More new The Force Awakens TV spots and promos

Normal service is now resumed. There have been some new TV spots released, some of which carry a PG-13 rating. This is the US rating that The Force Awakens will run with. These just get better and less than three weeks to go!


Just to add to all this excitement the Disney Channel also released two new promos

...and just for a bit of fun here are some Star Wars impressions:

Hyper Japan Christmas Market - Sunday

Zoe and I were up WAY too early for a Sunday morning to get ourselves to Tobacco Dock for the Sunday instalment of Hyper Japan Christmas Market.

Despite my misgivings, Zoe was VERY excited about the prospect of seeing the IA show. As I had decided to give it another go I was at least prepared for what might be to come.

The first good thing was the fact that security were insisting that everybody stayed in their seats so there was at least a good clear view of the screen.

The animation was pretty impressive. the photos don't really do it justice. The addition of two live real dancers did at least partially make it feel more like a gig than watching the TV but only just.

The fans once again lapped it up but this sort of performance really isn't for me.

As is customary at these events both Zoe and I grabbed our change to have our picture taken with NHK World mascot DOMO!

I had meant to get lots of cosplay pictures today but sadly that plan went out the window. I did get a few though.

We met up with Sara and Christian and headed to the live venue an hour before LADYBABY were due to hit the stage again. I had hoped that getting there in time for the COSParade today would get us in a good position but it was rammed when we got in there. It was so busy that unfortunately I didn't manage to get any photos today due to where we were positioned. It was a shame as there was some pretty awesome outfits out there. 

Thankfully after the COSParade quite a lot of people drifted out so we did at least get to a better position ready for LADYBABY. Yesterday we had two songs. Today we had five. Well it was four really with one being repeated.

LADYBABY singer Rei turned 15 today so the LADYBABY Fan Club presented her some gifts which made her cry tears of joy.

...and introducing the LADYBABY baby:

Here's the full show thanks to G.E.E.K.com:

After the gig we headed to the Meet & Great for pics and autographs:

Our day finished off watching the chindonya group BENTENYA. 

Another fantastic day spent with wonderful friends!

Hyper Japan Christmas Market - Saturday PM

It was off to Tobacco Dock with Sam and Aaron for day one of Hyper Japan Christmas Market.

Much to their disgust we got their early but this was the queue in front of us, not very large:

There was nearly an hour to wait before they started letting us in and this was how the crowds had built up since we arrived:

I think I made the right decision to get there early! We headed straight to the Live Japan area to take in some of the entertainment.

First up were SHINOBI-TRY, a performance ninja group. This was an entertaining display of acrobatics, sword skills along with various other implements. Considering the limited height they were working with in the venue they pulled off some pretty amazing stuff.

Next up was the COSParade with special guests LADYBABY. I captured as many pictures of the cosplayers as I could although sadly didn't get all of them when they appeared individually.

After the main parade our cosplayers were joined by LADYBABY.

This was then followed by LADYBABY performing two songs. The venue was rammed and the crowd were as bonkers as the performance that we saw.

It was a very energetic performance but WAY too short. Just as well I'll be seeing them tomorrow as well for a longer set!

Highlight of the night for me were symphonic goth rockers LACROIX DESPHERES. I only decided to attend the Saturday of Hyper Japan when Lacroix Despheres were announced as playing and that was on the back of one Youtube video, they impressed me that much. They most certainly didn't disappoint. The songs were strong and the performance was sublime. 

The flag in the pics above was created and thrown on stage by these awesome fans:

After the show Sam and I went to the Lacroix Despheres Meet & Greet. CDs were bought and autographs and photos were had.

The final act of the night was IA. This was an odd one. The venue was rammed (even more so than when LADYBABY were on). The strange thing was that IA was a digital performer with vocaloid singing. Unfortunately everybody decided to stand which made viewing the digital screen very difficult. Unable to see and not really taken with the non-live performance we decided to bail out. I decided I would give IA another try first thing tomorrow. Here's an idea of exactly what could be seen:

It was a brilliant half day that we all enjoyed. I can't wait to get back there tomorrow and do it all over again!