Category: General

Anything that does not fit a specific topic is placed here in the General section.

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Desk Diary: October 6, 2024

I started writing this at 10pm on the date mentioned, and I hope to write a lot of good stories from this Desk Diary before (a) doze off or (b) I forget stuff.

I have no regrets taking more time off the NewsDrop desk (or anything, really, at least for a single day) to meet friends at Cosplay Mania 2024. For once, I asked myself to stop being bothered by the stuff happening on my news feed, meet familiar and new faces, and touch grass. I had several goals in mind:

  • Produce a highlight video using the classic Move Closer to Your World news theme package in a last-ditch effort to prove to myself that I still got the knack to edit videos (note to self: I still have pending backlogs from June)

  • Take photos of rare cosplays (90% accomplished, not bad)

  • Have fun for once (I always go to these events with objectives related to what I do in the media)

This is not meant to be an event review, so I’ll leave the rest of the nitpicking about the event into their feedback form. Andito ako para magsaya, baka matuluyan na yung burnout ko.

I secured a Gold ticket through a good friend, and we meet in good spirits. I also got to introduce him to fellows with similar interests along the way. The rest of the day was me chasing in circles as I move from place to place checking the rarest cosplay I can capture with my phone.

Yung mga tropa kong photographer, nag-adjust na sa katotohanang walang photo area sa CosMania ’24 – ‘pero ‘yung iba naka-carts na, and may nakita pa ako na na-inspire sa iconic na walking light ni big man Erving Go (lodi).

If there are two rare cosplays I’d like to find, it’s Ai Natsumi’s cosplay of VSPO! EN’s Arya Kuroha and Coffeine’s cosplay of NEXAS’ Momoko Nuihara. I did miss a unique duo cosplay of ChroNoiR, but I’m sure they had fun. Also, we got a RARE Rin Penrose cosplay! John VTuber is real!

My good friend Hoshiin finally did the BIBBIDIBA Suisei (complete with the shoe). I also saw a rare Eureka Seven cosplay too! ⬅️

I was also having fun with the straightest male naokomama and friends. This illustrator and the gang kind of gets me when I go nuts, so I feel I’m in a great company.

hololive Indonesia’s Anya Melfissa and Vestia Zeta were scheduled to have a live presentation that afternoon, at yung mga tropa ko sa side ng hololive Fans, they’re winning. Consider this: In a trivia game segment, they were able to force Zeta to meow twice. Fantastic.

Back to the cosplayers, I really look forward to capture rare cosplays, na kapag di ko nagawa nanghihina ako. Ganun. Thankfully I get to mark off my checklist before I get back to getting more recorded footage.

As for stage events, I only went to a few: at the EX Hall, I was listening to ASHA‘s second major solo performance. She really went a long way, and I made the right decision to support her. Kahit tameme na at pagod, I was able to leave positive feedback to her after her performance.

As for Marienyan, she also wants to perform at Cosplay Mania, and I’m happy to know her wish is granted. One more Suinigang, please!

…and now we focus on BRADIO. I’ve heard their hit single Flyers from Death Parade, on top of other songs from their powerful POWER OF LIFE album. In fact, my music history with BRADIO involves most of the songs from that album. I was waiting for them to play Hit Parade, but their set list is so groovy, I wanna do a ballroom dance (I don’t have a partner to dance with).

The last time I had this satisfied feeling was when fhána performed here in 2018, at the height of their success with Maidragon.

It’s been a long time coming – around 9 years – to see BRADIO in person and jam at their hour-long concert set. Sobrang saya. Thank you for coming.

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Desk Diary: September 10, 2024

blue and red galaxy artwork

For the past few years, this website (as well as its social media handles) has been a witness to various events in the Philippines’ pop culture circuit. Most of you have seen me advocate for several events like the World Cosplay Summit or the local idol culture.

I have now reached a point where my energy and resources can no longer compensate for going to several places in a single day. I’ve spent my life in the events industry so much that I built and broke bridges.

My birthday is almost approaching, and I figured to myself what’s my purpose now that I have practically left the events industry, the same field I wish I could have served (and sometimes fought for) longer than just 7 or 8 years being employed.

To be clear with you, I have been gathering myself as I live my life outside Manila, outside the dreaded traffic, and the stresses of not being able to enjoy the life I used to do so for as long as I have been employed.

I am no longer enjoying sharing about my thoughts on the internet, the same way I used to a decade ago. I stopped blogging, I started tweeting (and retweeting) too much, I hurriedly distance myself from anyone with a bad reputation, I was not enjoying my life and my satisfaction felt nowhere.

I’m not sure what to do with keepsakes. nowadays because you’ll either see me do stuff for VTuber NewsDrop or just upload photos on a Facebook album.

I talked to myself if I should really let go of the things I used to love, but in order for change to happen, I should be more firm with my resolve. I’ll still be here or on NewsDrop, but for real, I am setting up to retire the keepsakes. brand in the future.

That said, here’s an announcement:

ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you for your continued trust and support of keepsakes.

Preparations are being put in place to reorganize keepsakes., including but not limited to:

  1. Suspension of video production. There are several videos lined up to be posted early this year but are already overdue, due to internal factors. Once these videos are posted, video production will be suspended indefinitely.

  2. Reorganization of social media assets. All social media assets under the name of keepsakes. will be rebranded under the name “Jay Agonoy” effective this week. keepsakes.‘ Facebook page has became a repository of photos from past events, and will remain as such.

  3. Sunsetting of the jayagonoy.xyz domain. After 8 fruitful years, the domain jayagonoy.xyz will no longer be renewed after October 28, 2024. Efforts were done to redirect the website to its current domain, jayagonoy.com.

All inquiries regarding this announcement should be directed to the email address hello [at] jayagonoy [dot] com.

We thank you for your kind support and understanding of our future endeavors.

09 September 2024

Jay Agonoy

I did expect to write a black-text-on-a-white-background letter, but I don’t want to be so dramatic to cut off everything out of sight. What an announcement, however. If you find this update confusing, don’t worry, I’m not ok and I hope to be ok soon.

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Pinoy Otaku Festival 2023 on May 19-21

Pinoy Otaku Festival returns this year—and so I return to Supernova(liches) to moderate a panel discussion.

This annual event starts again this year, and this edition will focus on Environmental Advocacy. Shizen, a Japanese word describing (human) nature, is the theme for this year’s edition, focusing on the ways fans like us can do to give back to nature.

Organizer Red Cloud Interactive will host a series of activities including a Low-Cost Cosplay Competition which will challenge the talent and resourcefulness of participating cosplayers. In addition, staple activities such as Cosplay Championship League, Your Cosplay Sounds Familiar, Karaoke Battle Royale, and Chibi Cosplay Show will also be held during the weekend.

Pinoy Otaku Festival 2023 also has a wide variety of guest line-ups for this year including AWIE, YARA PH, Lia Bear, Prince De Guzman, Stacy Phan, Ponponmy, Ariel Villasanta, Raymond Gorospe, and more.

Yours truly will be there on Sunday, May 21. Activities on that day include an Aidoru (Idol) Concert featuring Pepper Keibu, Blitz Hasegawa, PiPaPosse, Chie Kurosaki, FESTA, Shazu姫, Cess, Rainbow Signal, Poly-V, Radiant, Mju:z Kiss, Neko✩Fire, and Ivy Musume. A panel discussion to be moderated by yours truly will also be held on the said day.



Tickets are available on-site and on Ticket2Me for Php150 per day and Php450 for 3 days. A limited-quantity VIP Pass worth Php1,500 is also available, which includes an event-exclusive POF t-shirt and Event ID plus access to one special guest Meet-and-Greet session among other perks.

POF 2023 will be held at Robinsons Novaliches Trade Hall on the weekend of May 19-21, 2023. Event partners include Glico Philippines, 13th Line Collectibles, Toy Shogun, ADA Straws and Bayanihan para sa Kalikasan Movement.

For more information, you can visit their Facebook page or official event page.

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Online Shopping Experiences: From Groceries to Non-Food Items Delivery

Long time no post! Prior to the release of Podcast #98 this Friday (I’m sure I’m going to post the show notes here late), I’ve done my online shopping as well, getting my groceries and some non-food items in one sitting.

In fact, due to the virus scare (running for 2 years now), I rarely go out. When I go out of the building, I just make sure I don’t go beyond the 3-kilometer radius. That said, I do my grocery shopping online.

On this post, allow me to share my experiences with different shopping platforms, and I hope these can help you decide which platform suits you best. For the record, I’m a ride away from the middle of EDSA.

The SM Store / SM Markets

SM has a LOT of platforms to choose from, and it can be quite confusing for first-timers. Thankfully, you can still count these services by hand. I’ve experienced ShopSM, Call-to-Deliver (via Viber) and SM Markets.

ShopSM.com

Online Shopping - ShopSM

Of all the SM online shopping services I’ve experienced, ShopSM.com is the one I’m frustrated with. It’s like Lazada dressed as your local department store, and I will never recommend you to use this service if you are in a hurry for something, since the item you need will be routed from ShopSM’s main HQ to the branch nearest you within 2 to 3 days. I will instead recommend you to…

Call-to-Deliver

Online Shopping - SM Store

In a desperate move to secure an item for a get-together last year, I joined the Call-to-Deliver group on Viber, connected with them, and they patched me up with a personal shopper who called me after a while. The item – a coffee maker – was secured in half a day, and that includes them testing the item for you via video call.

What about payments? As with The SM Store, Call-to-Deliver has PayMaya and GCash as payment options. As for deliveries, they will get you a GrabExpress rider to send in your item at your cost. I asked for a gift wrap and they happily included it without a cent.

SM Markets

Grocery Shopping - SM Markets

I mentioned earlier that I’ve just processed my grocery shopping for the week, and I tried SM Markets this time. You can shop as usual, and they will deliver to your place (with a fee) as long as you are within their 5km radius.

I have yet to receive my groceries so I’ll have to update this post soon. The problem is, I forgot the eggs.

Metromart

Grocery Shopping - Metromart

Metromart is good if you need a variety. They are tied to a lot of stores, but I chose to shop at a Robinsons Supermarket near me. No problems on my end so far, it’s just that I need to do my grocery shopping in advance.

PureGo

Grocery Shopping - PureGo

PureGo is a partnership between Puregold and GCash. This is convenient, because (1) I can pay with GCash and (2) they’re included in the GCash app’s GLife section. The best part is, I was able to secure my groceries within the same day, which is important for me as I want to cook Japanese curry.

Here’s the detail: I ordered groceries during lunch, and I got a call during the afternoon confirming my order. They delivered it in a big box hours after, just in time for my dinner curry fix.

Foodpanda and Foodpanda Shops

Food Delivery - Foodpanda

Despite valid criticism, Foodpanda is still a great food delivery option for people who are in a rush. Aside from cooked food, they are also tied to some shops so you can also do grocery shopping there.

The thing is, Foodpanda Shops are different from Foodpanda, which should be fine for all of us, except that I do want to have a single transaction sometimes. To be fair, Foodpanda DOES allow multiple transactions.

GrabExpress and GrabFood

Food Delivery - GrabFood

GrabFood is another great option for food delivery, which works best if you have the super app installed on your phone. They do have a website counterpart, which also serves its purpose. The downside with the website is you have only two options for paying: GrabPay and Cash on Delivery.

Cashless payment is my policy whenever applicable, so I have to transfer cash from my GCash to my GrabPay (and thank goodness I can bookmark my payment details through GCash so I am a few taps away).

If you also compare GrabFood with Foodpanda, most restaurants stick to GrabFood because of its better relations with them. GrabFood retains its user base as they have restaurants exclusive to GrabFood. That’s where I got my sushi, and the wait was worth it. I have yet to try GrabMart though, maybe soon.

I remember one time when I secured a box of Immunpro from a nearby Mercury Drug, I asked the assistance of GrabExpress to bring it to my place since I couldn’t get out of the building at that time. All’s fine and good – and I shouldered the delivery fee, as per standards.

Angkas Pabili

During HoyoFest last year, I ordered a meal set to celebrate the debut of KoMETA Virtual Live‘s talents. Moon Rabbit Cafe, the Philippine host for HoyoFest, recommends that I get someone to deliver the food as this is a custom order. I was thinking, “if I did order via GrabFood, I may not be able to get the HoyoFest freebies because it can be treated as an order from someone who is not a fan.”

Angkas Pabili popped out as an option to me. I already have Angkas on the phone, so I filled in the details. Like GrabExpress, Angkas Pabili will pay first your items then you will pay them back. Make sure you have your cash ready (though I’m not sure if the riders will allow GCash too, since Angkas riders have that app as well; you got to ask them).

Shopee and Lazada

I’ve frequented Shopee and Lazada for God knows how long. Their monthly singles sales (11.11 and so on) get everyone to shop. They started this “retail therapy” madness after all.

Both platforms are good, both have their online Malls, and both of them require you to be wiser in your online shopping by looking at product reviews. Putting your items on sale at Lazada and Shopee are of a different story, but I believe Shopee made it easier for merchants to sell on the platform compared to Lazada.

Lazada has partners with brands such as ToyCon PH (ToyConnection) and Big Bad Wolf Book Sale (a big plus for the book sale itself, which learned lessons from their logistics brouhaha), which I consider as a plus for them.

IKEA

Ikea Website

I’ve visited IKEA just before I entered Cosplay Mini Matsuri last year, and I am so ecstatic to see what a maze it was. You’d rather shop at IKEA physically because they don’t deliver food items. At all.

They only have non-food items there. You also need to order in advance, definitely. The upside is that you can pay via GCash. Well, another good thing about IKEA is that it stands on its own.

Thank you for reading all the way through the end of this post. I hope my experiences set proper expectations for you as you go along your life with limited mobility due to the pandemic. I have been reminded through and through to disinfect goods as much as possible, and I would like to relay that reminder as well to you, my readers, along with the minimum health standards we have to follow. Stay safe, everyone!

Banner Photo by Pickawood on Unsplash, Logos from their respective owners

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King of Anime Groups, Otaku Rankings and Sustainable Otaku Goals

Before I got home from Cosplay Mini Matsuri Day 1, I took a photo of these bikes.

Just before the end of the year 2021, we’ve seen specific posts being shared on Facebook. These posts contain the following information, which I will share to you guys outside the Philippines:

King of Anime Groups

This first copypasta I’m going to share was shared around two years ago, I believe. The copypasta is about a boastful “King of Anime Groups” who warned his “poor innocent” fellow to move it.

“King of Anime Groups, speaking. Excuse me? Before you duke it on me, beh, I just want to inform you that I’m famous in anime groups. How about you? Ohhh. Just a poor innocent otaku.

One more, huh? I’m a prince in these anime groups. You can’t just talk to me or make friends with me because I’m the God of Weebs!

Well, you otaku are poor and worthless. Me? I have Anime Figurines, I have two Crunchyroll Premium accounts, I have my own Anime Cinema Room. I have watched over 500 animes. Well, you don’t have them. Also, I read manga every day, I eat junk good.

I’m the only one rich in this whole Anime Group Community of the Philippines. And you guys? You pirate anime, you don’t even have Netflix or Crunchyroll, you are poorer than hobos. So please, don’t me. Kneel down to your overlords, you ugly and poor otakus!”

I call hubris on this joke. Hubris, meaning “excessive pride and self-confidence” (Oxford). Also, is it technically illegal to have two Crunchyroll Premium accounts?

Otaku Rankings

This one, which just appeared at the end of the year, explains the different levels of being an otaku. It starts with a question: “Can you please explain every stages of ‘otaku’?”



First stage: Newbie. Just new to anime. What they watch mostly are Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball and/or mainstream anime

Second Stage: Group Joiner. These are the ones who join anime groups to find anime recommendations and to make friends with other otaku.

Third Stage: Anime Addict. On this stage, it’s uncommon to eat.

Fourth Stage: Otaku Competitor. This stage, meanwhile, is the part where you watch a lot of episodes in one day to flex on social media your anime addiction.

Sixth Stage: Hachiman (Hikigaya). The lead character in My Teenage Romcom SNAFU. This stage on the other hand is where will be emo. On this stage, you will feel that “Our World is Rotten, Everyone [is] Your Enemy. You will feel this if you realize the difference between our world and the world of anime.

Seventh Stage: Veteran Otaku. This is the last stage because you can only watch around two to three episodes of anime every day.

Don’t hurry to reach the seventh stage, enjoy the [emotions] you will feel while watching anime. You need experience to reach the end. These stages are also not 100% accurate, I removed some stages because it can trigger you.

Did I mention there was a follow-up comment on this?:



And just a reminder, Veteran Otaku here.

Watching a lot of anime episodes is not a basis to call you an otaku. Once you understand the culture and real beauty of anime/manga/light novels, you’re automatically an otaku.

If you become a veteran otaku, that’s the time in which you can only watch around two to three episodes per day.

In short, veteran otaku [is] the last part of otaku rankings.

Call this biased, but there are points where he’s kind of right. Almost. Let me explain in the next section.

Aside: Story Time

Allow me to share my experience, taking into consideration that I’ve been here for a long time:

  1. We are all introduced into anime because of TV networks broadcasting mainstream anime such as Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, Slam Dunk, Ghost Fighter (Yu Yu Hakusho), Doraemon and the like.
  2. At the advent of internet, we learned how to use Friendster and other social media platforms. This is before Facebook stepped in and dominated social media.
  3. Bulletin Board Forums were the hype back then. I frequent this forum called “Zen Otaku Honbu” wherein they post anime schedules, and share thoughts on anime being broadcast locally. Zen Otaku Honbu is the foundation of what will be known today as Anime Pilipinas. Bulletin (Another sidenote: Boards die with the rise of Facebook Groups.)
  4. My first anime event was Anime Overload Festival 2009, a one-shot event. This is also my first time entering SMX Convention Center Manila, which will then be a home for a lot of major anime conventions.
  5. I started blogging about anime around 2009 as well, staying long hours in the internet cafe watching anime. I tried anime reviewing at a time where anime blogging was the thing. I’m happy that we as an anime blog became part of the one-shot Aniblog Tourney, where we lost to an eroge blog.
  6. Fast forward, I made sure that I get to as many anime events as possible. In the 2010s, anime events, cosplay conventions and the like are starting to gain mainstream attraction, and by the end of 2019 they are being held almost every month. This has been my life before the pandemic struck.
  7. Pandemic-wise, I can safely say that the discussion about anime has fully moved from the mainstream to online. There’s little to no news about anime in the local context, so I resort to reaching out to other active communities in Southeast Asia, like in Indonesia where they have a steady release of light novels thanks to the pioneers in distribution there.
  8. After immersing myself into anime, I got into idols thanks to MNL48 and competing idol groups. I got burned out with the fandom though, so I went on to VTubers, from Hololive to Nijisanji. I have never left since.

I don’t have stages, I just grow up getting more immersed. Being immersed, I find myself in communities where I felt I belong, such as Twitter. I can safely say that stages one to four from the earlier otaku rankings relate to me, while the latter part is downright hikikomori and deprived of romance.

Sustainable Otaku Goals

This year, someone from Japan released this very helpful inforgaphic derived from United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

  1. No Health, No Life.
  2. Compatibility with Social Life
  3. Take a Bath
  4. Circulate the Economy
  5. Support your Oshi While you can
  6. Appropriate contribution
  7. Enjoy and continue
  8. Good relationship
  9. I am me, others are others
  10. Correct Information
  11. Comply with Law, Observe Manners
  12. Take Care of Belongings
  13. Not only consume, But also Provide
  14. Calm View to Self and Others
  15. Nurture the Next Generation
  16. Courage to Change, Courage to Rest
  17. Prepare for Unexpected

I like this infographic for one reason: Sustainability. The buzzword in which developing nations are prodded to take care of. This infographic points out that while you are enjoying life your way, you need to take care of yourself and your surroundings. A happy life is a life worth taking care of.

Here’s how I understand each of these Goals:

  • Goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 talk about how we should deal with others.
  • Goals 4 and 6 talk about contributing to the community’s economy. Without merchandise, you can’t make a collection and the community can’t earn something.
  • Goal 10 makes sure that we don’t get swayed with rumors unless confirmed.
  • Goal 12 is there to make sure we don’t forget something of any value.

Of course, I’m going to follow the Sustainable Otaku Goals. Looking forward, this should help me change my outlook in life. Looking forward to the success of this year with this in mind.