dormcat's cubicle, Blogger division

Due to various reasons, I didn't have enough time to sort out cosplayer pictures taken during Comic Exhibition Taipei 2009 until yesterday. Now they can be found at this album (including two members of Taipei City Council).

Toshiyuki Morikawa, who played Tyki Mikk in D.Gray-man , Ryuichiro Isaka in Junjō Romantica , among many other roles, arrived at Comic Exhibition Taipei 2009 on August 15. In addition to numerous anime and radio/CD drama characters, Mr. Morikawa also dubs Japanese voices for many Hollywood stars, including Keanu Reeves in The Matrix trilogy, Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible trilogy, and Ewan Mcgregor in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. For the complete interview in English, please visit Anime News Network .

Riichirō Inagaki (center) and Yūsuke Murata (2nd from right), creators of Eyeshield 21 , were invited to attend the 10th Comic Exhibition at Taipei on August 15 and give an autograph session. Like all other guests of the Exhibition, the two donated an autographed signboard to the charity auction, which raised money for the relief effort aimed at the victims of Taiwan's worst flood in 50 years. For the complete interview in English, please visit Anime News Network .

The two-day weekend is when highest number of con-goers attend Comic Exhibition Taipei. Most popular events are often scheduled on the weekend as well. Not surprisingly, I stayed at the convention hall for two full days in order to cover those events. The first one on Saturday morning was a combined autograph session of three Katekyo Hitman Reborn! seiyū: Hidekazu Ichinose (as Hayato Gokudera), Suguru Inoue (as Takeshi Yamamoto), and Takashi Kondo (as Kyouya Hibari). While the original manga of Reborn! is serialized in Tong Li's Formosa Youth (licensed version of Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump ), the majority of its fans are young girls, way more celebrity-worshiping than boys at the same age. The fence surrounding the stage area had been crushed five times due to overcrowding. Soon after the main gate had opened, all major routes to Stage A was completely blocked by the crowd. Quite a few cosplayers are among the crowd. The spectators have filled every square inches in fron...

I managed to reach there on the third day, yet I still couldn't catch the autograph session of Yūko Aoki, author of Victorian Rose Tailor (sigh). While I haven't read Victorian Rose Tailor personally, judging from the introduction (and title) it's a classical romantic story with lots of detailed descriptions on formal dress and gown. Cosplaying readers posed with Aoki-sensei in the picture above. Similar to yesterday, there was only one autograph session in the afternoon, which was of Hideaki Fujii, author of Battle Spirits: Shōnen Toppa Version . This is a multi-platform merchandise that has two anime and a card game; the first anime version has been licensed by Muse Communication; however, it's a pity that due to limited time Muse couldn't release its first DVD at Comic Exhibition. The card game has been licensed, and a tournament was held. Fujii-sensei was asked to present the award to the best three players. The reason Fujii-sensei became a mangaka was quite...

My second day was far worse than the first: due to a sudden mission, my planned schedule was completely screwed and couldn't even allow me to go to the convention hall; all interviewing and photography opportunities were lost. I could only compensate with press release photographs. The first autograph session was illustrator and character designer Akemi Takada. Her Urusei Yatsura , Maison Ikkoku , and Pierrot's Magical Girl series (notably Magical Angel Creamy Mami ) were all masterpieces. Takada-sensei volunteered to donate an artwork for charity auction; the revenue will be donated to flood relief efforts. Chinese Comic Publishers Association (CCPA), organizer of Comic Exhibition Taipei, immediately coordinated all foreign and domestic guests to join the effort, with unanimous positive reply. In fact, back in March 2000 when Takada-sensei visited Taiwan for the first time, she donated an artwork for 921 Earthquake, which was sold for a stunning NT$280,000. The price of the ...

The first event I could cover was the autograph session of Katsumi Nishino, author of Kanokon novel. Before the autograph session started, I took the opportunity to ask a few questions to Nishino-sensei. Q: Kanokon has two female protagonists, and Chizuru is older (human-age speaking) than Kōta; why did you design such background setting? A: Personally, I prefer girls slightly elder than myself, and I thought "it would be great if a girl like Chizuru can be at my side." Q: Do you think yourself are similar to the male protagonist (Kōta) in some way? A: Not at all, but I really envy him. Q: Do you have a specific preference to girls with kemonomimi (animal ears)? A: Yes! I like kemonomimi very much, and that's why I wrote the story in this way. Q: Fans of your book are divided: some want you to stop this "suggestive" style of writing, yet the other want you write in a more erotic manner. What is your personal opinion on this and how will you continue wr...