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Photos from the Weekend of the Otaku

by Austin Otaku on November 10, 2009

As my last post indicated, there were some really cool events available for Austin-area otaku to plug into this weekend, starting on Thursday with the Austin Anime Meetup Group’s Thursday Night Manga meeting and culminating on Sunday with the beginning of the San Antonio Museum of Art’s month-long tribute to the genius of Hayao Miyazaki. Well, okay, that last event wasn’t in Austin, but San Antonio is only about 1 1/2 hours south on Interstate 35 … so it kind of counts. Right?

So, without further ado, I’ve compiled some pictures from all the events I went to, along with some descriptions.

Thursday Night Manga Meetup at Mozart’s

About 9 people showed up at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters next to Lake Austin on Thursday to peruse some manga and talk about things that otaku talk about.

Austin Anime Meetup's Thursday Night Manga

Peace! from the Thursday Night Manga Meetup

Konohana Sakuya Manga Lecture

Manga couple Kohei Nishino and Tsugumi Nishino, known collectively as Konohana Sakuya, presented a lecture on manga on Saturday, October 7th. This event, sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin and the Japanese Consulate in Houston, attracted roughly 40 people of all ages.

In addition to receiving the wonderful postcard image shown at the beginning of this post (which they handed out to attendees of the lecture), I had the honor of joining the Nishino’s for coffee and dinner afterwards.

Tsugumi and Kohei Nishino, and Tomio Petrosky

Eri, Tsugumi and Kohei Nishino, and Chris

And after dinner and drinks, I drove the Nishinos around to show them the Texas State capital building and the UT bell tower, which was lit with orange lights.

Frederik L. Schodt’s Lecture at SAMA

On Sunday, October 8th, anime scholar and author Frederik Schodt helped the San Antonio Museum of Art kick off their month-long celebration of the work of Hayao Miyazaki with his lecture “The Allure of Hayao Miyazaki.”

Frederik Schodt Gives a Lecture on Miyazaki

Animation Cells on Display after Frederik Schodt's Lecture

Afterwards, I headed upstairs to the Asian Art Wing to check out SAMA’s collection of Japanese art, including their current display of Yoshitoshi’s Ukiyo-e.

Samurai Armor at SAMA's Japanese Art Exhibit

Overall, it was a great weekend. I made three new friends in Kohei Nishino, Tsugumi Nishino, and Frederik Schodt, not to mention the all the other folks I got to meet at all of the events. Stayed tuned in to AustinOtaku.com, and I’ll keep you up-to-date with any events in the future.

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Let the Weekend of the Otaku Begin

by Austin Otaku on November 5, 2009

It’s Thursday, and everyone knows that Thursday is the unofficial beginning of the weekend. Well, I’m also unofficially dubbing this weekend “The Weekend of the Otaku.” There are several activities to satiate your thirst for anime and manga. In fact, I’ll be heading out shortly for the first event in the lineup.

Thursday, Nov. 5 @7PM The Austin Anime Meetup Group will hold its Thursday Night Manga Meetup at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters on Lake Austin Blvd.
Friday, Nov. 6 @7PM UT’s Anime Club will meet in Welch Hall on the UT Campus to watch Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Toradora!, Nodame Cantabile (Paris Chapter), Legend of Galactic Heroes, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Spice and Wolf II, Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and Zettai Karen Children.
Saturday, Nov. 7 @1:30PM JASGA will host manga artist team Konohana Sakuya for a manga lecture at Casa de Luz (1701 Toomey Rd.).
Sunday, Nov. 8 @3PM The San Antonio Museum of Art will host the lecture, “The Allure of Hayao Miyazaki” with Frederik L. Schodt

So, there’s plenty of otakuness go around this weekend. Who’s with me?

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San Antonio Museum to Honor Miyazaki with Film Festival & Lecture

by Austin Otaku on October 17, 2009

The San Antonio Museum of Art continues its celebration of Japanese culture next month with a film festival series and lecture that honors the early work of critically-acclaimed anime writer/director Hayao Miyazaki.

From the official press release:

“Miyazaki’s feature-length films follow legendary characters, often based on mythology or graphic novels, who experience childhood adventure and questions of morality. … While a Miyazaki film is certainly a visually stunning experience, important themes are also explored in his work. Cloaked in the surreal and mystical, issues such as good-evil duality, environmentalism, conflict resolution, and personal identity are presented through fairytale-like stories.”

The film festival will show three of Miyazaki’s early works starting at 7pm on three separate Tuesdays in November. While you can view the films for free, seating is limited and is on a first-come first-served basis. (So get there early.)

Schedule

Nov. 10: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Description: Themes such as environmentalism and pacifism underlie Princess Nausicaä’s efforts to rescue her people from such threats as terrifying insects and a poisonous jungle. Adapted from Miyazaki’s popular graphic novel of the same name. Rated PG.

Nov. 17: Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Description: A mysterious crystal links the orphan Sheeta to a fantastic sky kingdom known as Laputa. Sheeta encounters sky pirates and a host of other colorful characters on a journey which will test her courage. Unrated.

Nov. 24: My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Description: Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei are in for magical adventure when they move to the countryside and befriend a forest spirit named Totoro. A charming and touching film you will long remember. Rated G.

All films shown on Disney DVD with original Japanese soundtrack. English subtitles provided.

In addition to the film series, SAMA will host a lecture by American translator and writer Frederik L. Schodt on the subject of “The Allure of Hayao Miyazaki.” Be sure to attend this special lecture at 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 8th, 2009.

From the press release:

In this talk, Schodt will explore some of the reasons for the appeal of both Hayao Miyazaki, and his films, in both Japan and the United States. … Schodt’s writings on manga, and his translations of them, helped trigger the current popularity of Japanese comics in the English-speaking world. In 2009, the Japanese Government awarded Mr. Schodt the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his work in helping to promote Japan’s popular culture in the United States.

While you’re at the museum, be sure to check out SAMA’s exhibit of Taiso Yoshitoshi’s Ukiyo-e series “Thirty-two Aspects of Daily Life.”

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Japanese Woodblock Prints Coming to San Antonio Museum of Art

October 13, 2009

If you don’t mind driving a couple of hours south on I-35, the San Antonio Museum of Art will debut one of its four seasonal rotations of the Ukiyo-e or woodblock prints of Tsukioka (Taiso) Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) on November 3rd. The exhibit is called “Seasons of Beauty: Yoshitoshi’s Thirty-Two Aspects of Life,” and it will [...]

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