Generally speaking, no one really cares about AMVs like this these days. I’m talking about clean, subtitle-free, nicely-coded, simple AMVs that don’t utilize loads of complicated effects. No, it’s not “Skittles” or “Rah Hey!” but what is? Well, lots of videos, I guess. If you want anyone to actually watch your AMV, then you’d better go all out like those did or start looking for another hobby instead. Unless, of course, you’re churning out worthless trash like this, which is guaranteed to get you millions of views and one of the best ways to make friends on the Internet in 2012.

I can see why viewers might not like this video. “Where’s the sync?” It’s there, you chucklehead. It’s just not what you’re used to. Heaven forbid anyone has to watch a shot that lasts more than two seconds anymore.

This song sorta changed my life so I’ll admit that I’m probably biased towards what the editor was trying to do here. But I feel like I knew where the editor was coming from when he or she made this, so it really hits home with me. The song compliments the film nicely and together they build a mood that’s more interesting than the RAAAGE!! that most editors go for. I shouldn’t be surprised that that’s the way it is, or that more anime fans prefer it that way, but here we are.

Been trying to get in touch with the person who made this but no luck so far. If you are Internet user plan_b, check your Org inbox or drop me a comment sometime!

Not really up for discussing the ending, but I feel like they played it too safe. Maybe the manga ends this way. Maybe it’s still ongoing and, in light of that,  this was the best they could do to wrap things up. Or, maybe you’re supposed to leave viewers wanting more? Somehow, we actually get an extra season of Working!! but not more of this or Soul Eater? Am I being too impatient? I do want to see where these characters go from here. There’s a lot of potential for growth in them, and I feel like so much of the initial premise of the series is still unexplored.

Also, I think I would have enjoyed Blue Exorcist even more if there had been more emphasis on Christian scripture and/or mysticism. Sure, there’s episode 8, in which the arias-in-training recite the book of John to kill a demon, but otherwise there was a surprising lack of actual Christian content anywhere to be found. If the writers had gone a little further down this path, we’d have a series in which the heroes possessed some tangible powers to work with (complete with Biblically-backed limitations) rather than the often vaguely-defined combat skills that they continuously relied on. Maybe this is par for the course in Japan and writers there really don’t care about Christian theology or history beyond what they can pull out of it that might look cool (it wouldn’t be the first time). But I would have liked to see a series in which Christian teens (whom I presume the characters were, although none are ever shown praying or studying a Bible) battle demons with abilities that have, you know, something to do with their beliefs rather than ill-defined superpowers that, beyond those of Rin himself, we never really get much of an understanding of.

I guess I wanted the series to take fewer liberties with the finer points of exorcism as revealed by the Catholic church, which would have given us a privileged look behind the scenes into a heavily guarded world of secrets and mysticism. Obviously, authenticity was never the point of this show, but how much more intriguing could Blue Exorcist have been if its depiction of the church resembled what it looks like (from the outside-in, at least) here in the real world? Maybe then, abilities like demon summoning would come as a real surprise — and open the door to all kinds of theological discussions — instead of resembling standard shonen cliches.

I don’t mean to be hard on this series. It never promised to be anything more than it was, and if I’m still not okay with that, then I guess that’s what fanfiction is for. It’s actually pretty tempting. Probably for the best that I’ll be back in school soon.

• misunderstood teenage protagonist (who’s an orphan and who suddenly finds out that he’s actually a rock star without having to even try)
• who personifies the kind of intrinsic bad-ness that teenage boys either mistakenly project to the world or internalize as part of their identity
• and who overcomes challenges, wins friends and establishes his sense of self through expression of his natural instincts and talents
• a classic boarding school setting (providing a mostly adult-free lifestyle for youths to roam free) built for the purposes of fast-tracking kids to an awesome job that also doubles as a Hogwarts/Death Weapon Meister Academy command center in the fight against evil
• where students are encouraged to develop individual skills in line with their own interests in lieu of any apparent blanket curriculum
• female interest who’s shy/reserved/polite/approachable/understanding/everything that the male audience of a shonen series would want to find in an ideal crush to protect/redeem (the essential appeal of moe?)
• a story that validates every person’s hope that salvation from sin and/or an ordinary life is as easy as “being yourself” and doesn’t require any particular dedication, practice or sacrifice

I like to think of myself as a serious anime connoisseur, as evidenced by the Kino’s Journey boxed set and Shinkai DVDs sitting on my shelf, but if you want to know the real truth, it’s juvenile stuff like this that never fails to get me pumped up. Seriously, when am I going to stop getting letting myself get obsessed over silly shonen stuff like this? I should be watching giant robot shows like a real man, right? I really do feel like this series is pandering to my basest emotional longings, but I can’t say that I mind very much. That’s right. When other fans get wrapped up in stuff like this, it’s definitely a problem, but when it happens to me it’s okay. Funny how that works out.

From the get go you can tell that this series is going to follow a familiar arc, establishing a conflict, introducing characters, following them through a handful of lighthearted episodes before turning into darker territory. So I think I know what to expect. Or do I? Alright, I really have no idea where this series is going, but let’s hope it brings home the goods. So far, so good. Even the filler (or “filler,” as I can’t verify if it really is or not) has been pretty enjoyable. This is almost the only series that I’ve had time to watch since the end of summer. I think I made a wise choice.

Anyway, I found Bakartkung’s profile there a year or so ago and watched a few of his (her?) videos and enjoyed most of them, despite the fact that some of them… could use some improvement. But hey, so could mine! But I’ll get back to that in a minute. Why did I enjoy these AMVs and why am I fascinated by this editor?

Bakartkung’s list of videos is extremely long (though most are listed as “unavailable” for download, a good number can be found on Youtube) and most are set to the sort of music that you almost never hear in AMVs: 808 State, S’Express, A Certain Ratio, Eric B. & Rakim, and lots of other things that you’d never find on this list. He (I’ll just assume Bakartkung is a male for the rest of this entry) uses a lot of music from the 80s and 90s, some hip-hop, some ambient techno, and a lot of stuff that was probably be called “indie dance” at one time or another. I get the feeling that a lot of these videos were made quickly, although some employ upwards of a dozen sources and occasional flashes of beat sync in their editing. It’s hard for me to recommend one to watch, particularly because none of my favorites from him seem to be available to post, but geez louise:

I’m not even sure if this is a good video or not. For such a mellow piece of music as this, there’s an awful lot of action shown. Different scenes flow into each other with no transitions. The subtitles (which show up in a lot of his videos) are distracting, but at least the image quality is good (which is a problem in many of his early videos). A lot of these problems could be solved by starting with better quality sources, but like a lot of editors, I suspect that Bakartkung’s just making the best out of what he has to work with. But yeah… I think I’m just amazed that this AMV even exists. There are more where that came from, too. And now that I’ve just found all these channels (in the middle of writing this entry), I’ve watched a few of his newer videos and they’re a lot cleaner-looking and more tightly-edited. This one is pretty good. So is this, in which he actually uses a good number of subtle transitions and edits to the tone of the song in a really faithful way.

I’ve tried to contact Bakartkung on the org a few times, but haven’t received any responses. I’m not sure if he’s fluent in English or not (he’s never posted in the forums and his profile comments are really short). It’s really unfortunate, because he seems like the sort of person I’d like a chance to chat with, and I’m pretty starved for worthwhile Internet company these days. So much of anime fandom online is made up of people whose biggest non-anime interests include 4-chan, awful Internet memes, Family Guy, bad video games, watching wrestling, Transformers movies, collecting weapons, painting their faces like the Joker, trolling, “trolling,” posting “trollface” icons on message boards and thinking they’re being subversive, and just being insufferable bores that aren’t interested in anything thoughtful or genuinely cool. I wasted a lot of time thinking that I was going to find some utopia of self-aware hipster otaku online but after years of searching I’m now ready to say that they just don’t exist. So finding someone else out there who enjoys anime and electronic music and wants to bring them together into some kind of a hobby to share with the world… it just doesn’t happen every day. I think we’d have a lot to talk about!

I know we’re on opposite sides of the world, but hey, maybe someday we can listen to The KLF or Primal Scream and have a beer.

Oh yeah, The Breeders are still better, fwiw.

I suffer from a really crippling case of, well… feeling old. I know I’m not, but when I constantly compare myself to who I was or who my friends were ten or fifteen years ago, it’s really easy for this debilitating feeling to take hold of me and keep me from enjoying the here and now. Not that there’s anything wrong with nostalgia, which we all indulge in, either alone or communally. But I find myself reminiscing about the past to a seriously damaging degree. I know that the world wasn’t necessarily a better place when I was fifteen years old, but my selective memory of it sure makes it seem that way. I think every one of us is susceptible to falling in to these thought patterns as we get older; the wiser and more mature you are, the more you’re likely to recognize this habit for what it is and avoid the pitfalls of dwelling in it for long. For the rest of us, it’s only a matter of time before we start bitching about how much better everything used to be and how today’s kids just ruin everything.

I catch myself ruminating over this kind of stuff every day and I’m trying as best as I can to break myself of the habit. Culture (pop, youth, Internet, etc.) has always been changing at an exponentially fast rate, and it’s unrealistic (and narcissistic) to expect the world to freeze itself in time for you so you can be seventeen forever. None of this is a great concern for people who’re comfortable in their own skin and at ease with the simple matter of living life and pursing whatever interest sparks their passion. For the rest of us, though, the inevitable march of time and the changes it brings to the world around us can feel like a great injustice that must be resisted or rejected at all costs. It’s a cruel but fitting irony that, for such people so concerned with clinging to the world of their youth and decrying the teens that grew up and eventually took their place (Get Off My Lawn syndrome?), these habits effectively brand them as “old” long before their peers who don’t give a shit grow a single grey hair.

Why am I meditating about this now? Two institutions that I’ll forever associate with my youth have gone belly-up in the past two weeks, which has made this a very nostalgic July. It’s been more than a month since the announcement that Chicago’s WKQX, the home of “Chicago’s Alternative” Q101, would be switching formats from modern rock to news (following a buyout from a group headed up by this pathetic scumbag). Q101′s ratings have been slipping over the years as rock continues to lose ground to pop and R&B as the youth music of choice, so the station’s fortunes hadn’t been positive for quite some time. And anyone who remembers listening to the station back in the early to mid-90s would be hard pressed to find much to enjoy about it in 2011 as it abandoned most of what made it interesting and cool back then, embracing instead some of the most painfully generic, macho, angry and bitter music of the last decade. I remember being young and discovering bands like Elastica, Lush, and The Chemical Brothers, thanks to Q101. By the early 00′s, this brand of “alternative” was all but completely jettisoned in favor of a new crop of bands like Staind, Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, Cold, Trapt, Hoobastank, and Disturbed. Kurt Cobain once said that the future of rock belonged to women. It might be for the best that he’d never find out how much of an angry sausage fest it would eventually turn out to be.

Even in its heyday, Q101 was far from perfect, and for every song they’d play from Bjork, Beck or The Breeders (or strange one-off hits that somehow slipped into the playlist a few times a year) there would be three or four tracks of generic modern rock shit. And this was before Limp Bizkit, Creed, or Kid Rock arrived in ’98/’99 and turned the station into a Woodstock ’99 celebration of aggro butt-rock and depressive self-loathing. But over the years, we learned to take the good with the bad, and felt a tiny sense of victory as bands like The White Stripes, Interpol, Modest Mouse, and Franz Ferdinand reclaimed the spirit of “alternative” and scored a few hits that are still rock radio staples today. All this was meaningless, of course, but in the age of Napster, iTunes, and Pandora, I think we all still wanted radio to matter. We grew up listening to it because it was all that we had, and if it stayed relevant, then we still had something in common with the kids of today.

And over the years, Q101 took a few risky stabs at staying relevant. Sunday evenings introduced the “Electronic Trip” back in 1997, where the station would air 2 hours of electronica. This was not to last, as the program was cancelled sometime in 1998 or 1999, but along the way it helped me to discover artists like DJ Shadow, Orbital, Photek, and countless other electronic acts I’d have had no access to in the pre-Napster world of the late 90s. A similar program focused on indie rock would appear in 2002 (2003?), only to fizzle out a year or so later. The most drastic change would come in 2005 when the station went “on shuffle,” breaking up their predictable playlist with more classic alternative hits. It was an immediately noticeable change that felt like a godsend in its first few months. Over time, “shuffle” grew less and less surprising, as nu metal and grunge slowly regained their chokehold on the station, and hits from Ramones, The Sex Pistols and The Smiths were phased out in favor of bro-classics from Bob Marley and Sublime. Eventually, Q101 succumbed once again to a predictable, corporate-approved playlist that catered to the dumbest core of every possible demographic, which left the station in a pretty miserable state from at least 2008 until this summer. Plenty of listeners mourned the passing of the station. Just as many seemed to cheer its demise. Both groups could make a good case for their stance.

As much as I complained about the station over the past ten years, it was still a big part of the soundtrack to my youth. My friends and I would listen in the car, in the basement, in the backyard while jumping on their giant trampoline on hot summer days… a lot of these times were boring as hell, but I still idealize these memories to a ridiculous degree. On my own, though, I was busy getting in to lots of music that my friends didn’t know and didn’t care about. Sonic Youth, Pixies, drum and bass, musique concrete, jazz… there was no Internet to discover and sample music from. Instead, I would borrow books from the library — I checked out this one a few times — and interlibrary loan whatever I could. There were two good music stores in town that I spent most of my allowance and early paychecks at. There was also Borders, which I’ve posted about before and spent far too much time at for my own good.

The closing of one-third of the chain’s stores earlier this year attracted a great deal of attention from the media, bloggers, and readers everywhere. Based on everyone’s reactions, you’d have thought that the entire company was going out of business, when in fact most of their stores would remain open. I don’t remember anyone talking about these remaining stores or what the future might hold for them, so I just assumed that they would remain open for years to come. Surely the bleeding had stopped and the company could essentially start from scratch, right? Obviously, I was ignoring the dreadful debts that the company had rung up over the years, which could hardly be remedied by closing a few underperforming stores. Alas, all Borders stores will be closing within the next few weeks, putting another 11,000 Americans out of work.

Most shoppers who first visited Borders during the 90s remember it as a “real” bookstore, one that carried an astounding variety of books and hard-to-find titles. Their music selection was second-to-none, and I’m sure I’ve spent hundreds of dollars or more picking from it over the years. Hard-to-find magazines, manga, great DVDs… you could always find something new and interesting by just browsing. Some time over the past decade (especially the last 5-6 years), this was all RPL’ed to make room for toys, games, t-shirts, gift wrapping, knick knacks and all kinds of floor-filling ticky-tack garbage that management was intent on stocking instead of real books and media. Though the company was extremely late to the eReader game (introducing the Kobo over a year after Barnes & Noble began selling the Nook), the chain had dabbled in selling electronics and video games throughout the 00′s. Perhaps they thought they had to — and actually could — compete with Best Buy. Corporate’s stubborn reliance on pushing the “make” titles, instead of simply providing a wide selection and good customer service, certainly showed that they really thought they could beat Cosco at their own game. Obviously, these were foolish battles they never should have picked.

I bought a lot of books and CDs at Borders that are still very special to me, and I have a lot of good memories of just hanging out and browsing there. Back when the stores were actually open until 11:00 at night, I once drove through a snowstorm on my way home from work just to buy this CD! How crazy is that? Compare that to today, where I can step into a Borders and literally walk out empty-handed a half hour later, unable to find a single thing tempting enough to actually buy. So I’ve been unhappy with the chain for a long time now, but I never wanted them to go out of business. There was always hope that the recession would end, that the company would get its shit together, and that somehow everything would work itself out in a few years’ time to the point where shopping at Borders could once again be an enjoyable and unpredictable experience. But here we are, with stores packed in the early weeks of liquidation sales, foolish and greedy customers scooping up armloads of merchandise that they could have bought weeks earlier for cheaper with a coupon. By the end of the summer, dorky kids will have one less place to hang out, thousands of knowledgeable and helpful staff members will be out of work, and the CEO will surely be enjoying severance pay the likes of which an entire store of booksellers could never earn in a year.

So then, we’re living in a world where radio is a dead medium and brick and mortar bookstores no longer need to exist. I can’t help but feel troubled by this. Maybe a new rock station will appear on the Chicago dial, but will listeners bother to tune in? I think that once you’ve lost them, and lost them young, you’ve lost them for good. The same goes for bookstores. I know that no one under 20 buys CDs or DVDs anymore. Will they stop buying books, too? But… what if that’s okay? Is any of this inherently a bad thing? I can’t help but feel like it is. It’s just got to be! But is that just because I’m over 30 and scared of change? Do I only understand the world I grew up in, and fear the inevitable shift that’s been happening all along?

Sometimes I feel like everything that I do, everything that I am, is sort of fading away. Maybe this is just fine.

This is what people have Twitter for, isn’t it.

No, my attraction to Japan and “Japanese things” wasn’t spawned solely by my fondness for anime. Rather, I personally identify with many of the social values that seem to be so prevalent in Japan, at least when compared to life in America. I think I’m a pretty polite and reserved person. I think most people who know me would say the same thing. I find myself identifying more with the way that the typical Japanese person conducts themselves than I do with any Americans, and I base that on observations I’ve made of real Japanese people and the interactions I’ve been fortunate enough to have with them at my job (service work in an international business setting, I’ll leave it at that). What Americans consider “quiet,” Japanese people consider “polite” and perfectly normal. It’s little wonder that I often feel like I’d fit right in to their society, or at least in most of the ways that I feel I don’t fit in here.

I’m also drawn to the aesthetics of Japanese life. I’m talking about homes, interiors, furniture, the way dishes and cups are designed, etc. On a larger scale, the way towns are planned and the look of the average city street is both more pleasing to look at and simply function more efficiently. American cities and towns are designed for automobiles, are inconveniently laid out, favor ugly architecture, and breed feelings of contempt and isolation. Japanese cities, on the other hand, seem to be built for people to actually live in and have a sense of integration and purpose in their layout. Even the average city block is more functional and visually appealing, conveying a sense of coziness and harmony without looking excessively cramped or cluttered. I’ll admit these are all media-based impressions taken from video and photographs. I’ve never visited Japan and, let’s face it, probably never will.

What I’m getting at is that there seems to be a set of deeply-held cultural values that guide life in Japan, which, more or less, don’t really exist in the US. Once in a while, these are really reflected in anime: I’m thinking of Miyazaki’s more pastoral films and the more recent work of Makoto Shinkai. Perhaps you could count House of Five Leaves, which I had the fortune of watching last week when I was sick, in the same company. It channels many of my fantasies about life in Japan in its quiet tone, slow pacing, and lush, soft visuals. I ‘m guessing that it takes place in the 17th or 18th century — long enough ago that Tokyo was still called Edo — firmly during the feudal period, at any rate. Yet it’s surprising just how modern and familiar it feels, thanks in a big part to the characters.

The series follows a band of robber-kidnappers who make a living collecting ransoms from the wealthy families of their victims. But they’re actually a rather pleasant group of folks, at least once you get to know them. The main character, Masanosuke, is an unemployed samurai whose shy demeanor keeps him from holding down a job. He’s eventually approached by the mysterious but charismatic Yaichi, who offers him much-needed work in his operation. Masa is reluctant at first to take part in such rogue business, but finds himself slowly growing more and more involved with Yaichi and his comrades, until he’s finally one of the gang, finding both the work and the personal companionship that he’s sorely needed.

I love the atmosphere and the serene mood of this series. The attention to detail in the settings, costumes, and other visuals make it a very relaxing and soothing watch. The world of House of Five Leaves is unspoiled by modern progress, providing lush backdrops of dense forests, grassy fields, and quaint-looking but bustling cities. The city of Edo, the principal setting of the series, is — despite its share of roaming thugs — a very peaceful town, not to mention beautiful in its preindustrial simplicity. There’s special attention paid to the characters’ ordinary, everyday lives; we watch Masa and his companions making business deals, cooking meals, drinking sake by candlelight, and just going about their days. There’s a “slice-of-life” feel to this series, but with a more sinister undercurrent than we’re used to from that genre. As the series goes on, there’s a mounting sense that the characters are living on borrowed time. How long will the gang stick together, and at what cost?

Also, while the main character might be a samurai, this is definitely not an action series. Episodes play out slowly and conflicts are gradually resolved though nonviolent means. Viewers expecting a battle-of-the-week against a series of conventional antagonists might come away confused or disappointed by what they find. Rather than concentrating on samurai-style clashes, House of Five Leaves is more concerned with developing its characters and slowly revealing their pasts. Yaichi, the leader of the Five Leaves, keeps his past a secret from his comrades. His history and motivations for forming the group form the dramatic core of the series. By comparison, Masanosuke’s troubling past is just water under the bridge, but he continues to struggle with his own lack of confidence and social anxieties. This makes him both the polar opposite of the standard anime hero and one of the more unique series leads that I’ve seen in some time.

House of Five Leaves is a real slow-burner, one that takes its time to draw the viewer in and rewards patient and attentive viewing. It’s a very low-key series, one that will probably come as a relief for anyone who’s feeling burned-out on hyperactive shonen anime and looking for something completely different. It’s also a thoughtful portrait of life in a bygone era, which will be particularly attractive to anyone fascinated by Japan and its culture. Recommended!

I liken the experience to the first time I went to an anime convention. It’s quite a shock to step into a place where everyone shares the same passion as you, particularly when it’s one as culturally marginalized in America as anime or techno. Sure, lots of people think they know what “techno” is. But ask the average person here and they’ll likely imagine club remixes of modern pop hits or trance-pop like Groove Coverage. (As for anime fans, the idea of ”techno” appears to run the gamut from this to this… so much for two misunderstood subcultures finding common ground anytime soon.) Even in the world of indie music, which the standard indie rock model has slowly been supplanted by more dance-friendly fare — I’d say that Daft Punk now occupy the same legendary/influential niche that Pavement did a decade ago — authentic techno remains one of the last branches of dance music that the Pitchfork nation has yet to absorb or understand. Disco, electro, house, even dubstep are now part of the fabric of indie music in America and have been well-plumbed by both indie rock bands and indie rock media, but techno (particularly Detroit techno) remains largely untouched (not that I’m looking forward to the day that Animal Collective or Spoon fans start namedropping Underground Resistance). Anyway, this is all just a longwinded way of saying that techno — think music on M-nus, Planet E, Basic Channel, etc. — is pretty much invisible in America. How strange it was find a giant a giant carnival devoted to it right in the heart of a major US city.

left to right: Kerri Chandler, Mark Flash, Nospectacle with Markus Guentner

Maybe that’s a little misleading, as Movement’s roster of artists represented a variety of electronic styles. But techno remains the central idea that the festival is based on, or at least where it finds its ”heart.” Despite the necessary corporate sponsorships that makes the festival possible or at least reasonably priced — Red Bull and Vitamin Water get their own stages — there’s a sense that the festival represents the uncorruptable spirit of electronic music, which has enjoyed occasional periods of great success but largely thrived on the margins of culture for decades. It feels like no small miracle that such a fragmented world could actually come together for such a big event, and one that people would actually come out for.

The visitors at Movement came from all sorts of backgrounds and subcultures. There were lots of young people there, the sort of kids that might have been called “candy ravers” at one point, but who defy such easy categorization today. There were plenty of older folks on hand too, veterans of both festivals past and the golden days of house and techno, and for whom the classic tracks represented not just “know your history” landmarks but real, tacit memories. There plenty of hippies, people in spectacular/ridiculous costumes, and glowstick wavers, but most everyone there was simply dressed for a hot summer afternoon. Saturday’s rain didn’t put a damper on things; everyone seemed eager to take the dreary afternoon as a challenge to have fun.

left to right: Metro Area, Margaret Dygas, dinner

A few of my personal highlights:

Space Time Continuum — I only caught the end of this set, but wow. I thought this was supposed to be some dated-sounding electronica for hippies. Instead it was a totally banging set just wouldn’t quit. This guy (Jonah Sharp) apparently hasn’t recorded anything for a while, but he clearly knows how to work a room or at least end a set on a high note. RYM reviews of his albums suggest that his work is more psychedelic and conceptual than the ten minutes of music I heard on Saturday, but I’m still curious to check it out.

Cio D’Or — Whenever I play my “recommended” radio on Last.fm, a Cio D’or track or two usually pops up. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard of her so far, and her set (abbreviated by technical problems?) didn’t disappoint. Smart techno with a real punch that was slow to lift off, but once the beat dropped, she had the crowd moving for more than an hour. The (literally) underground Movement stage boasted a few acts that I enjoy but who didn’t do much for me live, but this set was extremely compelling.

Tortured Soul — I don’t listen to much funk or “live dance” music, but these guys were really good. I expected something like Galactic but they sounded closer to Tortoise, The Roots, or even The Rapture. They definitely earned their main stage spot.

Kerri Chandler — Simply a great set dripping with soul. I know he’s a legend, but how much does the crowd really care? All I know is that the bowl at the park was half filled when he began playing, and was positively packed less than an hour later (in the rain, no less). So many people are skeptical or misinformed about what electronic dance music is and what it’s like to experience on a large scale. I wish those kind of people could’ve been there for this set.

Margaret Dygas – Just a great DJ set, good mix of classics and new tunes. Had the fortune to be up front for this and was really, really feeling it. I’m usually too much of an introvert to dance, but I couldn’t help myself here. I don’t think she’s got superstar status or anything yet, so it was nice to see so many people coming out to see her, even before the latecomers began pouring in for…

Ricardo Villalobos — I thought this was his first US show, but apparently he’s played here before (in Detroit, no less). Nevertheless, his appearance at this year’s festival was still a big deal! And the hilarious thing about it was that it seemed obvious that he couldn’t have given less of a fuck about it. Bringing out at least 20 people on stage with him, who proceeded to have a drunken picnic, he eased into his brand of mind-warping minimal, Latin techno that seemed to have sound engineers going bananas. I think they were pleading with him to turn it down, while he either didn’t understand them or simply pretended not to (for about five minutes, this was great comedy). I’ll admit this wasn’t as amazing of a set as I’d been anticipating, but my expectations for him were simply too much for him to ever deliver upon. I mean, I’ve actually dreamed about seeing him play before (in a setting too bizarre for me to possibly describe), so it’s little wonder that reality can’t quite live up to the fantasy that I’d concocted for it well in advance. I actually left his set after an hour, for fear that my facial cartilages were slowly being liquified by the bass.

69 — A real feast for the eyes and ears. I really like Carl Craig but had no expectations for this going in. Was there a reason he was performing under this name? I still don’t know. All I know is that this was the most potent techno I heard all weekend long. Just electrifying stuff. The crowd was going crazy for this, and rightfully so. My camera had run out of memory by this point, but I’m not sure a little video would do the whole experience justice. I hate to say it, but you really had to be there for this. To think that one man could put on a show like this, and that such a massive audience could come together to appreciate it, sort of gives me hope that the world really isn’t as hopeless of a place as it sometimes seems. I know that’s a tremendously corny sentiment, but that’s why the optimism and excitement that’s so inherent in techno is also so ineffable to try to put into words. You either know it or you don’t (yet).

Here’s hoping I can come back again in the future. The next few years look pretty bleak, financially, but I’d hate to think that I’d never have a chance to have an experience like this again.

Whoa, hold on… is that really how I wanted to begin this entry? Sure, the line to register on Friday was a pain to endure (4 hours, 40 minutes, causing me to miss the very panel that made me want to go on Friday in the first place), and the puerile Internet-inspired shenanigans that somehow pass for normal behavior continued unabated for yet another year, but damn. It’s ACEN! Stop griping and enjoy yourself for once!

This is the first year that I’ve gone to more than one anime convention, so fresh off of our trip to Sakura-Con, the usually-exciting experience of setting foot into ACEN felt a bit tempered this time around. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that, in general, attendees at ACEN seemed a little less enthusiastic about being at the con than their counterparts at Sakura-Con. What do I mean by this? I just feel like Sakura-Con drew more people who were passionate about anime, while ACEN brings out the folks who’re more into Internet culture or raving with glowsticks and flashing hair extensions. Or am I just projecting based on a few bad apples? Maybe my expectations are too high, approaching the weekend like some kind of sacred pilgrimage and celebration of fantasy instead of the hedonistic indulgence in folly and LOLs that everyone else accepts it as.

Anyway, Friday was kind of a wash, leaving me a little too exhausted from standing in line to really get a lot out of the remains of the day. I spent a good deal of time just walking around and taking pictures of cosplayers, hence the (relative) abundance of photos in this post. I wanted to be social, but upon reflection, I think I kind of blew the three or four mini-conversations I had with other attendees, just sort of assuming that people wanted to be on their way, and not milking the opportunities for all they were worth. People do come to these things to meet other fans, right? Actually meeting other young adults who like, say, Digimon, isn’t something that’s gonna happen anytime soon this year outside of this weekend. Really kicking myself for not realizing that it was okay to geek out even more than I already was. I talked to a few really nice people, but I should have gone out of my way to milk those interactions for all they were worth. Maybe next year!

Big revelation: I think I could enjoy this con pretty well without even buying a badge. Taking pictures of cosplayers is pretty fun. The big secret that I only just figured out? They like it when you do. Also, though you do need a badge to get into the artists’ alley, the same rules apply. For God’s sake, talk to the artists behind the booths. Even if you’re not going to buy anything, just be friendly and stop avoiding eye contact with them like they’re going to pounce on you if you so much as pause during your slow walk past their goods. And finally, if you’re going to cosplay as I did for the first time this weekend, look at it as a conversation-starter, not something to act bashful or defensive about. Literally a third of the attendees were wearing some kind of costume. If you’ve gone so far as to try to join in the fun, at least show a little enthusiasm about it.

So yeah, cosplaying was fun, even though my character‘s outfit required very little real effort to put together. Only a few people recognized me enough to stop and ask me about it, but I’m not sure I really wanted a lot of attention anyway. It was just enjoyable to be taking part in what was essentially a giant costume party, and to finally get over the self-consciousness that always made me scoff at the idea of ever cosplaying in the first place. I was hoping to run into more Digimon cosplayers, but sadly, the only two I encountered were Mimi (beautiful) and Guilmon (the same one from Anime North?), and the scheduled Digimon cosplay meet-up never quite materialized. Oh well. If I can make it to ACEN 2012, I definitely plan on doing it again.

Panels… kind of suck when you’re in a room full of 200 people who feel compelled to shout out every thought that crosses their mind, as seemed to be the case in nearly every panel I went to on Saturday. That said, they’re still an essential part of the convention experience for me. We had to wait 20 minutes to get a seat at the bad anime panel, which was just as hilarious as last year’s. Hopefully organizers will book it in an even larger room next year. “Cowboys in Giant Robots: America in Anime” was also pretty entertaining. The “Revolution of Evangelion” panel relied too heavily on questions from the audience, which were often unintelligible or off-topic, turning what could have been a pretty informative and insightful hour-plus presentation into a shouting match. Maybe I was just too annoyed by the people sitting in front of us, who literally talked though the entire panel before finally walking out after 45 minutes. I’ve no idea why they even showed up in the first place.

I could complain more about attendee behavior, but if I’m going to be truly honest, this year marked an improvement. There was little to no garbage-tossing in the registration line, fewer yaoi paddles in sight than ever before, no one attempting to start Rick Astley conga lines or other such attention-whoring nonsense. I mean, there was still no shortage of people who were apparently raised by wolves, but seriously, if you want to glomp random strangers, beg for free hugs on the sidewalk, or headbang and chairdance to a “Caramelldansen” AMV for three minutes straight, who am I to judge? I’m the one dressed up as a 12 year-old boy, after all, and no one was looking at me funny.

Other thoughts: the AMV contest, once a big draw during its several year-run in one of the larger rooms at the Hyatt (usually to a packed audience), continues its decline as it played to a smaller, half-full room at the Doubletree. Only a handful of videos earned halfhearted applause from the unengaged audience. What happened? Compare this scene to the massive AMV room at Sakura-Con, where hundreds (thousands?) of fans willingly watched AMV after AMV, cheered for their favorites and politely clapped for all others, and even stuck around to vote afterwards. At least the Iron Editor event seemed to recapture the spark that once made it so fun.

Overall, not a perfect convention (if such a thing is possible) but another enjoyable weekend, one that’ll probably tempt us back again next year.