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|  | PEEPING INTO THE SMALL SMALL BUT BIG BIG HIDDEN WORLD OF ANIME IN UP ARKI: A June And July Shows Review by Sheila "Minamic" Benedicto As Fox said, going up the stairs to the UP College of Architecture AVR takes some commitment. I should know. I’ve been climbing those stairs for the past year or so for their Saturday screenings. I was committed, I had become a regular and I was hooked --- Saturday arki days always make me want to shout: “Anime! (and bishonens!) Here I come!” Which is why, wearing my comfy rubber shoes, I was again seen on two Saturdays in June and July trudging up five floors to the AVR, wondering what new characters I’d meet and what emotions the day would bring. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. The June 17 show started quite slow. The theme of the day being action, the first featured anime were Bubblegum Crisis 2040 and Patlabor. By the afternoon, though, energy in the room went high as the fans were highly entertained with the appearance of Ifurita in the El Hazard OAV (can you say drool, guys?), the match between Naga and “Piko-piko Lina-chan” (Kawaii! Lina Inverse times TEN! And with sound effects, too!) in Slayers Great Movie, and the heroism of Miyuki and Natsumi in the You’re Under Arrest Movie (the appearance of Tokairin and his unusual bishonen show of affection to Natsumi more than made up for the rather slow pacing of the movie.) But the main highlight of the day was the birth of Annie and Mei, the would-be mascots of Anime@arki. Five very talented artists submitted their designs which were posted in front for viewing and voting. From the very start, it was clear who would win thumbsdown. (And strangely enough, even the boards holding the designs seemed to have their favorite, as each illustration fell during the latter part of the show except for one. ^^) For the July show, the lineup was Kareshi Kanojo ni Jijyo (Karekano) in the morning, then Grave of the Fireflies, Kenshin Ep. 95 and Yokohama Shopping Log in the afternoon. My friends and I were a bit late coming there. When we arrived, the first episode of Karekano was already starting… and what was that big fuchsia dot (and I quote from Fox) “the size of Jupiter” on the right side of the screen? I don’t think the crowd cared, though I’m sure they noticed it --- they were laughing so hard at Yukino, the lead female character, as she made a complete fool out of herself. I couldn’t help laughing (and swooning) myself. Yukino and Arima, the lead male character, were just so cute! And the story was as if it was taken almost straight out of the life of any high school freshman. The anxiety, the frustration, the identity crises, all the thinking… it could’ve been me or you in that story… well, to my thinking at least. I can’t wait for the next four episodes! Oh AnimeArki?! Hotaru no Haka or Grave of the Fireflies began the somewhat rather depressing afternoon. Naturally who can’t help but BE depressed when watching the struggles of a boy and his sister trying to survive a Japan in the midst of world war… and failed? [sniff] Of course, the fact that the air-conditioners were busted didn’t help, and added to the gloomy hot feeling of the afternoon. “Who cares about the room being hot?!” Even though people would go out every now and then to escape from the humidity of the AVR, as soon as a show would start, they’d be back in. Their butts glued to their seats and their eyes glued to the screen, they stayed on watching the last unaired episode of the popular Rurouni Kenshin (Kenshin! 94 episodes with Kaoru and NOT ONE KISS?!) as well as sat through the Yokohama Shopping Log OAVs, which eventually culminated the hot afternoon. Now, what I like about AnimeArki is how they try to find ways to include their audiences in the shows, as a simple way of saying “Thanks for the support!” One of the simplest examples is the raffle. A show is never without a raffle at the end, where Fox would shake a die and call out numbers corresponding to the number written on the reaction slip they give you when you pay. The prizes they give away range from CDs to posters. Unfortunately, I’ve never won (I’ve never been lucky. ^^;) but there’s always the next time, right? And the next, and the next, and the next… Sigh. I can’t wait for the next Saturday. -Minamic-
Some Pics of Anime@arki fun ^_^
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