G-Fest

[DannyBeane]

The M1 table is awesome but I really feel like gfest screwed the pooch this year by sticking it in the back corner of the dealers room. Also when the dealers room opened up I rushed over to the m1 table and was told to go to the second line. There was no second line and I lost my spot. Luckily I talked my way back to my spot and was able to get the exclusive Jirass. This year I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues and was thinking of skipping gfest all together. I felt grumpy most of the time there but I'm glad I came again. I got to hang out with some familiar faces and see some kickass movies. I even went to the screening of Linking Love which was a blast. Kaneko really appreciated the crowd that came out for that film.

[klen7]

That Matango is one the most inspired variants ever. Great concept, excellent execution

[canofhumdingers]

[TripMasterMunky]

[jellydonut25]

I think I'm pretty safe to say this here:
Just got basically a good understanding of kinda why Takarada's second half of his panel went the...meandering way it did. He basically hit a physical wall on Saturday according to some close to him. He's 85, he had major surgery last year, and he's still kind of recovering, but he wanted to come to G-Fest because he had to cancel last-minute last year. He canceled some plans he'd had for Saturday evening and just took a night off.

Basically...he's a REALLY old guy not in his prime anymore, and probably just got...confused.

[canofhumdingers]

Yeah that certainly makes sense. I’ve been to enough convention celebrity panels to know sometimes they go off in random unexpected directions. Add in the guest being elderly and speaking a foreign language through an interpreter and you have a recipe for unexpected off-script conversation.

But even so, Takarada was an awesome guest and I’m really glad I got to meet him and attend his panel. Someone on another board was called out for being crass for even mentioning it, but the truth is that Showa era guests like Takarada-san are advancing in age rapidly and every chance we have to see them in person (both to hear their stories and to show our appreciation for their work) is a blessing that shouldn’t be taken for granted. I had the good fortune to attend two different conventions with Haruo Nakajima before he left this earth and those are some very cherished memories*. I’m glad I got to do the same with one of (maybe THE) most famous actors from the Golden Age of Toho kaiju eiga. Who knows if or when he’ll be able to make another Stateside public appearance.

*one thing that has stood out at all the Showa era guests I’ve had the opportunity to meet in person is the awe and true joy it brings each of them to see a packed room full of people showing unabashed love for the work they did so many years ago. To see, decades later, that their contributions had a true and lasting impact on generations of people is a powerful thing and really neat to experience.