San Diego Comic-Con

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Ok, I’ll confess right out that I’ve been drinking & smoking despite the warnings on my Rx. Not sure why I’m admitting that. Maybe to justify my spelchuk errors. Funny, I don’t usually care about that. I is the under the influence.

Been watching sdcc vids in my stupor, mourning not being with my family backpacking right now, in some pathetic effort to cling to the fantasy world I just left. At the dog park today, a friend asked me what my topmost experience was. Thst’s a tough call. Sdcc is feckin over the top. 

The two that stick out was the flight home being chatted up by that rapier owning starlet (srsly did that really happen or was it some Rx induced hallucination? I’m now friend’s dad with her on several social media platforms so it must’ve happened because I couldn’t just make that up, right? I just don’t know anymore…)

The second was ATARASHII GAKKO. Been watching their YouTube channel but nothing captures their live act. It’s not about their music. It’s their dancing. Here’s my drunken high medicate fav so far ?but it pales to their live presence). 


Just try to imagine these gals sustaining this level of dance energy for an hour plus set.

---

This is a little closer to their live experience…



I dunno, man. Maybe I was just exhausted and blissful. Now I’m just kinda wasted and this is still working for me because it’s reminding me of how I was in my happy place a few days ago and for a moment, my pain was numbed.

Oh! They’re pretty good! Nice and subversive and a little pop-y. Not glam at all. Kinda school-grrl punk. THey could all fight demons, though, and win.

[Drunk Monk]

Coming to SF

Goldenvoice Presents
ATARASHII GAKKO!



Wednesday, Aug 17, 2022
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, CA
Doors: 7:00PM | Show: 8:00PM
On sale Thursday, 7/21 at 10am!
$20 ADV | $25 DOORS
Doors 7pm | Show 8pm
Whirlwind pop group ATARASHII GAKKO! represent a new generation of Japanese youth (seishun in their native language), one embracing personal expression and pushing against traditional boundaries a little at a time. The outlandish quartet — comprised of kawaii-but-fierce Mizyu, wildcard Suzuka, graceful Kanon and funky Rin — break down genre walls to create music mixing elements of pop, jazz, hip-hop, rock and more, delivered with a punk energy and featuring frantic dance moves, choreographed by the four members themselves.
“We want to prove that young people’s energy is unlimited,” Suzuka says. “We want to be leaders for young people. Through our performance, we want to express to them that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”
The outfit brought four teenage girls from across Japan to Tokyo. Their personalities balance one another out, and after meeting they quickly developed a tight bond as ATARASHII GAKKO! Each member’s personal music preferences hint at the diversity they’d meld together in their own songs — Rin comes from a rap background highlighted by a love for Lauryn Hill, Suzuka points to Beyoncé as an idol, Mizyu cites J-pop ambassador Kyary Pamyu Pamyu while Kanon came up on the kinetic sounds of K-pop.
Just as vital to ATARASHII GAKKO! and their goal of connecting with a new era of youth is their visual flair. They say they’re dedicated kumitaisou enthusiasts, referring to a type of group acrobatics practiced in every school in Japan, usually involving students standing on one another’s shoulders to construct wobbly human pyramids. ATARASHII GAKKO! transform this curriculum staple into a tool for their own self expression, constructing intricate dance moves built around teamwork.
“First, we listen to the song and then we have a lot of meetings amongst ourselves to figure out what to do about the choreography,” Suzuka says. “We then finally start training for the physical execution of it.”
Their moves, unfolding like a chaotic cartoon but requiring a lot of precision and unity to pull off, helped ATARASHII GAKKO! stand out in their early years, and made the group catch immediate attention when they released their debut single “Dokubana” in 2017. Also helping them turn heads was their decision to do all of this while wearing seifuku, Japanese for the sailor-suit uniforms kids wear to school. “The uniform is the signature of young people in Japan...and it’s a metaphor for the rules you can’t break,” Rin says. “We express our uniqueness in these clothes to show how you can push the boundaries of those rules.” That extends to their socks, which boast different messages visible in every music video and live performance.
The visual and musical strengths have settled just right in the last four years to produce one of the most unpredictable and entertaining pop groups going in Japan. Over the course of two full-length albums — 2018’s Maenarawanai and 2019’s Wakage Gaitaru — ATARASHII GAKKO! have brought a wide range of genres together into dizzying pop cuts concealing lyrics full of depth, including experiments in haiku. Their words transform daily teenage experiences running from being assigned a new seat in class to being caught in a love triangle to simply procrastinating into supercharged snapshots of youth.
They’ve also shined on social media, both thanks to their anarchic YouTube uploads and bringing their wild dancing skills to TikTok.
ATARASHII GAKKO! joined 88rising in late 2020 to bring their resistance against conformity to the world, while aiming to teach the globe about what makes Japan special through their The Seishun Academy YouTube series. “We want to show the charm of Japan via our own weird emotion and style,” Suzuka says. That also powers their first global single, “NAINAINAI,” a mission statement soundtracked by a retro-inspired hip-hop beat and their tag-team approach to singing.
In late 2021, the group released their first EP under the 88rising label, SNACKTIME. Like “Pineapple Kryptonite,” the EP is produced by legendary producer Money Mark, who is known for his works with the Beastie Boys and other iconic musicians.
The EP explores a variety of musical genres and demonstrates the group’s versatility through songs like the free-spirited punk anthem “Free Your Mind,” the instant dancefloor earworm “CANDY,” the eccentric Italo-disco tune “Fantasico,” and the glee inspired “Happy Hormones.” With Money Mark acting as their mentor and coach, ATARASHII GAKKO! learned how to take control of their creative output and artistic destiny. The “SNACKTIME” EP is testimony to this as it is a story of empowerment and evolution while alerting the global audience that ATARASHII GAKKO! is an immensely talented force to be reckoned with.
Recently, they partnered with Nike Japan for a fitness campaign around their track “WOO! GO!” - a track meant to motivate the youth to get active. They also just played a sold-out show at the ZEPP Diver City in Tokyo, which was able to be live streamed to fans globally.
ATARASHII GAKKO! continues to bring their resistance against conformity to the world, fueled entirely by the power of youth. They refuse to stop pushing the creative envelope and evolve, and will keep doing so in 2022.

[Greg]

RockMed?

[Drunk Monk]

Ha. If only. Rm doesn't cover the GAMH. Ironically, we've done some fundraisers and celebrations there, but no, can't get in that way. It's only $20. The real question is do I want to go that far for that. Hopefully, I'm on the JMT that week. Fingers crossed.

ED was well connected there back in the day before he became a D00M hermit.

[Drunk Monk]

CHANGES COMING TO SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON BADGE REGISTRATION PROCESS
In Badge/Hotel News by Kerry DixonSeptember 26, 2022Leave a Comment
If you’ve come here to find out when Returning Registration for San Diego Comic-Con 2023 is — we’ll tell you up front: We don’t know yet. (But the smart money is on [i]soon [/i]to[i] very soon[/i]).
The first of the two badge sales for next year’s event is Returning Registration, for which those who attended San Diego Comic-Con 2022 or Comic-Con Special Edition 2021 as a paid general attendee will be eligible to try for a badge.
Not sure if you’re eligible? You can actually login to your Member ID now and see in the top left hand corner if you’re eligible. It will look something like this:

For anyone [i]not[/i] eligible for Returning Registration, Open Registration will follow, in which anyone with a Member ID (and who didn’t purchase a full Four Day with Preview Night badge during Returning Registration) will be able to participate.
New this year (for San Diego Comic-Con, at least), is that ExpoLogic appears to be a thing of the past. Instead, Returning Registration will take place in CCI’s Member ID Portal. Eligible members will be able to login and enter a Queue-It virtual waiting room. This is similar to what took place for Comic-Con Special Edition 2021 and WonderCon 2022.
Queue-It has been used for years as part of the General Hotel Sale (otherwise known as Hotelpocalypse), as well as performance events around the globe, and it’s great at filtering people in to purchase at a manageable level so that servers don’t crash from the load.
For our take: This could be great. The main complaint about ExpoLogic for years has been that as attendees, we like to pretend we have some sort of control over the process. And in ExpoLogic’s system, you truly had no idea what your line placement was, or when you might be chosen. With QueueIt, there’s a small running man who shows you roughly where you are in the “race”, and there’s often an estimated countdown clock, even if it’s imperfect — giving you at least a better idea of how close you are to the front.
On the flip side though: It might be a disaster.
The concern, at least on our part, is exactly how we’ll get access to Queue-It — and CCI isn’t very specific in their update. Will that direct link to Queue-It be e-mailed out or available a few days prior to the sale? Or will thousands upon thousands of attendees be expected to login to Configio’s servers for the link on the morning of the sale, causing serious delays and technical issues, as happened during volunteer registration for SDCC 2022 (and to say nothing of what a disaster the exclusives and autograph lotteries were)?
Presumably at least part of the reason Comic-Con International moved to ExpoLogic in the first place was that TicketLeap and others crashed and were plagued by issues from the sheer volume of attendees. So hearing that “once logged in to your Member ID account, you’ll be able to enter the Queue-it virtual waiting room” — especially as the new Member ID site has already had [i]numerous[/i] issues — does not immediately instill confidence.
Hopefully, the link will be available early — and if so, we strongly recommend you save it somewhere, rather than relying on having to login that morning to access.
We’ll have to stay tuned to find out, but to paraphrase the old adage: If it ain’t broke… Maybe don’t try to fix it.

[Drunk Monk]

Then was my first taste of J-pop. Atarashii gakko. 

Oh 

My 

Lord

So fun. I never realized. The band was 4 20ish gals in school sailor suits and their dancing was fire. They were all over the place - cheesy, kawai, irrevent, so explosively energetic and uplifting. The crowd was clapping and dancing to their steps. I loved it.

[Drunk Monk]

Get Ready to Geek Out: Your Comic-Con 2023 Badge is En Route

 

We're thrilled to let you know that Comic-Con badges are on their way! Please keep an eye out for your badge to arrive within the next 10 business days.

Looks like my press pass was approved. So much YES!!!

[Greg]

Plus one?

[Drunk Monk]

If only.

Now I must figure out where to sleep…

[Greg]

Tent.

[Drunk Monk]

The line for Hall H would be better.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

No +1? Cub’s gonna be disappointed.

[Drunk Monk]

Trying to work that +1 angle. Trying to figure lodging too. But until the press pass is in hand, it's all vapor...

[Greg]

Why even go?

After making a big splash at Comic Con in 2022, Marvel Studios will skip Hall H this year, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Marvel will however have a presence on the convention floor.
Marvel, which has always given con goers flashy first looks at upcoming movies and shows, currently has multiple productions on pause due to the ongoing writer’s strike. The productions currently on pause include “Blade,” “Thunderbolts,” “Daredevil” and “Wonder Man.”

The writer’s strike along with a potential strike by SAG-AFTRA are making it tough for studios to show up to the annual convention without product and performers to promote their wares. If SAG-AFTRA is unable to reach a deal on a new labor contract and orders a strike, actors would not be able to do any promotional work for their films and TV shows as part of the labor stoppage. 
SAG-AFTRA could order a strike anytime after their current contract with Hollywood studios expires on June 30 if a deal is not reached. San Diego Comic-Con is set to take place on the weekend of July 21. 
Marvel Studios isn’t the only one skipping the annual geekfest as TheWrap is also hearing that Universal and HBO are possibly sitting out Comic-Con as well.
Last year, Marvel Studios threw a much-needed Hail Mary at Comic-Con with a triumphant return to the Hall H stage, where the company announced not one but three phases of the MCU. Kevin Feige ran a tight ship in his usual role as rockstar showman while the creatives and casts of the companies various projects strolled out one by one with announcements that, for now at least, seem to have settled the question of whether Marvel is losing focus fairly definitively. The stand outs of course were the emotional trailer for “Wakanda Forever” — we cried for Chadwick Boseman and cheered for Tenoch Huerta’s Namor — and the announcement of “Avengers” 4 and 5. But the whole thing was the end-of-day thrill ride fans have come to expect.
Fret not true believers, as they say, there is always next year.

[Drunk Monk]

The hardest panel to penetrate is Marvel’s Hall H. People line up way before that starts. They camp out on the asphalt.