

But enough with that :P the first day was extremely awesome. First of all, not many people attended it, so we had nice time together while watching stuff, eating and doing all those things normal people do or do not do. The film choice was also very nice, I must confess and the order :P

The day started with a dark humor comedy film, followed by a korean animation and afterwards the very awesome chinese film that left everyone speechless like always. I wonder if "nothing to say" in this review I was reading about the film 'Curse of the Golden Flower' was referring to the fact the reporters simply didn't have anything to say about the film.

Both films were really different and created two different images (completely). I liked that. Anyway, I should stop praising myself :P

There were some things we failed at, things we'll have to think through for tomorrow, as it is going to be a 'bigger' day with more films and more people. Technical problems solving -- here we come!

Unfortunately I can't find my USB cable, so I'm afraid I'll have to upload the pictures later. Took pictures of the ruins that were there before, and how we turned the ruins to be... more sympathetic looking ruins :D

Thanks everyone who helped with the screening, I'll credit you all later xD.

Random Chan Day

Like usually, I haven't been updating the blog at all due to the fact I'm so down and busy lately that I don't really have energy to do that. Next month we will have the MDL screening and feature some films I worked hell hard to find haha. Well, as long as I will see the people satisfied at the end, I'll be satisfied myself.

Like most of you know, the Random chan day took place on the 7th March, like last year, on the Radio Day this time. As someone very wise called this day: "Randiom day". I came to like it for some reason, but I guess next year I'll have to deal with some other pretty creepy name again :P

So, you probably wonder what I did this time on the Random chan day? I didn't make people worship me like last time, but I did make a MDL photo competition. There were three winning categories, and to tell the truth, if I had more money right now I would have given them all a dvd, however, only the first place got the price this time.

Fortunately, I'm planning to feature all three winners on the screening's program / as part of the opening video... I'm not quite sure yet. But I have to say, they were truly great. I'm happy people spend so much effort and creativity on my ideas :P

Now, without waiting any longer, i want to present you the three awesome works I really liked this time:

First place (Best Random Chan Day):

Second place (Best Design):

 

Third place (Best MDL):

 

:P Each of them represents the category it's featuring in the best way. Random Chan day category is the 'random' category that has something to do with myself, mdl and esthetics at the same time, design category deals mainly with the 'best visuals', or more beautiful photo design and MDL category centers around the photo that represents MDL in the best way.

I personally find those photos totally awesome :P I found all photos totally awesome, and that's why I had to get help from 12 (o.o") people who helped and voted for those three categories. Thank you people, your choices were great.

I thank everyone who took part in the competition and hope to see you taking part in future events as well! See you on the screening :P I will probably make only once post beforehand with the program.

Let there be many people~~!

デスク

10 Must Watch Animation Films

Hey people, haven't been here for a while as you see. It's pretty hard to manage doing everything all the time, especially when you're mostly feel so hell depressed.

Anyway! I happen to search for so called 'must watch' animation films half an hour ago, but I was pretty shocked to find out people have such a bad taste when it comes to animation... so I pretty much decided to create my own 10 must watch animation films list. Hope you like it (no particular order really).

I want to note I was intending to list only one film by each director, so you'll be able to watch at least one film by each of those epic people -- it's your job to watch other ones as well. Also, I did not include films based on animation series. The main reason for that is that I don't believe a person should watch a series to watch a single film. I tried to put here 'stand alone' works that represent their makers.

I tried very hard not to list only sci-fi based films but I had to mention a few classics for general education. Of course there are at least 30 more films I would have made everyone watch, but I simply can't effort myself making such a long list. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my very tiny yet beautiful list.

akira, 1988, Ootomo Katsuhiro

Well, as we all know, Akira was one of the films that actually exposed the Japanese animation to the western world. It was a wonderful adaptation of the manga that left us all thrilled and thinking. Definitely one of the masterpieces out there. It was this film that made many of the people start watching Japanese animation and be very interested in it, let us thank Akira and its director Ootomo for sharing this world with us.

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hotaru no haka, 1988, Takahata Isao

I believe this is one of the best films I ever watched. It is touching and dramatic but very realistic and makes you hurt inside. It features a very dark topic in a very direct way through the eyes of a boy and his little sister living during the WWII. With a touch of a light humor at the right moments, the film does not eternally make you feel bitter, but definitely overwhelms you with emotions.

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koukaku kidoutai, 1995, Oshii Mamoru

Oh noes! we all knew I'm going to include Ghost in the Shell here, so don't be so surprised. This film had a great impact on the sci-fi genre of Japanese animation definitely and will be considered as one of the classics of this genre. Presenting a dark, beautiful and dramatic pace, this work turned out to be a milestone for many other following works.

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chitose joyuu, 2002, Kon Satoshi

I love all of Kon Satoshi's works, so I had hard time deciding which film will represent his style the best. Of course I came up with perfect blue and paprika, two wonderful works, but I guess that the most cruel and dreamy film of them all will be Millennium Actress. Featuring a girl chasing her heart and forming herself through time while searching for her beloved. This film was a great hit and definitely a masterpiece.

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toki wo kakeru shoujo, 2006, Hosoda Mamoru

A girl discovers that she possesses the ability to time leap -- return back in time to remake certain decisions and change wrongs that have been done. Simple as that begins the wonderful film and steps into the spotlight of other masterpieces out there. It is gentle, wonderfully made and touching in a way. Wonderful work that in my opinion every person out there should watch.

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byousoku 5 centimeters, 2007, Shinkai Makoto

It was pretty hard for me to decide what work by Shinkai Makoto I am going to place here. As many of you know, he has his unique style he follows, and this style makes him who he is. I believe that this film is definitely the best presentation of Makoto's style, art and world image. I am not fully sure whether it's his most popular film, but it's a masterpiece as some of his other works. It isn't too sentimental, but it is able to touch your heart in many ways other films are not able to.

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metropolis, 2001, Rintarou

It is a classic that I believe should definitely be listed. Not only it is a beautiful film, but also a very deep philosophical piece, discussing the value of humanity and the human society. It has great visuals and a wonderful soundtrack that made all the setting so wonderfully presented. What it is that make us humans, this film is something that tries to touch this important aspect.

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mononokehime, 1997, Miyazaki Hayao

This was probably my hardest choice, as we all know how great Miyazaki is. Upon discussing it with myself, I discovered that no matter what film I will pick, I will have to abandon another good film. However, I believe Princess Mononoke is one of my 'forever favorite' Miyazaki films and the one which will make you experience his wonderful style the most (among other masterpieces he created). In my opinion it is a must watch.

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tekkon kinkreet, 2006, Michael Arias

It is not simply a film featuring two orphan boys living in the street and struggling to protect themselves and their city from well meaning police officers, no good Yakuza and evil property developers. In fact, there is so much more about this colorful and joyful film. For every playful, imaginary and quirky moment, there is a deep, jarring background. Great work done by Michael Arias.

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vampire hunter d, 2000, Kawajiri Yoshiaki

I was thinking whether I should include it or not, but I kind of believe it's a certain type of masterpiece for itself. It feels like a deep breath into a world filled with monsters and vampires. Featuring a simple story about a woman and a vampire noble who fell in love, this film turns to be more than just a love story. It is intriguing and beautiful, featuring a very special soundtrack and character design.

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I discovered that I will have to do another must watch list later. How could I leave out Neko No Ongaeshi, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Tokyo God Fathers, My Neighbor Totoro, Steam Boy, Paprika, Interstella 5555, Nagagutsu Wo Haita Neko (though it's an ova, basically). Oh god, there are so many great things that you simply can't put all together without missing out a few (or way too many).

They Are Not Real Ninjas!

On the 15th October a pretty big Japanese festival (aka: Japantag) took place in Düsseldorf.

To tell the truth, I expected a lot more from this festival. The whole idea and events sounded really really nice, but in fact I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Well, first of all, there were hell too many people. I swear, most of them were simply breathing and doing nothing major aside from standing there and taking too much place. Of course, I'm not saying you should shot all those extras who have no real function in life, but I really don't get why this festival became an otaku event.

Well, fine, it leads me to the next thing I didn't like -- it's a hell JAPANESE festival... not anima con. HELL -- there were almost no people who were not dressed up like they are in some third rated anima con... and annoyed the hell out of me.

Yes, anima is indeed a big tradition and cultural element but it's far from being the only thing in the japanese culture, and it made me really sad that people didn't get it after such a long time.

Now, basically, the event itself was pretty neat... but I wont say well organized. The workshops were randomly put around the area and the map (*cough*) was as exact as my mom trying to tell a story. Trying to search for workshops was one of the most annoying thing I could think of (so I didn't do it. Which is a huge hole in my Japantag experience).

As there was no train I noticed (as far as I remember we found one doing half the way to the coast) that took us to the river... so we had to walk all the way. The good thing was though, that some random Japanese people put their stands there... and I could happily buy things when I got 1/4 the way.

The stands on the coast however were really crowded. I remember I couldn't enter some because they were filled with people who (again) simply stood there and did nothing with themselves. I hardly found things to buy through the crowd and didn't want to waste other people's time myself (so I looked around a bit and went away, like many many people should have done x.x. Trolls).

Putting the tables 10 cm backwards could be a good solution (considering the fact you couldn't WALK x.x because of all the people).

At least I bought new things and enjoyed some good food... heard drums and pretended to be pretty (singing songs in the train, street, station, hotel, wherever :P).

If you saw a weird person singing 'the internet is for porn' along the way -- it was me. XD

There were 2 good parts I really liked. The first one (surprisingly involving cosplay) was ninjas. Ya, you heard correct -- ninjas. There were some lame guys in ninja cosplay (not naruto... just ninjas) and I COULD SEE THEM. My first thought was "They are not real ninjas" you can't hell see them.

The second, involving the festival itself were the wonderful fireworks. I generally really like them, especially when they are pretty. I expected some sailor moon firework at the end, but the super huge one that colored all the sky yellow was really pretty as well.

Enjoyed, but not sure I'll go there next year. Was a nice experience anyway! ^_^ (we had an awesome hotel btw!).

MDL Special Winners

Since I couldn't decide, as there were too many people taking part, I've decided that I'll make a small vote within the team to pick the best and later, when I'll have only 3 participants left, I'll make hideki decide in which order I should put them.

Thanks everyone for participating... all the photos were great that I couldn't pick anything I liked @~@... I liked all of them.

So, those who will be featured on my blog and next year's birthday post as the winners are (drums):

First place goes to dutchviola

Second place goes to lothiriel

3rd place goes to hidde:

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Special thanks to those who made the following MDL birthday things for our event:

;___; can I just put all cards here? they were so amazing... thanks everyone <3 I love you so much.