On July 22nd 2006, TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ was held, & what a rebirth it was! Crowd attendance compared to last season tripled, which made all of the festival Co-Coordinators quite happy. Planning for this season was done quite a few months in advance, as compared to last season. TAKII for this season was once again held at the William Way Community Center in Philadelphia, PA. In additional to their various building amenities, William Way staff even allowed us to use a huge wide-screen television (which was totally unexpected, but greatly appreciated ^_^).
TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ enlisted the help of 4 very close friends (who also are members of a premier Anime/Asian music social club in PA, called "The Lost Otakus"), each of whom assisted in various portions of the day's success (including hosting Otaku Jeopardy, judging for the Asian Karaoke Idol Show, & much MORE). What also made TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ so special was the fact that we had special guest performers by the name of Prism, a live-action SailorMoon performance group! Family members from this group of special ladies made the crazy trip into Philly (in torrential rainfall, no-less) & might I say they did a superb job!
The TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ webpage featured its season theme song, "Watashi-Tachi Ni Naritakute (Wanting To Be Together With You" (by Fujitani Miwako, from SailorMoon SuperS), with it's event curtain call song "Yume Warai ~Uhyo Uhyo~ (Laughing In My Dream ~Ha Ha~)" (by Yumiko Kobayashi, from Punu Puni Poemi). Special guests included live-action SailorMoon performance group, Prism, & Japanese Ficticious Duct Tape (JFDC) (who had to reschedule & will appear at TAKII 3 ~Video Game Ecstacy~). Need to know more? Read below for the official TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ highlights!
<< The Asian Karaoke Idol Invitational Show >> This is the event that brought TAKII to the dance in the 1st place: Asian Karaoke Idol! This year's judges included yours truly (D-chan), Chris F. (music enthusiast), & Asian Karaoke Idol premier champion, Annie D. (soon to be R., as of September 23rd 2006 ^_^). Contestants were comprised of 2 members of the Prism live-action group (Mako-chan/[Ai]/Carmen & Diana/Dokudel/Alicia), as well as D-chan "groupie" Christica (^_^), & the competition was fierce! Due to being put on the spot, Christica could only sing part-way through "The Real Folk Blues", from Cowboy Bebop, so that left us with Mako-chan & Diana. After 4 stunning rounds of vocal rendering (from Anime themes to Asian Pop, from personal choices to judge's selections), the audience decided that this season's Asian Karaoke Idol champion was to be Mako-chan! The winner recieved an authentic Japanese silk fabric fan, along with various other goodies & Japanese stuff (compliments of The Lost Otakus, of West Chester, PA). Some other classic show moments included Dave R. singing along to a particular Anime theme song, & judge Chris F. outright telling him that he sucked (LOL), a homeless man wandering in during the festivities & singing out loud (o_0), & the various friends & family members taking pictures & video captures of their children having such a great time doing what they love most: singing from the heart!
<< Ota-Rave ~PDNMZ: AMEN LiVE >> TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ would not have been complete without its Ota-Rave, & BOI was the music alive that Saturday afternoon! With time not on our side, the William Way staff members allowed for us to have a bit of extra time to feature the stylings of our featured guest performers of the day, Prism! Along with an accompanying set of well-balanced & scripted dialogue, they graced us all with performances of "Sailor Team no Theme (Theme Of The Sailor Team)", "La Soldier", & "Kirari Sailor Dream! (Sparkle Sailor Dream!)", all of which were songs from the SailorMoon anime, musicals, & live-action respectively. I was the most impressed with their very professional behavior on & off-stage; they truly commanded the audience like seasoned professionals. I even got in on some of the action during run-throughs, when Sailor Venus' broch kept on snapping off by accident; I almost felt like a Senshi extra character at that point (^_^ jk!). All TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ Coordinators thoroughly enjoyed their enthusiasm & supreme musicality & welcome it back to the TAKII landscape with open arms!
<< Gaming Tourneys >> You can have no "yin" without a "yang". You can have no "Ken" without a "Ryu", & we certainly could not have had TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ without our world-renoun Gaming Tourneys! 4 consoles & 2 industry-leading handheld devices were showcased, with a resounding 11 tournaments scheduled to go down (out of an amazing pool of 42 different free-play games to choose from)! Competition was intense, with lines for the challenges leading halfway through the venue itself. Competition was particularly spectacular for 3 games: the 1st of which was Tetris DS, for Nintendo DS. I took part in this sensational spectacle of true skill & strength, along with Co-Coordinator Dan R. & event-goer San C., but I fell in my efforts to become #1 (you can safely assume they cheated ^_* lol). After all was said & done, Dan R. came out on top as Tetris DS champ. The 2nd legendary battle of the day game in the form of Nintendo GameCube's Super Smash Bros. Melee, with the final match being between a sibling for a Prism member & my kid sister, Allison C. (mind you, she has been well-trained ^_^). The battle was set to stock-4 & in a moment of desparation, the Prism sibling (as Marth) was on the edge of the Final Destination stage as Allison C. (as Yoshi) went to go and roll at him, & he jumped AT THE LAST SECOND & she sailed right off of the edge, securing the victory (haha ^_^). The Gaming Tourneys main event definetly was on Sony PlayStation 2's Soul Calibur 3, with a Prism fan & Prism's very own Diana battling it out in the finals. Up to that point, the Prism fan had at 10+ victory streak going for him; then comes along Diana as Sophitia. SHE TOTALLY OWNED HIM & captured the victory after a stunning upset!! Everyone, to sat the least, had a ton of fun, win or lose.
<< Otaku Jeopardy >> Though obviously Alex Trebek (played by Will Ferrell) & Sean Connery (played by Darryll Hammond) have nothing to do with TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ (or PDNMZ, for that matter), the image does justice in relaying the kind of hilarity that was abound at Otaku Jeopardy. As hosted by my friends & The Lost Otakus anime club leaders, Annie D. & Dan R.), it was an hour that was filled with fun, drama, excitment, & sure enough, the very unexpected surprise (LOL). Everyone in attendance took part in this event (including a Prism contingent consisting of a pair of twins), my kid sister & her best friend, some awesome people from Dover, DE, & the TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ homeless man! Questions varied in skill & even incorporated portions of multimedia (guessing the theme song, etc.), which was a great touch. ....YES, a homeless man showed up to our fair event, wanting to hug and serenade every lady in attendance, eventually at 1 point going to the staff area in the back and laying down on the floor. As Annie D. & I approach him, we both ask what it is he wants. He then says that he is tired & that all he wants is a pair of socks; at this point, he has his shoes off and wiggles his toes (-.-* LOL). As COMPLETELY RANDOM as this was, Annie D. was able to escort him out of the premises & the game ended in victory for the team of Chris F. & Dave R.! (As a side note, the ending theme from Mousou Dairinin (Paranoia Agent), "Shiroi Oka ~Maromi no Theme~ (White Hill ~Maromi's Theme~)", makes a perfect Final Jeopardy theme ^_^).
With a more streamline group of volunteers from the start, TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~ was destined for greatness. Even with sporadic torrential downpours of rain towards the end, the event still had a huge turn-out & everyone couldn't stop raving about all that went down! Due in part to the weather, Japanese Ficticious Duct Tape (JFDT) had to cancel their appearance, but have assured all TAKII fans that they will appear & perform, rain or shine, at TAKII 3 ~Video Game Ecstacy~ in January 2007. After the success of TAKII 2 ~Rebirth~, I (D-chan) was contacted by The Rotunda, Philly's premier community venue spot, to host BOTH seasons of TAKII for 2007 at their facilities, which is a HUGE testament to all of you out there who have come out to TAKII before & made a huge noise about it before. I promise you all nothing but the best in future TAKII celebrations & thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for the perfect end of the 2006 TAKII season! See you in 2007!
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