PSA: Many upcoming events

There are a whole bunch of interesting events/conventions happening in the next two weeks! Here’s the rundown:

Japan Day 2015 – June 3rd (website here)
AMAI Japan Day 2015 Event – June 3rd
Israeli Tattoo Convention –  June 6th
Game Night at the Havanah Club – June 7th
ScienceCon 2015: On Dune and Building Worlds – June 11th
Anime Chudoku booth in Jerusalem – June 15th

I’m going to be posting a bunch of conventions and reviews over the next few days! Stay tuned!

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Shirofest canceled

Due to the organizers of Shirofest having been in an accident, and no replacments for them found, the convention has been canceled. May they have a speedy recovery.

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REPORT: Shirofest 2015 (שירופסט 2015)



Website: N/A
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1417019081944691/
Date: May 25th
Location: Blich High School, The One Hundred and One 24, Ramat Gan
Convention type: Anime
Hours: 11 AM – 9 PM
Entrance fee: 30 NIS
Registration for events: No
Pre-registration for events: No

The second convention on our Shavuot lineup is Shirofest, an anime convention, also in its second year. Lectures, showings, and merchandise galore, much more than last year!  Be sure to check it out if you have the time!

Links
Cosplay competition signup

As of this writing, the program for the event has not been posted. I’ll update this post when it becomes available.

Sorry for the extremely late post (again – sigh).

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REPORT: Anime Clash 2015 (2015 אנימה קלאש)











Website: http://animeclash.info/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1581952118726959/
Date: May 25th
Location: Ort Holon, Professor Shor 2, Holon
Convention type: Anime/Gaming
Hours: 10 AM – 7 PM
Entrance fee: 35 NIS
Registration for events: No
Pre-registration for events: No

Get your controllers ready, cause it’s time to get your game on! Anime Clash is an anime gaming convention in its second year, taking place the day after Shavuot. Aside from the usual lectures/showings/cosplay competitions, there will also be gaming tournaments! Multiple consoles with different games will be set up for you to compete in, with prizes worth hundreds of shekels! So come on down, and get ready to press X to win!

Games
Xbox
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
Injustice: Gods Among Us
Dragonball XenoVerse
Tekken Tag Tournament 2


PS3
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
J-Stars Victory VS


Wii U
Super Smash Bros. 4

Wii
Super Smash Bros. Melee

Having been a gamer long before I was an anime fan, I’ll be going to this convention. See you all there!

Links
Cosplay competition signup

As of this writing, the program for the event has not been posted. I’ll update this post when it becomes available.

UPDATE: The program is now available! (Subject to change)

Sorry for the extremely late post (again – sigh).

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REVIEW: Bigor 2015

Ah, Bigor. This was my second year going, as last year was my first (though it was called Giborim then – guess they liked the old name better), Open for only two days, yet their doors stayed open the entire time. Would that I could have stayed the entire time, but alas, school and money demand my attentions.

I went to Bigor in the afternoon, since I had a game planned for then; this time, I didn’t cosplay as Harry Dresden.  Near the entrance, I ran into some friends of mine, who were practicing for a lightsaber duel at sunset (the same people from Icon). We chatted for a bit, and then I entered the convention hall.

Once inside, I got my ticket to a Pathfinder Society game, then walked into the main hall. It made me happy to once again see the various booths and tables laid out before me. I wandered a bit, taking pictures and enjoying the general atmosphere. I even picked up a book by Ray Bradbury for 8 shekels!

After doing that, I put my stuff down and ate lunch, during which I met someone else who introduced to a wonderful little game called Dominion. It’s a deckbuilder card game, which from what I understand, means that you start off with few cards, and as the game progresses, you receive more and more – ‘building’ your deck. The game was very easy to pick up, and very fun to play – fast paced with a decent amount of thinking involved. There are a lot of different types of cards that the game has, but one plays only with ten types in a particular session. This gives Dominion great replay value – one game you play will very likely not be the same as the next. Unfortunately, when 2:00 rolled around, I had to leave for my Pathfinder game, but I had a great sense of satisfaction (and loss, as I was just starting to do really well). Dominion is definitely on my to-buy list.
I brought my character from previous sessions along with me to the game. We had two players new to roleplaying games; a young girl and and older man, and another guy that I’ve played with at previous conventions. Our quest was twofold – to investigate a newly-discovered ruined temple in a jungle on an island, as well as accompanying a baron to said island to hunt for a leopard that lamed him years earlier. Overall, it went pretty well – I even had a heroic moment! Some of the highlights were:
  • Me rolling a natural 20 to convince the island’s natives to eat some food and leave us alone
  • The girl and I failing a saving throw to not be tricked out of a hiding spot by the leopard (who turned out to be not quite a leopard after all). Luckily, we had a bard with us, who used his countersong ability to counter the effect
  • When rolling a Climb check to climb out of our hiding spot (a tree) – I got a 1
  • The not-quite leopard focused nearly all of his attacks on the baron – who nearly died. I had a very heroic moment, when I managed to get next to the baron, and impaled the leopard on my sword just as it was about to pounce on him.
  • I rolled max damage on a demon inside the temple,  finishing it off – like a boss.
(Huh, I guess the highlights are mostly about me this time. Hmm.)

After the game, I updated my character sheet, gathered my things, and left for the entrance to the convention, where the Jedi duel was to be held. It was very exciting when it finally started happening, and I got footage from a bunch of sides. It turned out quite well, considering that they hadn’t been able to practice as much as they wanted (they plan to do a more choreographed version at Icon this year).

After the duel, people asked them questions and took pictures with the lightsabers. Of course, I had my picture taken as well:
I’m the awesome one on the right

Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it.
Not long after, they left, and so did I. I had had a lot fun, even though I was only there for an afternoon and an evening. Hopefully next year, I’ll be able to stay even longer.
(any pictures that I might have not put up are here)
If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!