Author: Brody

Escaping the country with illegal goods

Flight home 🙁

Today was our final goodbye :(. We pretty much had to get to the airport on our own since everyone had different flights, but it wasn’t bad at all. Me and Vincent had the same flight so we just took this train that goes directly to Narita. It was really easy and quick. Unfortunately our genius plan of getting to the airport early did not end up being great. This is because Singapore Airlines didn’t open their desk for giving them our checked bags until 3pm, we got there at 12pm. So we had a few hours to kill until we could ditch our bags and go to the airport.

So we did what every good american does and got McDonalds :). I finally tried the samurai burger, it was really good! After sitting next to the desk for 3 hours we were finally able to get in line to deposit our bags. Once we got rid of our checked bags we headed to our gate. The customs were super easy to get through, they didn’t even ask us abour the tax-free stuff we bought, which was the only thing I was really worried about. We got to our gate pretty easily and then waited to board our flight. I think I preffered ANA on the flight to Japan because their seats were nicer and I liked the food better. It was still a really good flying experience though.

After landing in LAX we got our checked bags and then Vincent’s dad picked us up. They were letting me stay with them overnight which was super helpful. Once we got to his place we watched an episode of Succession and then took a well deserved nap. After the nap we had dinner reservations with Vincent’s family, who were all really really nice. Some of them had actually just gotten back to Japan recently, so we got to compare experiences. We ate at this super good mexican food place, which was a nice change of palette from Japan. After dinner we went home, watched more Succession, then went to bed for the night. In the morning we loaded up our bags and went out to get pho for breakfast. It was, as expected, very good. After pho we went to the aiport, which is where Vincent and I were to part ways, since we didn’t have the same flight this time. I checked my bag and then headed to my gate to wait for my flight. I got some starbucks becuase I was hungry and then we took off for Rochester! This trip was amazing and easily the best 2 week period of my life. I can, with a full chest, say that it changed my life. Thank you Steve, KCG, Sten, and everyone else who made this trip possible. I will never forget it.

Invading a place of business

Today we went to Unreal Fest! It was super cool even though I couldn’t really experience most of the activities since it was mostly lectures in Japanese. There was a room with game demos set up that was really cool. I played a bunch of puzzle games, this really interesting mecha movement-based action game, and a super fun soulslike that I really liked. There were a lot of games there that I didn’t end up playing because they didn’t look particularly interesting to me, but still cool nonetheless. There was also a lot of tech demo stuff for random systems or software that I didn’t understand because it was in japanese.

After Unreal Fest we had a break for lunch before heading to CyberConnect 2! I ate at this hole-in-the-wall soba place that was pretty good, but I started getting a stomache ache so I didn’t finish most of my food :(. After we regrouped we took a train over to CyberConnect 2’s Tokyo studio. We had a bit of a lecture about what CyberConnect 2 is, the games they’ve made, and how they run things. Then we got a tour of their studio which was really cool to see. They have a really casual workplace that has a staff room full of free games and manga to rent for research, which actually makes sense since they primarily make anime fighting games (such as the Demon Slayer, Naruto, and Jojo’s games). Their studio was really cool.

After CyberConnect2 we could do whatever we really wanted for the rest of the day. So a few of us went back to Akihabara to find someplace to eat. We tried going to this steak place that was supposed to be really good, but it ended up being too crowded. After that place was a bust we walked around for a little bit trying to find a new place to eat. Eventually we decided on this place that was supposed to be like Japanese Olive Garden. It had steaks, burgers, pizza, garlic break, and the like. I got a little pizza and some garlic bread which was pretty good. Then we trudged back to the hotel in the pouring rain and said goodbye to everyone we got dinner with. Then Vincent and I had to do laundry, which was quite troublesome during the typhoon. After the laundry dilemna we went to bed for the night. Last day in Japan :((.

Attack on Gundam

Giant gundam statue in Daiba City

Today was another big day for us. I started the day by getting breakfast with the gang and then shopping at this used figures store called Radio Kaiken, which was insane. They had so much cool stuff there and I really wish I had millions of dollars to buy all the figures :(. I got some stuff for me and some gifts for friends before we needed to go back to the hotel and head for Daiba City. We took a train over to Daiba to see a giant Gundam statue and do some shopping at the Daiba mall. The Gundam was so cool and we stayed for when it “transformed” into a different gundam (its head thing moved). I got some japanese manga books in a store in the mall of volumes I’ve already read, which were cool collectibles.

Big Earth

After the Gundam figure we went to Miraikan, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. It was really cool and had lots of interesting exhibits, and robots. There was this giant earth ball that you could walk around on a spiral staircase which was sick. They also had a this game thing that let you create an earth to try and get to survive 50 years by giving it a path to take and hoping it wouldn’t be destroyed by bad events. I got my earth through all the bad stuff :). There were some cool AI exhibits that learned from the people that interacted with them, but they were so scary to look at. Uncanny valley was doing its work for those robots.

Then we went to teamLABs, which was another highligh of the trip. This place was so cool I was surprised. They had LED light shows in giant mirror rooms, water exhibits with interactive fish holograms, procedural flower projector domes, floating flower gardens, and a room full of giant balls. Each exhibit was unique and interesting, which made for some really cool photos.

teamLABS exhibits

Invading the Emporors Abode (He was not there)

Bridge going to front gate of imperial castle

Today we went to the imperial castle, but we weren’t able to actually go in because it was too busy. We got to wander the premesis and look at all the pretty architecture and gardens, which was lowkey better. This place was absolutely insane. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. There were gardens and fields and old buildings and new buildings and shrines and so much more, all sitting in a giant moat. The highlight for me was the koi pond/flower field. It was soooo pretty and looked especially cool with the giant buildings in the background. My favorite part of the scenery was seeing the dicotomy of the natural, old stuff with the industrial, new stuff in the background. It made it feel like some gateway to another world.

Picture I thought was cool, showing what I mean by the dichotomy

After the imperial castle we trained over to Harajuku to see a Shinto temple. Before that it was lunchtime and we had about an hour to find somewhere to eat and do whatever. We walked around this cool side street with a bunch of little hole-in-the-wall places but ended up eating in a food court because it was easier and had options (*cough* *cough* esther *cough*). I got a yummy corn dog and then a strawberry & banana smoothie at a different place when we were walking back, it was sooo good. We met up with the gang and then walked across the street to the Shinto temple and massive wooden Torii gate.

Big torii gate

The Meiji shrine was really cool but it was getting hot so we called the day and all split up to do our own thing. Since we were like 2 stops from Shibuya it was time for round 2. Me and Vincent went back to this record store that had a bunch of ghibli stuff. I got 2 cds as gifts and he got 3 ghibli vinyls. Then we tried to go to this big music store but it was like impossible to get in even though it said it wasn’t closed, so we assumed the workers were just doing inventory or something. We found a different music store but it was really small. Then we went into a different record store that had a lot more western music and modern music than the first, but nothing I was dying for. After shopping we met up with Maddy and Esther to get dinner, which took far longer than it should have cuz we were being stupid and undecisive. After dinner we trained back to Akihabara and crashed.

Record of the Incident on May 30th, 2023 at 12:00pm.

Shibuya Scramble Crossing, Shibuya, Tokyo

Today was our Tokyo free day, so me and Vincent when to Shibuya >:). This was the highlight of the trip for me. I love huge bustling cities, I love shopping, I love anime, it was perfect. Also not the mention this is where the Shibuya Incident took place >:))). We didn’t have much of a plan besides wanting to go to the nintendo store. Upon arriving we walked out of the station to see giant walkways stacked beneath freeways on top of intersections between skyscrapers. It was like a shot from a cyberpunk city during the day, absolutely insane urban architecture. We decided to start our adventure at Shibuya Scramble Crossing because that’s where we heard a lot of shops were.

Cool building that you would never find in the US (too much green)

After watching 50 bajillion people scurry across the street in 20 different directions, we headed into Shibuya 109. This store was 7 floors of every style of feminine clothing you can think of. We didn’t even look in the shops because we knew there wasn’t really going to be anything we wanted, but we still went to all the floors just to see it. After 109 we went to Magnent, which is owned by 109, and is for a more masculine audience. However they pretty much only sold designer clothing or streetwear designer that was way to expensive for me, even though they were sick ass clothes. After Magnet we walked over to the Nintendo store in Shibuya Parco and spent an obscene amount of money. Got some stuff for me and some stuff for my friends. After Nintendo we went to the Jump shop because we are anime fiends. They had some rlly cool stuff too, including printed JJK manga panels on canvas, which we each got one of. Then we were hungy so we got some italian food, it wasn’t the best food ive had but it wasn’t bad.

Conssss

Then we went to the converse store and I got Japan-exclusive white chucks that are sooo cool. After the converse store we headed back to Akihabara and got dinner with Maddy and Esther at this hotpot place connected to our hotel. It was quite scrumptious. Then it was bed time for the next day :).

Embarking to the Tokyo Continent

Right outside of our hotel in Akihabara, Toko

Today was the day we said by to Kyoto and bullet trained back to Tokyo. It was really sad leaving Kyoto because we did so much there together, but I was reallly excited for Tokyo. We bussed to the train station in the morning and then rode the bullet train for about 2.5 hrs to Akihabara. After getting there we walked literally 30 seconds to our hotel, which was connected to the train station. This hotel was located in the perfect spot possible. There were so many cool places right next to it. We had a little bit to set our things down and eat before we met up outside the hotel to go to Mandarake, a second-hand anime/games/comics/manga/NSFW store, and Super Potato, a retro games store. Both of these stores were really cool. Mandarake was a bit overwhelming and we didn’t have all that much time in there, but I wish I had gone back later because it was super cool. One of the floors had straight up hentai though which was a bit odd.

Super Potato was also sick and had lots of cool little nick nacks, not to mention the immense amount of old games. I bought lots of candy there. After Super Potato we were pretty much free to do whatever for the day, so I went shopping with some others. I got some really cool HxH figures I had never seen before at this small little figure store next to Super Potato. After that we looked up the best anime stores nearby and decided on a place called Animate. It was like a 5 minute walk and was absolutely loaded with stuff, but not stuff I really wanted. It was really interesting because they didn’t have any figures or shirts really, but a lot of anime school supplies, stickers, and keychains. Unfortunately there was ZERO AoT merch, which I still can’t wrap my head around.

After Animate we went to this really cool store called Volks Hobby Shop, which did have figures. There was some really cool stuff there, even though most of it was outside my price range for a single statue. I did find this really unique figure series for Jujutsu Kaisen, and ended up getting the Sukuna one. They were like old button-eyed doll versions of all the characters, detailed with stitches and everything. I also got a funny Gojo figure sitting in a chair, he looks stupid :). After shopping we dumped our stuff at the hotel, chilled for like an hour, and then went to this sushi place that Toshi-sensei recommended. It was soooo good. I got some grilled fish, octopus, scallops, and fried diced squid. One of my favorite meals of the trip to be honest.

Gojo being stupid and dumb

The Jambling

My Game Jam Team! (From left to right) Back Row: Me, Megan, Reo | Front Row: Fabian, Shoma

Today was the final day of the game jam :(. We bussed over to KCG at around 9:30am and had about 3 hours to finish up our games. The plan for the day was to finish the games, eat breakfast/lunch, and then present our games to two special guests: Akira Thompson and Yuya Shiotani! The first 3 hours were very hectic and disorganized. Fabian was grinding out the animations in record time, which was super impressive, and I was frantically trying to learn how to impliment some of the sound effects into Unreal. The member who was supposed to impliment the sound effects said that he didn’t know how to do it for some of them, and needed help. So I offered to try to do the ones he couldn’t figure out, which took like 2 hours. Unfortunately we didn’t get them in the game because Shoma and Reo where trying to finish the coding and didn’t want us to push anything and possible cause problems.

After frantically finishing our game we ate yummy omorice for brunch. Omorice is basically just an omolet on top of rice with some sauce, which tasted a lot like curry sauce to me. It was scrumdidlyumptious. After eating we all got set up really quickly to present our games to Akira and Yuya. Every game had some really cool and fun ideas to them, regardless of the finish/polish that was reached. Most games, including ours, where not finished, but the special guests still gave great feedback and insight into our little 14hr projects. Overall the jam was super fun and unique, and I think I will remember the experience for a good long while. It was wonderful spending time with the KCG students and meeting all the really nice staff!

After heading back to our hotel I chilled for a bit and then went to get dinner with Maddy, Esther, and Vincent. A lot of the others went to Osaka which sounded cool, but I was too exhausted to do that. We went over to Aeon mall’s food court for dinner and got ramen, which was very yummy and inexpensive as per usual for Japan. On our way back we saw Sten coming back from a dinner party with he KCG staff and talked to him for a bit. Once we headed back inside the Osaka peeps got back and we all hung out again to play Jackbox. Some really funny moments came out of that session and I think it was a great bonding moment for all of us.

Funny shirts

Cosplaying a Sound Engineer

Bento box for lunch during game jam 😀

Today was game jam day! We started by opening up Unreal and downloaded the repo our team made beforehand. The game our team decided to make was a 2.5D puzzle game in which two players must work together to solve puzzles. The characters and environment is 3D while the backgrounds are 2D. The narrative follows 2 space explorers from different galaxies that find themselves stranded on the same deserted planet. They must work together using the various strengths that they acquired from their different cultural backgrounds in order to find their way home.

For the jam I was the designated team manager and sound engineer/composer. Seeing as how I don’t know how to make sound effects nor music, creative commons was my best friend. I also made the Trello for our team to keep track of tasks necessary for completion. The main 11 hrs of the day for me were spent finding sound assets, editing then in Audacity, asking the team members if they liked them, then repeating. The japanese students on our team seemed to really like the background music I found for the game, and I was pretty happy with the sound effects I found for each character. My goal was to differentiate the players in sound, so the technical based character had more futuristic sounding effects compared to the spiritual character. It wasn’t my job to impliment the sounds into Unreal, but I did it anyway try and learn the program a little bit, but I undid my changes before pushing the repo.

During the jam we had to communicate via both google translate and DEEPL, which was a bit challenging but not as much of an issue as I had initially thought. One of our group members spoke pretty good english, which made a huge difference, but one of them was also remote since he hurt his leg. The challenge of working together to complete this game in such a short amount of time was the real highlight of the experience. It was a bit jank and unorganized, but thats part of the fun I think. We had bento boxes for lunch/dinner which were super yummy! After working diligently for 11 straight hours and reaching a point where we thought we could wrap up in the morning, it was time to head home for the night. We bussed the KCG students over to a train station and then headed back to our hotel, where all of us hung out in one of our hotel rooms and played Jackbox games on the switch, which was really fun. After hanging with everybody for a few hours I played some Zelda and went to bed. Overall a really fun and unique experience! Excited to finish up the game tomorrow and present it to our special guests :).

7th Impact

Toei Studio Park Kyoto

Today was our free day in Kyoto, followed by the game jam kickoff at 5pm. For the free day Vincent, Maddy, Esther, Sten, and I went to the Toei Studio Park in Kyoto to see the giant Eva 01 statue. We went with the understanding that we would only be able to look at the statue and take pictures in front of it. However, we were able to do the full boarding and linking experience. We got a bunch of pictures of ourselves in front of the Eva and then went inside it, where we took a quiz to see which of the characters in the show we were, based on some random quiz questions. After that there were cardboard cutouts of the characters in the show that we got to take pictures in front of. Then we ascended the mech and got to do a compatability test by sitting in the plug in its neck. It simulated what it feels like being shot from the underground city to the surface, like they do in the show. We all got really low compatability percents :).

Sten in front of his favorite character, Asuka

After going through the Eva we got a printed photo of all of us standing in its hand, then explored the rest of the park. There wasn’t all that much there unless you wanted to do some of the attractions, but they costed extra and seemed to be meant more for kids. We shopped at the stores in the park and I got a little Gojo keychain and a coin purse. There was a cool Evangelion shop that had a bunch of cool stuff, and there was a lot of samurai and ninja merchandise which I thought was super strange. The park was overall kind of underwhelming, since there wasn’t really anything for the shows that Toei has, it was all just ninja themed areas. We ate at this resturant that served Evangelion themed dishes which was alright, not the best food I’ve ever had but not the worst. After eating we did one last run through of the building and then headed back to our hotel.

Before we got the hotel Vincent, Esther, and I went shopping at Uniqlo in Aeon Mall, and I bought 4 Attack on Titan shirts for only 30 USD :D. After shopping we walked back to the hotel just in time for the bus to KCG. After we got to KCG we did a tour of their new building for masters students, which was really cool. Made RIT look cheap with their fancy event floor and rooftop garden. Their classrooms and library were also super nice, and they had a sound mixing room that looked really cool. After the tour we headed over to the building next door to kickoff the game jam! It was super cool to meet all the japanese students, and they were all really nice. We ate pizza and snacks while getting to know each other. Then we all installed Unreal in preperation for the next day, said goodbye, and then took off. Today was super fun and I am excited about what the game jam has to offer.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Today we went to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. It was a really emotionally taxing day, but I think it was a really important thing to experience. We started the day by taking the Shinkansen to Hiroshima station and then bussing over to the A-Bomb Dome. This structure was almost directly below the bomb dropped on Hiroshima but it remained mostly intact. The structure was kept intact and not demolished due to people finding a little girl’s diary speaking on how important the building is.

After we were done looking at the A-Bomb Dome we walked across a nearby bridge to the rest of Peace Memorial Park. Here there was a flower bed filled with plants and trees donated by other countries, there were none from the United States. Next to the flower bed was a memorial to the children who were killed by the bomb. It depicted paper cranes and children flying around a bell. There were other small things scattered throughout, like a stone donated from Scotlands highest mountain. All of the trees in the park were donated by other countries, which was really interesting. The park itself is meant to symbolize peace and cooperation throughout the world, so the fact that so many countries and regions contributed to both its existence and preservation was really great.

After walking around the park and not letting Sten take a group photo next to the dead children memorial, we went to the Peace Memorial Museum. The museum was fascinated and also heart wrenching. The first floor had lots of information and artifacts on the foster children of the bombing. It also had a clock that counts the number of days since Hiroshima was bombed and since the most recent nuclear test happened. The latter was far too low, sitting at ~650 when I saw it. The clock also had gears that connect each other and are spun by a single gear at the top, which will have its speed increase whenever the earth is in danger. If the gear at the bottom of the clock is ever moved, the clock will self-destruct. This symbolizes that the earth is beyond saving and humanity has gone past the point of no return. The floors above the first showed all sorts of artifacts from survivors and victims of the bomb. There were sections on school chilren who died, parents who lost their children, fostered children, those who died from after-affects of the bomb, and what it was like when the bomb went off. After walking through all of those ‘exhibits’, we arrived at a large room that overlooked the first floor. This room contained a table that you could learn all sorts of information at. From how the city was rebuilt to how the atomic bomb was built. There was also information on the walls of this room that explained this information in greater detail. Overall the day was very difficult to get through emotionally, but it was a really important thing to do in my opinion.