PocketWatch Romances

So, Sakura Con. *Grin* It was great! Granted, it would have been better if I’d had someone to go with, but I’m lame and have no friends here. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Speaking of next year, I’ve already decided that I’m going to A) remember to register -early-, since it was cheaper, B) wear a costume at least one day of the three, and C) BUY A FREAKING CAMERA. I haven’t decided who I’d go as, but I have some ideas…

Costumes/characters that I saw:
– Bleach – (Small pictures of some characters and names here)
— Ichigo Kurosaki
— Kisuke Uchihara (including really loud geta)
— Yoruichi
— Kuchiki Byakuya, Capt. 6th Division
— at least one Ishida Uryuu (I thiiiiink)
— Orihime
— Kon
— Sado Yasutora (Chad), I thiiiink; there were soooo many people it’s hard to remember who/what I _didn’t_ see.
— Ichimaru Gin, Capt. 3rd Division
— Abarai Renji, Vice Captain 6th Division
— Zaraki Kenpachi, Capt 11th Division (I remember this guy mostly because he had figured out a way to make Kenpachi’s hair out of that thin craft foam _and_ figured out how to stick it to his head without a headband. It was really pretty cool.)
— Other Division members whose names/looks escape me, I’m sure

– Fullmetal Alchemist – (Character list w/ annoying ad on L side)
— Edward Elric
— Alphonse Elric (there were some really creative Alphonse costumes)
— Col. Mustang
— A very funny Alex Louis Armstrong — the girl wearing the costume had wires on her shoulders that held little pink “sparkles”, in keeping with the glitter and hearts that surround Armstrong every time he flexes (which is just about every time he shows up…)
— I think there was a Winry Rockbell and a Riza Hawkeye, too.

– Inu Yasha – (List of characters)
— Inu Yasha (though only one or two…)
— Sesshoumaru
— Shippou (carrying a stuffed Kirara)
— Miroku (I think there were more Mirokus running around than the rest of the characters put together)
— Sango
— I didn’t see Kaede, Kikyo, or Kagome, but that doesn’t mean much.

– Naruto – (List o’ characters w/ pictures, from anime pt. 1; part 2 )
— Uzumaki Naruto
— Uchiha Sasuke
— Sakura Haruno
— Haruno Sakura
— Hatake Kakashi
— Iruka
— Ebisu (I think…)
— Yamanaka Ino
— Aburame Shino (I think…)
— Inuzuka Kiba & Akamaru (there were several Inuzuka running around; at least one of them had a plush dog tucked in their jacket)
— Momochi Zabuza (I think…)
— Kankurou
— Gaara
— Dosu Kinuta (the costume looked miserably hot)
— Rock Lee (the person wearing the costume was a great fit — it looked like Lee had just hopped out of a volume of the manga)
— and I’m pretty sure there was at least one Orochimaru there. There were probably others that I missed and/or didn’t recognize…

– One Piece – (List of characters)
— Luffy
— Sanji
— Zolo/Zoro

Miscellaneous:
— Cid Highwind from FF7
— Phoenix Wright/Miles Edgeworth from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
— Integra(l) Hellsing
— Det. Leon Orcott from Pet Shop Of Horrors
— A moogle
— A couple dozen random Ninja (including one wearing a sign reading “I am a ninja — you can’t see me)
— Lots of cat-girls
— Link from Ledgend Of Zelda
— Cloud from FF7
— Squall from FF8
— Edea from FF8
— Selphie from FF8
— Vash and Wolfwood from Trigun (no Milly or Meryl, though…)
— A good double handful of girls in various Loli-Goth outfits
— Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura, accompanied by someone wearing a full-body Kero-chan costume
— A moogle “riding” a chocobo
— Players from the Prince Of Tennis tennis team
— Hikaru Whatsisname from Hikaru No Go
— Ukyo from Ranma 1/2, complete with _giant_ spatula
— A little girl dressed as Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service, complete with a broom (and I think a toy Jiji)
— A little kid (girl, maybe) dressed as The Prince from Katamari Damacy
— A couple dressed as The King and Queen Of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy

Mostly what I did was spend money in the dealer’s room. I got some great stuff, though — stuff I couldn’t get at Kinokuniya/Uwajimaya. I got, I don’t know… Maybe 18 doujinshi? I haven’t counted them. [Update: I just checked and I have 17. Heh.] It wasn’t until after I’d come home on Sunday that I thought of asking the doujinshi dealers if they had any Lively Little Hiei-Chan doujinshi… And as I sighed over the lost opportunity, I opened the one YYH doujinshi I had purchased and lo and behold, there he was: Hiei-chan in a Tanuki costume. (No, I have no idea why. I kind of doubt that learning kanji would help, considering…)

Other doujinshi I bought include Volume 17 of a who-knows-how-many-volume series, the name of which I cannot tell you because it’s all in kanji I can’t read*. Hiei apparently likes/loves Kurama, not that he’s said as much; Kurama in the meantime is having problems with his Youko side. Nice art, and it makes me want to hunt down volumes 1 – 16 and 18 – ?.

I picked up another funny doujinshi that says “Presented by negotowaneteie!” on the back, and contains a number of short-short stories. One of them involves Kuwahara and the humanoid-tiger form of some enemy… And given that Kuawahara _loves_ cats, I’m sure you can see where that one goes. *Snicker* Another involves the hatching of multiple teensy Hieis from a basket of eggs. I think. I managed to pick out the word ‘tamago’, so… It also has a cute picture of Kurama offering a lolly to Hiei. There are a couple of kanji (one of which looks like it’s maybe the kanji for ‘burning paperwork’ or ‘the school is on fire’ as it involves the stacked-papers radical from ‘go’ (as in the end of ‘nihongo’) and two fire kanji, stacked one on top of the other), the syllable ‘ha’ (which I’m guessing is read ‘wa’, and then in katakana says “ka-o-da-ke-ni-shi-ro!”

Then there’s the one I bought because it has Yusuke on the cover. Wearing a girl’s sailor uniform and a straw hat, his hair in pigtails, eating a popsicle. According to the back, it’s presented by Pepper Vivio Kun. Inside, it’s… Well, it’s a YYH/Sailor Moon crossover. And one of the…er…situations involves a crocodile (or alligator, it’s hard to tell). It’s pretty amusing without knowing what the hell is going on outside of what can be gleaned from the pictures, though I have the feeling that it’s even funnier if you can read the dialogue. I also can’t tell if Yusuke is a girl through the entire thing, or if he’s a girl only occasionally. Kurama is a girl; Hiei is still a guy. Koenma is a guy (I think he’s the principal); Kuwahara doesn’t seem to have a role in this particular book.

I picked up Silver 2, which is a YYH doujinshi that features a story wherein Hiei is a kid and is left at home, alone, by Kurama. He eventually looks in the fridge to see what’s in there and discovers pudding (of course!). His conscience manifests as a Devil-Hiei and an Angel-Hiei, who then get involved in a brawl (of course). Kurama comes home and discovers the winner… The other story is a rather odd Christmas tale, wherein Kid-Hiei (dressed as Santa) sneaks into houses and steals stuff. Kurama follws him, but doesn’t bother him… In the end, Kurama looks in the bag and discovers just -what- Hiei took.

The Lively Little Hiei-Chan book is Yoro 2, which also says Jyanru -> (Yu)2 Hakuso/ Kyuokaraoreha/Madara/Ramune&40. There’s a title mentioned in the back, Puti Puti, that I’d like to find next time I have the opportunity.

As for the other doujinshi I picked up…
— Clouds, Bridge, And A Camera by Saviour Machine. Vash/Wolfwood from Trigun Maximum; starts out with Vash and Wolfwood in bed and just gets better from there. It’s probably somewhat sad/angsty, but since I can barely read it, I have no idea. _Great_ art, though.
— Zell Dincht Character Book No. 2 by JAGIRL. Zell’s on the cover, holding sunflowers. Inside involves Squall and Irvine, though no kissing or anything else.
— Best Couple Only Book, Vincent/Cloud, by Mo. I have no idea what’s going on, outside of the very very obvious (Vincent and Cloud are i n love), but it seems to involve (a) drug(s). Maybe. It could also involve Cloud being sick, or it could be something from the game that I know nothing about since I never managed to get past the Shinra Building boss battle. Nice art, though.
— Stand Up by Yura Miyazawa (Jurer) and Natsura Ichijyou (Asian Slide), Gokuu x Sanzou. The Saiyuki guys are living in what appears to be modern-day Tokyo, and Gokuu and Sanzou are sharing an apartment. Gokuu is either a high-school student, or he’s attending a university that has uniforms… He comes home with a 75 on something (test, probably) and gets yelled at by Sanzou [surprise!]. Lovely art.
— Romance Book, Hakkai x Sanzo, by Elephant Man (Nejime Taki). Three short (somewhat sweet) stories. The last one, Ephemeral, I could actually follow! Kinda. It involved rain and staying in bed, because both Sanzo and Hakkai dislike rain and/or never sleep well when it rains. Goku doesn’t even show up; Gojyo makes a passing appearance. As with most of the books I picked up, it has lovely art as well.
— West Side Story by Jidohtengoku and Kikaitengoku. A very thin Saiyuki doujinshi with incredibly short stories, none of which involve anything more than implied relationships. The oddest one is one in which Gojyo’s good looks apparently give Hakkai a nosebleed. (*Shrug* I don’t know either, I just report these things.)
— Asato Tsuzuki Birthday Book, by either White Key or L’acryma d’anjou (possibly L’acryma d’anjou presents White Key’s…, it’s hard to tell). A pretty little doujinshi that follows Tsuzuki through his birthday, which falls on a workday (come to think of it, I wonder if shinigami get the weekends off? I kind of don’t think so…). Tatsumi gives him the last — and most personal — present of the day.
— Violet Garden 2, by Power/D-Clock. Mostly text, some illustrations. I wish I’d known it was mostly text; I’d have chosen something else. (The guy that I bought VG2 from tried to sell me YnM doujinshi featuring Hisoka and Muraki, which I firmly rejected. More on that experience in a minute.)
— Ura-Suji by Purin, or possibly Purin by Ura-Suji. And upon further inspection, it actually has a story by Minmin in it, so mayhaps Purin is the name of the circle? I don’t know. This is why I need/want to learn my kanji. ANYhow! It’s a GetBackers doujinshi which is mostly silly. The last story is the easiest to follow if you can barely read the dialogue — it involves a castle and Prince Ginji (I think). The artwork is nice, with clean lines and cute chibi versions of the main characters. I especially like the back cover.
— Crazy Drop, by Taifu Club Private GB. GetBackers, Ginji x Ban, set in an alternate universe where Ginji went to an actual school. Involves graffitti, apples, candy (I think), and Ginji and Ban in relatively staid, normal outfits. Quite possibly To Be Continued.
— Angelus by Mo (the same one that did the Vincent/Cloud book I bought). It’s a Rurouni Kenshin doujinshi, Sanosuke x Kenshin, featuring Kenshin as an angel. Yeah, I know. It was the most appealing of the RK doujinshi they had, though. And about the only one that was obviously Kenshin/Sanosuke, which is my preferred pairing… I do admit, though, that Kaoru/Kenshin doesn’t make me gag, mostly because the series (as much of it as I have seen) has handled it with such a delicate touch that it doesn’t feel forced or expected. At any rate, the doujinshi has nice/cute art and promises nice things in the other two (three?) volumes.

And now, because I am hot and sticky and thirsty, I am going to take a break.

* When Reesa sent me a tape of the YYH Sai-Kyou Best Collection Album, she included the phrase “Kanji I Can’t Read” in several of the song titles. It amused me, and comes in terribly handy in so many situations…

One Response to “Sakura Con, Part 1!”