Sometimes it's hard to keep up when you do so many things, but here's an update of things happened in the past few days.
The voice recording session was interesting to see. They were voicing episode 23 (didn't see any of
The Third yet, so I might be spoiled if I decide to go and watch it), and recorded the initial voicetrack of the show in one session. Then came the nitpicking, as the director wanted to go over a few bits several times. Apparently, Daisuke Namikawa (the voice of Iks) had trouble finding the right "e" (pronounce e as in net) somewhere in the episode, and Megumi Toyoguchi (voice of Hanoka) had to try several times to get the lines timed right for the Next Episode-announcement.
There were a few other knacks, but the whole episode took about 2,5 hours to voice.
Because of the fact that the majority of the animation wasn't finished yet, they had to use the storyboards and the ever present timer bar to voice the anime. One of the benefits from recording it that way, is that you can read the lines more naturally and let the animators sort out any timing problems. ;) I took some pictures, but they're from the recording studio only, as I was not allowed to take pictures of the voice actors.
After the session, we had lunch with Chino-san and we (Masami, Suzanne, Niels and myself) gave him several kilo's of Dutch omiyage; some cheese, candy, two bottles of spirits (one for him and one for his staff members) and of course, our business cards.
It's quite important to have business cards when you're in Japan and plan on meeting someone.
Since these things always take time, and going anywhere far afterwards wasn't really an option, Niels and I decided to hang out in Tokyo for the rest of the day.
The next day, I went to Comiket again with Masami and Suzanne, as the third day of Summer Comiket gives room to the more popular doujin-circles and also many homebrew games and music. It's astounding to see the ample supply of fan-made audiovisual works, from simple CDs with CG and/or music on it, to games you can pop into your PS2 and which often have more detailed graphics than those made in professional studios.
I spotted some very nice artwork on the covers of the doujins as well, but it's often when you open it, you see that the contents lack some effort or are downright ugly. I can't draw an image to save my life, but I know what I like. :)
Also, sometimes the artwork was superb in and out, but its contents is of the kind you usually don't leave on your coffee table, if you catch my drift. ;)
Comiket gobbles up your day though, so when we decided to hop on the Yurikamome again, the day was almost over, so I spent some time in Shibuya and Shinjuku. There was a rock band playing in front of Shinjuku station which sounded OK, but they didn't bring any CDs, so I haven't got a clue of what they're called. ;)
Riding a Cat BusYesterday, we went to visit the Ghibli Museum. For the one reader unfamiliar with Studio Ghibli; they are the studio that brought us Spirited Away (Academy Award in 2003) and a host of other movies, just as good or even better.
One of the special things about the museum is that they have a small cinema (Cinema Saturno) where they play a short movie. These movies are exclusive to the museum and you can see it only once during your visit. These movies won't be published on DVD either; you will have to visit the museum to watch them.
It's also not a museum you can visit on a whim, as they issue only 2400 tickets per day, which have to be bought in advance for a specific day.
After the visit, I took some of the people travelling with us to Nakano Broadway for lunch and some shopping, where I left them and went to Harajuku to visit a rather famous shrine, just behind Harajuku railway station. It also has the largest wooden tori (a shrine gate) ever built.
Afterwards, I visited the Harajuku subsidiary of Book Off to look for some books for one of my mum's co-workers, where I stumbled on a series of DVDs I wanted, which happened to be on sale. Yay for Book Off. :)
Later that evening, I went for dinner with René. We planned on Unagi (fried eel, usually served on a bed of rice along with some side dishes), but when we found the restaurant, it turned out to be closed, probably for Obon. So we went along and by chance, we found a restaurant that also served Okonomiyaki. It wasn't very spectacular though; the reastaurant was more of the trendy kind with small portions for a price that gets you a full meal with a pint and a side dish in Osaka, so I went to am/pm afterwards for a small extra bite. ;)
Cheers, K.