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Mine eyes have seen the glory
of four pleasant, middle-aged Japanese women who together make one of the best creative parterships in all the world.
You know who I'm talking about
Satsuki Igarashi is awesome! She kept giving these little waves to the people she'd just autographed for as they were walking away and also at people who were watching the signing! It was so cute! I guess she had the most time to as the others, particularly Okawa, were busy smiling at people who looked darn near ready to cry with joy and were obviously saying emotional and appreciative things (if I was Clamp I'd be a bit overwhelmed by all the intensity but they seemed pretty cool with it - which they have to be - so kudos to them). That's what happens when you do backgrounds and design instead of plot and character artwork!
[mod=hatsuharupeace]Moved posts regarding CLAMP's visit to Paris to a seperate thread.[/mod]
of four pleasant, middle-aged Japanese women who together make one of the best creative parterships in all the world.
You know who I'm talking about
I've actually spent surprisingly little time at the expo. It's a rather long way from where I'm staying and there are so many amazing things to do in Paris that spending all my time in one place would be a shame and a waste. Even today I only got to the expo in the afternoon having spent the morning seeing the Pantheon where Voltaire, Rosseau, and the Curies are buried among others. My first great moment of the day was gazing at the Houdon statue of Voltaire in front of his tomb and marvelling at how totally awesome he was (is!). If you don't know anything about him please google Voltaire quotes now and read a bit about his life and you'll see why he's one of my heroes. Look into Rousseau while you're at it, his philosophy is very interesting and he makes quite a contrast to Voltaire (emphasised all the more by the way they're entomed directly opposite each other in the Pantheon).
I took the RER out to the Place d'Expositions (forgive me if I stuff up the French). Where I found myself in a vast hall full of cult pastimes from lego to Star Wars to DDR to every manga ever published and thought "Welcome to fandom". Upon checking the schedule I found that the Clamp cosplay contest was coming up and it goes without saying that I immeadiately proceeded to the main stage where I was lucky enough to find a seat reasonably close to the front. I sat there for a while before the lights dimmed, the announcer came out and said a few things in French and then there they were.
They spoke a few pleasantries in Japanese that were translated into French so I have no idea what they were. It doesn't matter. All I knew was that they were there, in front of me, and I was excited, maybe a bit overwhelmed, and very, very happy! The cosplay contest was a bit anticlimactic after that. I enjoyed it but left to explore the expo after a little while.
The expo itself was chaotic, gloriously and unrepentantly geeky, fully of awesome merchandise that's totally off limits to me due to concerns of buget, bag space, and international luggage weight allowance. There was also a very large number of people advertising "free hugs" for some reason. This is good otherwise I could easily have spent a fortune. The building itself was swelteringly hot but I was too busy admiring the cat bus and 1-up mushroom plushies and the cosplayers to notice.
After a while I drifted back to the place where Clamp were to give out autographs. The autograph system at the expo is a bit complicated. In order to avoid cues reaching to central Paris they've developed a raffle system where you draw out of a box and if you're lucky you get to line up for autographs which you will definitley receive and if not then at least you get to watch Clamp signing things for the more fortunate (which is still pretty amazing though I think they should give the people who love Clamp's work so much that they're trip is made by just gazing at its creators for an hour some sympathy). I was too late for the draw but I was still able to stand and watch other people get things signed.
Clamp took a while to come out but when they were there it was amazing. I was happy just to stand there looking at them, watching them smile at their public, seeing that they're real and marvelling that the good women whose hands have given us some of the handsomest (hot is a bit of a crude word really) men, the most beautiful women, the most fantastic clothes, and scenes of such tender emotion that they simultaneously break and heal your heart and the only person in the known universe who knows how TRC, xxxHolic, and, of course, X/1999 will end were all less than 10 metres away from me. The people who had been lucky in the draw got to walk down a desk the four of them sat at, translators at their sides, and got to say appreciative things while their book of choice was marked by the had of its creators. The expressions on their faces as they walked away were a beautiful blend of joy and shock. They looked like people overcome by the moment in the best possible way. I know it must be really hard having to smile at a very many highly emotional people and sign book after book after book but I hope Igarashi Satsuki, Mekoi Tsubaki(is that her current name?), Mokona, and Ohkawa Nanase are made happy by seeing how much joy they bring to peoples' lives.
I didn't have to shut my fangirl in a closet to stop her screaming "I love you Clamp!!!" and doing something that would get her thrown out of the expo. She was too overcome with happiness to get overexcited.
Tomorrow I'll be there bright and early to join the cue to go in the draw to get autographs. My chances aren't that good. I only get one draw while other people (with better tickets you can only buy in France. Grrrrr) get more but even so I'll give it a shot. I wouldn't be being honest if I didn't say that I don't ache to be one of the lucky few who gets a signed book and a chance to speak to them and wouldn't be kind of gutted if I'm not. Still, no matter what happens, I had the fortune to be born into a time and place where I have the joy and privelege of reading the stories Clamp tell and that is what truly matters most. Everything else is just a bonus!
I took the RER out to the Place d'Expositions (forgive me if I stuff up the French). Where I found myself in a vast hall full of cult pastimes from lego to Star Wars to DDR to every manga ever published and thought "Welcome to fandom". Upon checking the schedule I found that the Clamp cosplay contest was coming up and it goes without saying that I immeadiately proceeded to the main stage where I was lucky enough to find a seat reasonably close to the front. I sat there for a while before the lights dimmed, the announcer came out and said a few things in French and then there they were.
They spoke a few pleasantries in Japanese that were translated into French so I have no idea what they were. It doesn't matter. All I knew was that they were there, in front of me, and I was excited, maybe a bit overwhelmed, and very, very happy! The cosplay contest was a bit anticlimactic after that. I enjoyed it but left to explore the expo after a little while.
The expo itself was chaotic, gloriously and unrepentantly geeky, fully of awesome merchandise that's totally off limits to me due to concerns of buget, bag space, and international luggage weight allowance. There was also a very large number of people advertising "free hugs" for some reason. This is good otherwise I could easily have spent a fortune. The building itself was swelteringly hot but I was too busy admiring the cat bus and 1-up mushroom plushies and the cosplayers to notice.
After a while I drifted back to the place where Clamp were to give out autographs. The autograph system at the expo is a bit complicated. In order to avoid cues reaching to central Paris they've developed a raffle system where you draw out of a box and if you're lucky you get to line up for autographs which you will definitley receive and if not then at least you get to watch Clamp signing things for the more fortunate (which is still pretty amazing though I think they should give the people who love Clamp's work so much that they're trip is made by just gazing at its creators for an hour some sympathy). I was too late for the draw but I was still able to stand and watch other people get things signed.
Clamp took a while to come out but when they were there it was amazing. I was happy just to stand there looking at them, watching them smile at their public, seeing that they're real and marvelling that the good women whose hands have given us some of the handsomest (hot is a bit of a crude word really) men, the most beautiful women, the most fantastic clothes, and scenes of such tender emotion that they simultaneously break and heal your heart and the only person in the known universe who knows how TRC, xxxHolic, and, of course, X/1999 will end were all less than 10 metres away from me. The people who had been lucky in the draw got to walk down a desk the four of them sat at, translators at their sides, and got to say appreciative things while their book of choice was marked by the had of its creators. The expressions on their faces as they walked away were a beautiful blend of joy and shock. They looked like people overcome by the moment in the best possible way. I know it must be really hard having to smile at a very many highly emotional people and sign book after book after book but I hope Igarashi Satsuki, Mekoi Tsubaki(is that her current name?), Mokona, and Ohkawa Nanase are made happy by seeing how much joy they bring to peoples' lives.
I didn't have to shut my fangirl in a closet to stop her screaming "I love you Clamp!!!" and doing something that would get her thrown out of the expo. She was too overcome with happiness to get overexcited.
Tomorrow I'll be there bright and early to join the cue to go in the draw to get autographs. My chances aren't that good. I only get one draw while other people (with better tickets you can only buy in France. Grrrrr) get more but even so I'll give it a shot. I wouldn't be being honest if I didn't say that I don't ache to be one of the lucky few who gets a signed book and a chance to speak to them and wouldn't be kind of gutted if I'm not. Still, no matter what happens, I had the fortune to be born into a time and place where I have the joy and privelege of reading the stories Clamp tell and that is what truly matters most. Everything else is just a bonus!
Satsuki Igarashi is awesome! She kept giving these little waves to the people she'd just autographed for as they were walking away and also at people who were watching the signing! It was so cute! I guess she had the most time to as the others, particularly Okawa, were busy smiling at people who looked darn near ready to cry with joy and were obviously saying emotional and appreciative things (if I was Clamp I'd be a bit overwhelmed by all the intensity but they seemed pretty cool with it - which they have to be - so kudos to them). That's what happens when you do backgrounds and design instead of plot and character artwork!
[mod=hatsuharupeace]Moved posts regarding CLAMP's visit to Paris to a seperate thread.[/mod]
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