Tag: journey of heroes
The Cel Shaded Report, 11/8: The holidays are fair play
Now that Halloween and the general election are out of the way, our thoughts can now safely turn toward the holiday season. (Yes, I know, there's still Thanksgiving, and yes, there are many things that I'm truly thankful for … but work with me here.) And with the holiday season comes the Landscape of 10,000 Craft Fairs, every last one of them guaranteed to have at a few booths selling handmade earrings, a few more booths with unofficial Angry Birds/Hello Kitty/"Gangnam Style"-inspired crafts. at least five booths selling extraordinarily yummy treats that you'll probably end up buying way too many of, and a smattering of Tupperware/Pampered Chef/Avon-esque merchandising tables. I know this firsthand, having kicked off my own annual craft fair circuit with the Hanalani fair last weekend. (Protip: Keep an eye out for that one next year. Their bake sale always has amazing goodies.)
Craft fair season also means it's prime time for several friends of the blog: Audra Furuichi and Scott Yoshinaga of Kimonokitsy Studios, Team nemu*nemu's plush pup purveyors; and Terri Dux, Karl Miyashiro and the rest of the idkwhat2wear gang, supplying buttons for my office/building security card lanyard for … umm … a bunch of years now, I just know it's been a really long time. They'll be hitting a bunch of fairs over the next few weeks, and this post marks the official start of the Otaku Ohana/Cel Shaded Report tracker of where exactly everyone will be.
The five-star event of this weekend has to be the 23rd annual Noelani Elementary School Craft and Children's Fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, where nemu*nemu and idk will both be in attendance. The Noelani event also marks the formal, buy-them-and-take-them-home-the-same-day debut of the new plush pup quartet of Blue, Enchilada and LOLPup variants of Anpan and Nemu. Audra was kind enough to drop off some samples to the office, and … well, LOL Anpan and Nemu ran off to go talk to the editors in the Today section about possible coverage in print that could show up in the next few weeks, while Blue and Enchilada got some valuable on-the-job training about paper clip organization from old-school Anpan and Nemu.
There's one other Noelani exhibitor worth pointing out, but that deserves its own section of the Cel Shaded Report in a little bit. For now, I'll say that you can find Audra and Scott and idk in the cafeteria. The school is at 2655 Woodlawn Drive in Manoa. Bring the kids and make it a family fun day, too — this event certainly looks promising on that front.
Can't make it? The idk gang will have a quick turnaround, making an appearance at the Diamond Head Arts & Crafts Fair at Kapiolani Community College from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. (KCC is at 4303 Diamond Head Road; look for them on the Makapuu Avenue side of the campus.) Audra and Scott's next appearance will be at the Priory Holiday Fair at St. Andrew's Priory (224 Queen Emma Square, downtown) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 17. And if you can't make that, keep checking the Cel Shaded Report throughout the season for weekly updates.
Journey continues for Journey of Heroes
So about that other exhibitor I mentioned earlier. Also appearing at the Noelani craft fair will be the newest friend of the blog: Stacey Hayashi, author of the Journey of Heroes graphic novel that recently was covered in this space. She'll have a stack of books and other chibi goodies on sale, as well as a "chibi Christmas tree" on display that I promise to post a picture of if I succeed in finding a decent parking space for this event. (Yes, this is my formal declaration that I'm actually going to attempt a visit. Wish me luck.) Joining her to sign books will be Eddie Yamasaki, 442nd Regimental Combat Team item chapter president. If you can't make it to that event, Stacey and several World War II 442nd Regimental Combat Team/100th Infantry Battalion veterans will also be observing this extended Veterans Day weekend with a second book sale/signing, this one at the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii (2131 Kalia Road) at 10:30 a.m. Monday. For the latest updates on all things related to Journey of Heroes, visit www.facebook.com/442comicbook or www.442comicbook.com.
This update also comes with a bit of sad news. If you looked at the Journey of Heroes reception gallery featured in this space a few weeks ago, you may recall this picture of Stacey with 100th Infantry Battalion veteran Goro Sumida.
Goro was Stacey's "original chibi," the man whose stories formed much of the foundation of her book. Sadly, a few weeks after this photo was taken, on Oct. 25, Goro died at the age of 92. Here's his obituary. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
Friends of the Library of Hawaii: It's a savings countdown this weekend at the Friends' Harbor Warehouse in Kakaako, with a wide selection of books available for $3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, then marked down to $2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and finally $1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday. If past experience at these sales holds, the chances are pretty high that you'll come upon some used manga (both translated and untranslated) during your treasure hunt. The warehouse is located ewa (west) of the UH medical school; just go makai (south) on either Forrest Avenue or Keawe Street to the end, and you'll be there. Visit www.friendsofthelibraryofhawaii.org.
MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists will be meeting from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Honolulu Museum of Art School (1111 Victoria St., Room 200) … but it will not, repeat, not be a typical group meeting. Instead, the group is presenting a workshop on coloring techniques using computers. Bring your laptops and tablets. Cost is $10; no preregistration necessary. Visit www.manga-bento.com.
Author Jason S. YadaoPosted on November 8, 2012 Categories artsy, Cel Shaded, Jason S. YadaoTags artsy, audra furuichi, Cel Shaded, friends of the library of hawaii, idkwhat2wear, jason, journey of heroes, mangabento, nemu*nemu, stacey hayashi
The Cel Shaded Report, 10/19: Manga-style local style sale file
Let's start off this edition of the Cel Shaded Report with a quick reminder: The Hawaii Entertainment Expo, aka HEXXP, is this weekend. Here's a post summarizing pretty much everything that's going on, here's the schedule, here's the website, I'll be popping in and out maybe today, more likely on Saturday, definitely sticking around for a good chunk of Sunday. If you're going today, by the way, please do stop by the "How to Survive Single-Day and Multi-Day Conventions" panel scheduled for 3 p.m.; it's hosted by Ray Nagar of Project 760 Productions, who regaled me with tales from the California anime convention circuit Thursday during what started out as a lunch outing but ended up being a five-hour conversation. That's right, people, five hours. And I was thoroughly entertained for every minute of it. Now, Ray's panel won't last for five hours, but I'm sure he can fill his allotted one hour quite nicely, thank you very much.
Not much more to say beyond that, except I hope to see you there and maybe, just maybe, I'll have a few pictures of what goes on posted here sometime between Monday and the end of the age (and with the way my non-fandom-related to-do list has been lately, it'll probably be closer to the latter than the former).
Today, however, our focus is on local books with a twist of manga (or, in the case of one of the books profiled here, MangaBento) that have recently gone on sale or are about to hit the market. The first book is one that I profiled in this space a few weeks ago: Journey of Heroes, the graphic novel recounting the story of the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion and their service during World War II. Author Stacey Hayashi invited me to a reception held for the veterans and their families before the formal debut event; here's a small gallery of pictures (as in seven!) that I shot while I was there.
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=122138
One thing that I wasn't able to answer with much certainty in my last post was where people could pick up a copy of this fine publication, whether locally or abroad. I recently learned that the book is available to order for $10 plus shipping and tax at 442comicbook.com/shop.html (please be patient, though, they have a lot of things to take care of at the moment). Those of you locally can buy the book in person at the Noelani Craft & Children's Fair at Noelani Elementary School in Manoa on Nov. 10. (By sheer coincidence, the Noelani fair's also going to be the craft fair season kickoff for the nemu*nemu crew, so that's two reasons right there for you to go.) For the latest updates on all things related to Journey of Heroes, visit www.facebook.com/442comicbook.
As for what I think of the book? I haven't had a chance to look closely at it yet, but I have given copies to a coworker as well as my esteemed tag-team partner in fandom. Wilma's read it, and already she's impressed enough to start working on a review of it. We may have a joint essay for y'all sometime down the line. My coworker, meanwhile, loved the art and the story. She also pointed out one panel that caught her eye in particular to pretty much everyone on our universal copy/design desk that night:
I think you can understand why she'd be giddy about it.
The second book is Cacy & Kiara and the Curse of the Ki'i, the new young adult novel by Aiea Intermediate art teacher, MidWeek cartoonist and occasional art portfolio/sketchbook reviewer Roy Chang. Cacy & Kiara is the story of two cousins — one a free-spirited public school gal, the other a rather buttoned-up product of a private school — who, while on a field trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, get flung together on an adventure of a lifetime involving an ancient Hawaiian artifact and a bunch of bad guys who want to get their hands on it. I've been reading through it in my spare time — chapter 8 of 38, so a more extensive review of this book will be coming down the pipeline soon as well — and my first-glance impressions are that Roy's manga-style illustrations nicely complement the story.
You can check out Cacy & Kiara for yourself starting sometime next week at both Barnes & Noble stores; look in the children/youth "local interests" section. Or, if you're more inclined to order digitally, you can find it at Amazon, The Islander Group and barnesandnoble.com. Retail price is $11.95. Roy also recently spoke with Pastor Danny Yamashiro on his radio program, "The Good Life Hawaii," about the book, his story as an artist, and his newfound Christian faith; that hourlong conversation can be downloaded at ow.ly/eBkOw.
Finally, we have the book that's worth mentioning simply for its connection to the anime/manga-inspired art group that's mentioned frequently in this space, MangaBento. Adviser Devin Oishi has released a children's e-book that gives a local spin to the classic "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" tale, Pualani and the 3 Mano. Pualani is the Goldilocks of this story, a surfing prodigy who, following a massive wipeout, wanders into the cave of three mano, or sharks. Full disclosure: I was one of the people who helped Devin copy-edit the book, so I've seen the advance proofs … and the watercolor images included within are quite lovely. Pualani and the 3 Mano is available for $5 on Kindle and its affiliated apps at ow.ly/eBnw5.
Kawaii Kon: We're in that part of the pre-convention calendar where guest announcements for next year start trickling out. The latest news came a few days ago, when it was revealed that the next guest joining the already announced Todd Haberkorn at next year's event, happening March 15-17, is Colleen Clinkenbeard, a Funimation voice actor, director and line producer who's best known as the voice of Luffy in One Piece and Riza Hawkeye in Fullmetal Alchemist. Clinkenbeard's no stranger to Kawaii Kon, having last visited our fair island home back in 2008. For more information, visit www.kawaii-kon.org.
Hawaii International Film Festival: HIFF is wrapping up this weekend, and with it comes your last chance (for now) of seeing Eight Rangers (9:15 p.m. Saturday) and The Wolf Children Ami and Yuki (12:30 p.m. Sunday). Earlier this week, though, one screening was added to the schedule: the tale of the time-traveling bathhouse architect, Thermae Romae, now has a bonus screening at 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Readers in Hilo, get ready, because Thermae Romae is headed your way as well, at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29. Visit www.hiff.org for most of your ticketing needs (Hilo folk will probably want to wait a few days, though.)
Rose of Versailles hits the Internet: And that's legal, free streaming of the classic 1979-80 anime, too — no bootleg pirated uploads here. Anyway, to whet your whistle for their upcoming DVD release, Nozomi Entertainment has partnered with Viki to post the entire series online for free … in December. But the first episode, fresh off an advance screening at New York Comic Con last week, is now available, both on Viki and YouTube. Anyone who considers himself (or herself) a scholar of the anime classics owes it to himself to see this episode whenever he can.
Author Jason S. YadaoPosted on October 19, 2012 Categories anime, Cel Shaded, Jason S. Yadao, mangaTags anime, cacy & kiara, damon wong, devin oishi, hexxp, jason, journey of heroes, manga, nozomi entertainment, pualani and the 3 mano, rose of versailles, roy chang, stacey hayashi1 Comment on The Cel Shaded Report, 10/19: Manga-style local style sale file
The Cel Shaded Report, 10/4: Manga recounts 442nd heroics
File today's featured Cel Shaded Report item in the "man, if only I had heard about this sooner, I would've written about this a whole lot more!" department: There now exists a locally produced manga-style graphic novel that tells the story of the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion and their service during World War II.
And you can get your hands on it — and meet a bunch of cool people, including author Stacey Hayashi, artist Damon Wong and several 442nd vets — for the first time at an event downtown on Saturday.
The book is called Journey of Heroes, and it's based on the experiences of several vets. From the book's official site:
Stories are the foundation of our culture, the way we share our values and pass them along to future generations. Many of the documentaries and books about the famed 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team speak to the enduring values, heroism, and truth of their war experiences. Few, if any, tell their story within a medium that appeals to the audience that most needs to learn from and understand these lessons: our youth.
We are producing a 30-page graphic novel that tells the compelling story of these young boys who, after battling racism at home and fascism abroad, literally saved the world.
Developing the story in this medium — a flexible, easily-consumed format — makes it eminently accessible to younger audiences (grades 7 to 12) who might otherwise never study or learn from this most important chapter in the history of Asian Americans and our country.
I haven't seen the entire book yet, but judging by the images posted on the official site and on the book's Facebook page, it appears that Damon's rendering his characters in chibi (super-deformed) style. Here's a sample page to give you a sense of that style.
This book has a limited print run of 10,000 copies, 5,040 of which are going to schools and libraries in two states. That number seems a bit odd until you consider that 5,000 were originally allocated to schools and libraries locally, but an email from Washington state resulted in an additional 40 copies being pledged to that school as well.
So about Saturday. You can buy the book (and get it signed, too!) for $10 starting at 3 p.m. Saturday in the courtyard of the Pacific Guardian Center — the address is listed as 737 Bishop St., but think of it as the block bordered by Bishop, Queen and Alakea streets, and Ala Moana Boulevard. Cute character swag will also be available for purchase — all proceeds will go toward further efforts to preserve and perpetuate the 100th/442nd's legacy — and there will be a panel discussion of the stories featured in the book.
Learn more about the book at www.facebook.com/442comicbook — if anything, read through the project's timeline (it's available to read by Facebook members and non-members alike); it's fascinating to see how this project has developed since January — and 442comicbook.com. With this and MidWeek artist Roy Chang's manga-infused young adult novel Cacy & Kiara and the Curse of the Ki'i due this month, this promises to be a very good month in terms of this style of local literature.
Pen & Ink Works: Group members Heather Matsuura and Brady Evans will be hosting "Expression Session KIDS: Drawing From the Masters of Manga," 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at Spalding House (the former Contemporary Museum), 2411 Makiki Heights Drive. Participants ages 5-12 will learn how to create characters and lay out pages for their own manga, studying works from manga artists and pieces currently on display in the A Thousand Words or More exhibit. Cost is $15, or $10 for Honolulu Museum of Art members. Reservations required; call 237-5230 or email seng@honolulumuseum.org. Learn more about Pen & Ink Works at peninkworks.wordpress.com. And since this event ends at noon …
Comic Jam Hawaii: … you'll have plenty of time to bring the kids over to this cartoon art group's inaugural Comic Jam at Pearlridge Center. Sit down, draw a bit, collaborate with a bunch of talented people and have a fun art-filled afternoon. 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday SUNDAY (Update 9:45 p.m. 10/4: date corrected; blast my aged, addled brain >_<) on the Uptown side of the mall, in front of Hot Unique Imaging. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/147779161986428/ (Facebook login required).
JManga: School Rumble is now in the online manga publisher's catalog. Yes, I know, it's part of the bigger news that Kodansha's signed on to provide content to Jmanga, and that also joining School Rumble will be Code:Breaker, Pumpkin Scissors, Princess Resurrection, Pastel and The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls, and that those six series haven't been seen since the Del Rey Manga imprint morphed into the Kodansha Comics imprint, but … School Rumble! I enjoyed it! I have a copy of volume 1 autographed by Jin Kobayashi to prove it! So go buy some points from jmanga.com and read it already.
Author Jason S. YadaoPosted on October 4, 2012 Categories artsy, Cel Shaded, mangaTags 442nd regimental combat team, Cel Shaded, comic jam hawaii, damon wong, jason, jmanga, journey of heroes, manga, pen and ink works, stacey hayashi2 Comments on The Cel Shaded Report, 10/4: Manga recounts 442nd heroics