![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mini-Goddess IX, Akihabara A!MG art show, and Meta-Goddess
Part one of Kosuke Fujishima's new Mini-Goddess strip, which is being published on the spine of montly issues of Afternoon. In case you missed any of the previous panels, you can find them all linked here.
In case you've forgotten the story until now, the helpful blurb on top of this panel recaps it for you: "70% of the batteries in the Morisato household are Urd."
KEIICHI: Don't tell me that even the batteries in this transmitter are...?
CAPTION: CONTINUED ON THE JANUARY ISSUE!
Your random manga scans of the month...
Great frontpiece. I love her smile.
Okay, brief recap of the story so far: Like that Buffy episode Tabula Rasa, the Morisato household (minus Welsper plus Megumi) wakes up one morning having lost all of their memories. Welsper tried to manipulate the situation to his advantage, but Megumi relied on her superior intellect and kickass detective skills to see through his lies. Now Belldandy and Keiichi have backed Welsper into a corner, and force him to tell them their real names.
WELSPER: You're Morisato Keiichi.
WELSPER: And you're Belldandy. (My god, she looks like a space alien in this panel, doesn't she?)
BELL/K1: ......
KEIICHI: Belldandy.
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san.
KEIICHI: Belldandy.
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san.
KEIICHI: Belldandy!
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san!
KEIICHI: Belldandy!
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san!
Welsper, look what you've started.
A part of me wants to read this as a jab against all of the animated adaptations of Ah! My Goddess, but I may just be giving Mr. Fujishima too much credit.
BTW, for those of you who are sick of this story arc, don't worry, it ends in this chapter. Although, as what happened with the Parents arc and the most recent Sentarou arc, this Megumi story ends with vague hints that Megumi might have figured out the truth about Belldandy and her sisters. We'll see if that every goes anywhere. My guess is probably not, but you never know.
In other news, there was recently an Ah! My Goddess "event" at the Creative PreAni Shop in Akihabara. And by "event" I mean a two-week-long sale of original (yes!) artwork by Kosuke Fujishima.
Yes, I hauled myself all the way over to Tokyo just to see the show/sale. Well, okay, to do some other things too. I'm not that big of a nerd, not yet. ;) But I'd be lying if I said that the art show wasn't my main reason for going.
When I showed up, I was dissappointed to find that there was a strict NO PHOTOGRAPHS rule in effect. But here's what there was to see:
1. About two dozen original watercolors by Kosuke Fujishima, mostly Ah! My Goddess tankouban covers, and a few promotional Ah! My Goddess images that he painted for Afternoon magazine. Yes, these were the originals, not prints. The *starting* price for the cheapest paintings was 265,000 yen, or about 2300 American dollars. So obviously way out of my price range. ^^;; Still, it was a pretty cool experience just to be in the presence of Kosuke Fujishima-painted originals.
2. A few more original paintings by Kosuke Fujishima, this time done in the anime cel-shaded method, which were originally used for Newtype magazine and movie/OAV DVD packaging. Again, these were the originals, not prints. I can't remember all of the images there, but I do remember seeing: Belldandy in a wedding dress (from an issue of Newtype back in the 1990s), and the original cover of the fifth OAV disc. I didn't even look at the prices. I couldn't bear to.
3. 1/2 scale Terzetto statues of all three goddesses. These were pretty cool just to look at, even if they weren't for sale.
Now, like I said, I couldn't take any photographs while in the store. But thankfully, some intrepid rule-breaking soul from AkibaBlog took a picture of a similar event in July this year:
Yes, that's from the same store, and those are the same statues that I saw.
Oh, and for the curious, here are some pamphlets advertising the event. That's how I found out about it.
Oh, and while I was in Tokyo, I also stopped by Animate, because they were giving away free CLAMP goodies. There was a giant poster promoting Afternoon magazine that featured a gorgeous and brand-new-never-before-seen watercolor painting of Belldandy by Kosuke Fujishima. I assumed that this new illustration would be the poster promised to be included in the December issue of Afternoon, but it turns out that I was wrong. Maybe that illustration will be used as the cover of v.36 of the manga? I hope so. Again, I would have taken a photograph, but Animate also has a pretty strict NO PHOTOGRAPHS policy.
In case you've forgotten the story until now, the helpful blurb on top of this panel recaps it for you: "70% of the batteries in the Morisato household are Urd."
KEIICHI: Don't tell me that even the batteries in this transmitter are...?
CAPTION: CONTINUED ON THE JANUARY ISSUE!
Your random manga scans of the month...
Great frontpiece. I love her smile.
Okay, brief recap of the story so far: Like that Buffy episode Tabula Rasa, the Morisato household (minus Welsper plus Megumi) wakes up one morning having lost all of their memories. Welsper tried to manipulate the situation to his advantage, but Megumi relied on her superior intellect and kickass detective skills to see through his lies. Now Belldandy and Keiichi have backed Welsper into a corner, and force him to tell them their real names.
WELSPER: You're Morisato Keiichi.
WELSPER: And you're Belldandy. (My god, she looks like a space alien in this panel, doesn't she?)
BELL/K1: ......
KEIICHI: Belldandy.
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san.
KEIICHI: Belldandy.
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san.
KEIICHI: Belldandy!
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san!
KEIICHI: Belldandy!
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san!
Welsper, look what you've started.
A part of me wants to read this as a jab against all of the animated adaptations of Ah! My Goddess, but I may just be giving Mr. Fujishima too much credit.
BTW, for those of you who are sick of this story arc, don't worry, it ends in this chapter. Although, as what happened with the Parents arc and the most recent Sentarou arc, this Megumi story ends with vague hints that Megumi might have figured out the truth about Belldandy and her sisters. We'll see if that every goes anywhere. My guess is probably not, but you never know.
In other news, there was recently an Ah! My Goddess "event" at the Creative PreAni Shop in Akihabara. And by "event" I mean a two-week-long sale of original (yes!) artwork by Kosuke Fujishima.
Yes, I hauled myself all the way over to Tokyo just to see the show/sale. Well, okay, to do some other things too. I'm not that big of a nerd, not yet. ;) But I'd be lying if I said that the art show wasn't my main reason for going.
When I showed up, I was dissappointed to find that there was a strict NO PHOTOGRAPHS rule in effect. But here's what there was to see:
1. About two dozen original watercolors by Kosuke Fujishima, mostly Ah! My Goddess tankouban covers, and a few promotional Ah! My Goddess images that he painted for Afternoon magazine. Yes, these were the originals, not prints. The *starting* price for the cheapest paintings was 265,000 yen, or about 2300 American dollars. So obviously way out of my price range. ^^;; Still, it was a pretty cool experience just to be in the presence of Kosuke Fujishima-painted originals.
2. A few more original paintings by Kosuke Fujishima, this time done in the anime cel-shaded method, which were originally used for Newtype magazine and movie/OAV DVD packaging. Again, these were the originals, not prints. I can't remember all of the images there, but I do remember seeing: Belldandy in a wedding dress (from an issue of Newtype back in the 1990s), and the original cover of the fifth OAV disc. I didn't even look at the prices. I couldn't bear to.
3. 1/2 scale Terzetto statues of all three goddesses. These were pretty cool just to look at, even if they weren't for sale.
Now, like I said, I couldn't take any photographs while in the store. But thankfully, some intrepid rule-breaking soul from AkibaBlog took a picture of a similar event in July this year:
Yes, that's from the same store, and those are the same statues that I saw.
Oh, and for the curious, here are some pamphlets advertising the event. That's how I found out about it.
Oh, and while I was in Tokyo, I also stopped by Animate, because they were giving away free CLAMP goodies. There was a giant poster promoting Afternoon magazine that featured a gorgeous and brand-new-never-before-seen watercolor painting of Belldandy by Kosuke Fujishima. I assumed that this new illustration would be the poster promised to be included in the December issue of Afternoon, but it turns out that I was wrong. Maybe that illustration will be used as the cover of v.36 of the manga? I hope so. Again, I would have taken a photograph, but Animate also has a pretty strict NO PHOTOGRAPHS policy.
no subject
I'm just thinking that Fujishima's taking the Toriyama route and making the series unbearable so he can quit or something. I certainly hope not (since there seems to be /some/ progress, what with the recent visitations from secondary human characters), but it's been a while since anything really exciting has happened in the manga.
no subject
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san.
KEIICHI: Belldandy!
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san!
KEIICHI: Belldandy!
BELLDANDY: Keiichi-san!
Why am I reminded of this, I wonder?
As for the second part of your post the original artwork event sounds really awesome. Something I would have loved to attend, even if my regard of Fujishima as a storyteller has been dropping like a stone recently.
no subject
And "Miaka!" "Tamahome!" "Miaka!" "Tamahome!"
I wonder if anybody has an obnoxious Youtube clip of that...?
no subject
I would sopay to read a fanfic like that...
no subject
no subject
I am so thankful that you were there to bring back this info from that event. That is so amazing~ I don't think I would have been able to handle it! XD
no subject
Actually, I'd assume right away that he was just setting up for a cheap sex joke where Urd, Meg, and Skuld overhear this and assume something naughty's going on.
Thanks for the heads up on that event. I'm pretty shocked that they were selling originals. Fujishima-sensei strikes me as the sorta guy who doesn't like to part with his artwork.
And yeha, it sucks that the main event was basically "pretty pictures" and they didn't allow photography.