Japan, Day 52: FMA Event in Yokohama
November 1, 2009
"Dont' forget 3 October '11" - so goes the engraving in Edward Elric's State Alchemist pocket watch. But if I had a State Alchemist pocket watch of my own, I wouldn't hesitate to engrave "Don't forget 1 Nov. '09" on it, and you'll soon see why.
Yesterday was a very memorable and heartwarming day for me, as it was the day that a special Fullmetal Alchemist event was held in Pacifico Yokohama. The event was limited to only 5000 people who bought the DVD and submitted an e-mail application form. The application form was only accessible by entering a randomly assigned user ID enclosed in the FMA DVDs. The DVD was pricey, but I risked buying it anyway, because an event like this happens only once in a blue moon, and is unlikely to happen in the Philippines. Thus, I felt really fortunate to have been picked.
The event was to begin at 5 pm, but I arrived as early as 2 pm to check out the merchandise on sale. When I entered Pacifico Yokohama (a convention center of sorts), the line for the exclusive goods was so long! I patiently got in line anyway and bought a set which consisted of a poster of the event and a pamphlet with messages and signatures from the voice cast. At 2:30, everyone had to leave the grounds temporarily because the organizers would be preparing to get everyone in line. While waiting, I took pictures of some cosplayers - there weren't many of them; most of them were cosplaying Ed. Had I known that going to the event in cosplay was allowed, and that there would be an event like this, I would've brought my Mei Chang costume and Shao May/Xiao Mei plushie. Oh well; tough luck! After a while, I sat down next to some girls who brought morbidly cute Envy plushies - which they made themselves - and struck up a conversation with the person next to me, who is a big fan of Envy. She was very friendly and helped me confirm my understanding of the instructions for the event.
Finally, at 4 pm, I was able to enter the grounds. This time, there were promo girls dressed in the FMA State Military uniform. They looked pretty and badass at the same time, what with their attire (I'm in love with the State Military uniform) and poses (most of them saluted, but one of them was doing Roy Mustang's awesome pose when he sets something on fire). I made sure to take as many pictures as I could because I couldn't take pictures of the event itself; only the attractions on the ground floor (i.e. the military girls, the merchandise, the giant Alphonse statue, etc). I also made sure to take a picture of me with the military girls since I was wearing my Edward Elric T-shirt!
After a bit of waiting, the doors closed and the lights dimmed - the event was beginning! Things capped off with our favorite Major, Alex Louis Armstrong, explaining the rules. He did so in a very amusing way: he'd say a certain rule, and then a scene from the anime would display on the screen. For instance, he'd say "no pictures" and the screen would show Hughes with a picture of Elicia, he'd say "no using of cellphones" and the screen would show Roy and Riza creating false reports of Scar sightings at Fuery's place, he' d say "no smoking" and - to everyone's amusement - the screen showed Havoc smoking, and so on. Everyone was laughing heartily because it was just so hilarious! Armstrong was even hamming it up - towards the end, the screen showed him randomly flexing his muscles, as he always does. Oh, Armstrong, you never fail to make me smile.
When the rules were sufficiently explained, the familiar melody of YUI's "Again" filled the hall, after which nine silhouettes could be seen behind a screen. Following a burst of fireworks, the stage lit up, and the beloved voice actors of Ed, Al, Winry, Roy, Riza, Scar, Greed, Ling and Mei - namely, Romi Paku, Rie Kugimiya, Megumi Takamoto, Miki Shinichiro, Fumiko Orikasa, Kenta Miyake, Junichi Nakamura, Mamoru Miyano and Mai Gotou - bowed and waved to the audience amid delighted squeals and loud applause. The host introduced each of the voice actors, who were escorted to their seats. It was time for the first part of the event - the Hagaren (short for Hagane no Renkinjutsushi - the Japanese title for FMA) voice actors' talk show! A few questions were posed to the voice actors. I couldn't understand all of them, but here's what I remembered and understood: "Ed became a State Alchemist at the young age of 12. When you were 12, what did you want to become?" and "Al has a list of foods that he wants to eat (when he gets his body back). If you were to make a list of foods you like to eat, what would be number one on your list?" and, to Kenta Miyake, "You voice Garfiel (gay automail mechanic) and Scar (brooding warrior priest); the gap between those two characters is interesting. How do you act as Garfiel and as Scar?" The voice actors were all very enthusiastic as they responded to the questions. Romi Paku and Mamoru Miyano stood out for me, because they were the most cheerful and playful; they were clearly as energetic as their anime counterparts. Also, the last question I mentioned was very funny, as Miyake-san struck a feminine pose to show how he portrayed Garfiel.
After the questions for the voice actors, it was time for Q&A with the staff (particularly the director of the anime) and Hiromu Arakawa. But since they couldn't attend the event, the Q&A with Yasuhiro Irie, the director, was presented as a pre-recorded video, and Hiromu Arakawa's answers were relayed through the emcee. Again, I couldn't understand everything that was said, but I learned that the FMA anime is ending in June next year. So... hooray! We FMA fans still have six to seven months to enjoy our favorite anime! (Although I have to wonder whether they can sufficiently cover everything in - I'm approximating - 60-something episodes. I hope they won't rush things!)
I can't remember the exact order of the next few events, but don't worry, I remember everything that happened. But anyway, there was a yon-koma theater featuring a special yon-koma that Hiromu Arakawa created just for the event. Yon-koma, you ask? These are four-panel comic strips that are usually meant to be comedic. Hiromu Arakawa is quite fond of these, as the end of every volume of the FMA manga has at least one yon-koma. The yon-koma for this event was basically about the FMA characters being excited to go to Yokohama. Ling and Mei were especially excited to go to Chinatown in Yokohama, and Ling even had some siomai (or "shumai," as it's known in Japanese). The voice actors were asked to read the dialogue for the yon-koma and, if possible, to do ad-libs. It was very funny when Mamoru Miyano was given siomai as props! At first, he read his dialogue then ate a siomai. Then later on, Romi Paku asked if Mamoru Miyano could read his dialogue with his mouth full. Miyano-san was up for the challenge! First, he stuffed two siomai in his mouth, but Rie Kugimiya (I think) helped him stuff some more into his mouth, until he had three or four siomai! Hahaha! At first he could mumble some words, but then some of the siomai fell out of his mouth. Oh man, the voice actors are so dorky! It must be fun hanging out with them!
The host then proceeded to show certain scenes that the staff picked ("Hagaren Staff Selection" - scenes that stood out for the Hagaren staff, I guess). After each scene was shown, the voice actors were asked for their reactions on those scenes, such as how they felt while dubbing them. First to be shown was the "It's raining" scene, and Miki Shinichiro and Fumiko Orikasa talked about how they portrayed Roy and Riza with the grief of losing a dear friend. Shinichiro-san also said something along the lines of how he'd miss having Keiji Fujiwara, Hughes' voice actor, around. At that point, the screen cut to a video of Keiji Fujiwara saying "hi" to everyone. He said something along the lines of, "Do you want me to be there at the event?" Of course, the audience said yes! To encourage him, they chanted, "Fujiwara! Fujiwara! Fujiwara!" Aaaaand... Fujiwara-san came out from backstage! It was something that no one anticipated, since his name wasn't on the list of attendees. What a pleasant surprise! Anyway, the other scenes shown were Riza's breakdown and Roy saving the day just in time (at which the ladies in the audience screamed because of Mustang's fantastic abs); Mei's introduction; Ling's introduction and the scene where Ed sees Alphonse's emaciated body at the Gate and swears him to get it back. The last scene was especially significant, as it was to be shown again later - just keep reading; I'll explain!
Next, the host said that since it's a Sunday (FMA airs every Sunday at 5 pm, Japanese time), we'd be treated to a screening of this week's FMA episode, which was about Ishbal. Before, in between and after the episode played, Shinichiro-san, Orikasa-san and Fujiwara-san did some voice-overs. This week's episode, I felt, was too rushed because they cut out so many interesting scenes! Really, whose idea was it to cram an entire volume in only one episode? The Ishbal war is a very significant plot point, so I felt that this episode didn't have much impact on viewers. The Ishbal war was supposed to show different people's attitudes in times of war, to explain Roy and Riza's dream of reforming Amestris, to show how the war scarred so many people physically and emotionally, to show the ruthlessness of King Bradley, and to show how alchemy, which is supposed to help people, was used for a selfish, evil and unjustifiable end. Instead, this episode felt like a badly crammed flashback episode. They cut Riza's "burn and crush my back so I can become Riza Hawkeye as an individual" scene, Basque Gran's crowning moment of awesome (which is too bad, since Gran isn't a bastard like Kimbley), Riza protecting Roy, Armstrong breaking down after failing to help Ishbalans (and Kimbley taunting him for helping the enemy), and more. Sheesh! Why is the director rushing things? Plus, the ending (i.e. before the ending song was played, not the brief scene after the credits) was quite anti-climactic. So, I'm sorry but I didn't like this week's episode very much. On the other hand, Riza finally gets an eye catch (a picture flashed before and after a commercial break) - and not just one, but two! Her tattoo was even shown in both eyecatches.
After the screening was a brief intermission, and when we returned, Mamoru Miyano and Junichi Nakamura had something like a mini-talk show called "GreedLing Radio," in which they discussed random topics under the sun. The two seem like really good friends, even though in the anime and manga, the two are (slightly, especially at the outset) rather antagonistic. Then, it was time for the voice actors to show their mettle, as they were to do a live dubbing of certain scenes! First up were Shinichiro-san, Orikasa-san and Fujiwara-san, who talked about the Ishbal War, Gracia and Elicia, and making it to the top, among other things. Next was a hilarious scene among Takamoto-san, Miyake-san and Gotou-san, which referenced the fact that Miyake-san voices two characters with totally different personalities. At first, Miyake-san (as Scar) would talk to Gotou-san (as Mei) about Shao May (Mei's panda), trying to hide the fact that he finds Shao May cute. Then, as Garfiel, he would talk to Takamoto-san (as Winry). It was amazing how he could switch voices without getting confused! Then, Takamoto-san and Gotou-san started calling him at the same time ("Garfiel-san!" "Scar-san!"), causing much confusion. Miyake-san would deliberately respond to Gotou-san in Garfiel's voice, leading Mei to ask, "Scar-san, are you all right? Just now you sounded..." and would respond to Takamoto-san in Scar's manly voice, prompting Winry to ask what's wrong. Everyone was laughing so hard! The third scene was between Miyano-san and Nakamura-san and it was about Greed and Ling sharing a body but having different consciousness.
The last scene was the most special. It was the scene in which Ed swears to get Al's body back from the gate. Paku-san and Kugimiya-san were doing this scene, and Paku-san dubbed the scene with so much emotion. For those who haven't seen this scene, let me describe it to you: Ed does a lot of shouting in this episode - not out of anger, but out of determination to reach his goal: to restore his younger brother's body. Paku-san was so awesome that she blew me away! She was shouting with such raw emotion, and I had never seen someone put such heart into a performance. (Don't get me wrong, I liked the other scenes that the other voice actors dubbed, but Roy, Riza and Hughes are more subdued because they're less expressive than Ed, while the Mei-Winry-Scar and GreedLing scenes were a bit more on the light side). Paku-san threw her head back and shouted, and when Ed was trying to break the Gate open (before making it out of Gluttony's stomach), Paku-san took on a determined stance, pointing her finger just as Ed did, and shouted, "ALPHONSE! Someday, I'll definitely get your body pack! Wait for me! WAIT FOR ME!" The way she said "Matte yo... MATTE YO!" (Wait for me) tugged at my heartstrings so much that, as "Let It Out" started playing, I was crying because of the sheer poignancy of the scene. I wondered if I was the only one crying, but apparently there were others who were doing so as well. Paku-san is just that brilliant!
Next up was a continuation of "GreedLing Radio," in which Miyano-san and Nakamura-san asked the audience random questions, such as, "Did any of you not sleep the night before because of this event? I didn't get enough sleep because I was nervous and excited!" "Are any of you in cosplay?" (after which they squinted to look for cosplayers, and then complimented them on their costumes), and more. Then, they showed a trailer featuring one of my favorite characters, Olivia Milla Armstrong! Oh, gosh, she looked fantastic! OLIVIAAAA.... <3 And when Olivia spoke a few lines, I couldn't help but wonder who her voice actress is. Miyano-san and Nakamura-san are such teases - they asked us, "Do you want to know who her voice actress is?" Naturally, the audience responded in the affirmative! But they said, "Sorry, we're not telling!" But I think that they said that she was among them (in the audience, maybe?) because I caught something about "soba ni iru", which, if I'm not mistaken, means "is right here." Also, I noticed that the katakana for Olivia is not オリヴィア (Orivia) but オリヴィエ (Orivie), which I hadn't noticed before, because I usually read the manga in English. So the translation of her name as "Olivie" or "Olivier" is actually more accurate! But I think that Olivia suits her better, so I'm still sticking to calling her Olivia. Ah, I want to cosplay Olivia someday! (I need those platform boots/elevator insoles!)
Done with GreedLing Radio, the theme songs were then played. I love all the FMA theme songs, so I got emotionally charged listening to them. Soon, SID appeared onstage to play "Uso" live! They were so energetic that I couldn't help singing along. When they reached the line "...zenbu wakattetanda," people clapped along to the beat! It was lots of fun! Oh, and the lead singer of SID is so androgynous that he's cute, haha. After performing "Uso," SID sang a song called "Drama," the theme song of the FMA Wii (or is it PSP?) game. The song was infectiously upbeat; I now want to have a copy of the song. The lead singer was quite friendly, waving to the audience and getting a bit close to those in front, so people felt that their performance was rather short.
The event was coming to a close by then. It was time for the voice actors to say goodbye, and each one of them thanked the crowd profusely. Gotou-san, who is just as cute as Mei is, said that she couldn't sleep before this event because she was so nervous, but that she enjoyed the event. Kugimiya-san, who is also quite cute (and often sounded like Shannon from Umineko - a character that she also plays - while talking), cried tears of joy, and Paku-san had to slightly console her (which was really cute, because it's nice to see that they seem to be such good friends in real life). I was hungry because it was already 8:30 pm by then and I still hadn't eaten dinner, but part of me wanted to stay longer because the event was just that awesome. It was made of so much epic win! Words cannot express how grateful I am to have seen the voice actors of FMA, which is one of my top favorite anime/manga series. I'm also glad to see that the voice actors seem really nice in real life; some of them were surprisingly soft-spoken and a bit quieter than others, some were perky and cute, while others were just dorky and/or bursting with energy - they were a mix of personalities that seemed to hit it off well together. I wish I could've taken pictures and asked for autographs, but doing so weren't allowed (apparently meet-and-greet and photo sessions are virtually unheard of in Japan), but just being able to see them in person, even though I was seeing them from the second floor of an event hall and not really up close, is enough for me. Thus, I couldn't - and still can't - help but get emotional at the thought of this very special experience. I'll definitely cherish this memory; it's certainly one of my memorable experiences during my 5-month exchange program here. And since I couldn't take pictures, I tried to make this blog entry as detailed as possible to preserve the memory of this event. As I mentioned in the beginning of this entry, "Don't forget - 1 November '09" is a reminder that I'll take to heart. I really appreciate the people behind FMA for making this event happen, and I would really like to write a fan letter to them and the voice actors (especially Paku-san) for making an FMA fan's dream come true!