Konshuu Volume 58, Issue 4

Annie May Cal Animage Alpha Art By Willow Otaka

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E D E M I 3 N 2 A 20 NIGHT Y R R A ST

CAL ANIMAGE ALPHA

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

ANIME DESTINY MAP

Entrance

Registration

Artist Alley

Dealer's Hall Elevators to Floor 5

Stephens Panel Room

Gaming Hall

Floor 3

Tilden Patio

Tilden Panel Room Elevators to Floor 3 RESTROOM

RESTROOM

Floor 5

Tilden Patio

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

AniKura: Otaku Rave Tilden Patio

4:00pm-7:00pm AniCLover is a San Francisco Bay Area-based anikura event featuring anime, Vocaloid, and various otaku music concepts. DJs at our events spin a wide range of genres, from EDM anime song remixes to the latest Vocaloid hits, as well as VTuber other otaku music. We’ve featured numerous local and international artists in our lineup, and run shows across the Bay Area, LA, and Japan. At Anime Destiny, AniClover will be hosting a dance party with your favorite anime songs and otaku music tracks that will bring the Tokyo anikura experience right here.

Twitch: twitch.tv/anicloverclub Twitter: @aniclover Instagram: @anicloverclub

Anime Taboo! Game Show Stephens Room 6:00pm-7:00pm

Artist Alley West Pauley

9:00am-7:00pm Come check out and support various artists and vendors, offering prints, collectibles, handmade crafts, and more! See the Artist Alley map for all of the attending artists and vendors.

CAA Anime Trivia Stephens Room

interests in digital illustration and concept art.

Join us for a fun art workshop about drawing anime characters!

Linktree: linktr.ee/dicaberkeley

Gaming Area East Pauley

9:00am-7:00pm Join us for some games and fun, featuring Smash at Berkeley, Fighting Games at Berkeley, Extended Reality at Berkeley, Board Games Berkeley, DDR, and Mahjong!

Gekkou

Stephens Room

10:30am-11:30am Gekkou: UCB’s Queer and/or Women’s Anime Association is tabling at Anime Destiny 2023! In addition, Gekkou’s creative project and in-house art collective: YGKO (Yūgekkou) will be paneling at (insert time) to share their newest release: YGKO S3 “WE ALL HAVE OUR VICES”. Stop by to learn more about the creatives behind the zine and the collective’s foundations! Gekkou (meaning “Moonbow”) is a social club for women and or/queer individuals who enjoy anime, manga, games, and other adjacent media. They host biweekly activities and socials such as quiz nights, arts and crafts, and more! Gekkou is welcome to all students, with an emphasis on being a safe space for women and queer individuals within the anime community. Here you can make new friends and develop a strong support system on campus!

9:00am-10:00am Test your knowledge against anime-related trivia questions made by Cal Animage Alpha's Events Department!

GEKKOU: @calgekkou // tinyurl.com/gekkoudiscord YGKO: @ygkocollective

Cosplay Masquerade

Genshin at Berkeley

12:00pm-1:30pm Our Cosplay Masquerade is back!! Stop by Tilden to see amazing cosplays and support the local Berkeley community. Participate for a chance to win the grand prize of a lifetime Anime Destiny Badge and other CAA merch! Sign-ups will be avalible at the registration booth while spots last.

9:00am-11:30am CALLING ALL FANS OF GENSHIN, HONKAI STAR RAIL, AND ANIME. Genshin at Berkeley will be present at Anime Destiny, Berkeley's annual anime convention. Come join us November 5th from 9am to 11:30am in the Tilden Room of the MLK Jr. Student Union Building to participate in some rivetting activities that will test your Genshin and HSR knowledge. We will also be selling Genshin and HSR themed shirts, hoodies, hats, and much more at our artist alley booth, which will be open for the whole day! All merch is designed by our wonderfully talented artists!

Excited to see you all there!

Tilden Patio

DICA

Stephens Room

1:30pm-2:30pm DICA @ Berkeley is a club for anyone in the Berkeley community who are interested in Digital Art and Illustration. We have regular events and workshops, and we are a community of passionate creators and digital art enthusiasts that allows artists of all levels to explore their

Tilden Patio

Follow our Instagram: @genshinatberkeley Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/genshinatberkeley

The Intermission Orchestra Tilden Patio

2:00pm-3:30pm The Intermission Orchestra at Berkeley is an entirely student-run organization dedicated to building a community for film, game, and anime enthusiasts and sharing our passions with the Cal community and broader Bay Area through our music and performances. We will be bringing our passion to you at Anime Destiny with our performance in Tilden! Also, we will have a booth selling stickers and charms from our dedicated art team!

Instagram: intermissionberkeley Facebook: The Intermission Orchestra at Berkeley YouTube: @theintermissionorchestraat7944 Linktree: linker.ee/tioatcal

Naisu Ami Stephens Room

12:00pm-1:00pm Do you love being transported to anime worlds where the outsider is the protagonist? Then enter and experience the rich multimedia soundscapes of these worlds as reimagined by Naisu Ami! With music that incorporates a mix of acoustic and electronic elements on themes of identity and belonging in both English and Japanese, they will immerse you in a specially curated playlist of songs that permeate our favorite characters’ lives.

Naisu Ami on Spotify @naisuami on Apple Music, SoundCloud, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter

NiCE

Stephens Room

3:30pm-4:00pm Join NiCE, UC Berkeley's premier Japanese and English a cappella group, for a sensational performance at Anime Destiny! The Nikkei Choral Ensemble, also known as NiCE, is a group of fun-loving individuals who enjoy sharing good music and making people smile. Their repertoire consists of a wide variety of both Japanese and English music, ranging from western pop and indie songs to songs from anime and games, Japanese classics, and more -- for more information, please visit our website at Nikkei Choral Ensemble (berkeley.edu) and follow us on instagram @nikkeichoralensemble !

VFleet Vtuber Panel Stephens Room 4:30pm-5:30pm

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

Rin Hoshizora Love Live!

Art By Mio Kurosaka

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

BLACK☆STAR: BLACK☆ THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY DEVON NGUYEN

Writer

3rd Year, Anthropology

"What's the point of worrying about the past? A real star keeps moving forward."

SPOILERS FOR SOUL EATER! Annoying, loud, and obnoxious–three words that many casual fans of Atsushi Ōkubo’s Soul Eater would ascribe to Black☆Star, a rowdy weapon meister and who dreams of surpassing God. Just searching up his name on Google will lead you to decades-old Reddit and MyAnimeList rants about him. It’s rare for me to meet other fans who also favor him the most out of the three main meisters in the core cast, and honestly, I don’t blame people for putting him at the bottom. Compared to Maka and Death the Kid, Black☆Star’s quirky exuberance isn’t as charming as theirs, nor does his overall character arc contain the same depth or relevance to the main story like theirs. In spite of this, I still adore Black☆Star, in what he represents in the grand scheme of Soul Eater’s story and in both the person that he remains and becomes by the end of it.

As I stated before, Black☆Star is loud, head-splittingly loud sometimes. He has no filter, charges head first into battle, and never thinks about the consequences of his actions. There are times where you as a reader wonder why his weapon partner, Tsubaki, puts up with him all the time. How could a person with such a kind and gentle soul resonate with someone who’s so incredibly exasperating? I asked myself that many times during my first watch through of the series, when the first handful of episodes had me desperately wondering if Black☆Star would ever become more bearable. The answer is yes, he does. He absolutely does, albeit rather slowly.

Tsubaki is an incredible foil for him and is the reason why I even gained an interest in seeing him develop into the character I came to love. Their relationship is akin to that of a benevolent older sister and unruly younger brother. There are many moments where it seems like Tsubaki is way too good to Black☆Star, who oftentimes feels like he’s taking advantage of Tsubaki’s kindness. But upon reading further, we come to understand that these two have a genuine admiration for each other. Throughout her childhood, Tsubaki felt like she had to shrink and stay in the shadows in order to please her much less gifted older brother. She was quiet and supportive, never mak-

ing an effort to stand out. But with Black☆Star, she’s allowed to be herself–she’s allowed to reach far beyond the limits that she had imposed upon herself and uncover her true potential.

Black☆Star sees her, and that’s all Tsubaki had ever wanted.

You can really see he matures through his rivalries with Mifune and Death the Kid. Mifune challenged Black☆Star in both the physical and psychological realm. He was a master swordsman with a solid set of principles, firm and no-nonsense in the face of Black☆Star rambunctiousness. Even when they came to clash because of their allegiances, Mifune always treated him with respect, even going as far as daring him to be better than his deceased and dishonored father, White☆Star. It’s during their third and final battle that Black☆Star shows growth, revealing how much he’s learned after his previous defeat. He’s more level headed, more focused and ready to prove to Mifune that he’ll master the way of the warrior, surpassing both Mifune and his father.

Death the Kid challenged Black☆Star on an emotional level.

From the moment that Kid became a student at the DWMA, Black☆Star was immediately drawn to him, challenging him to a fight to see how strong he actually was. They grew to be comrades and eventually, close friends. Their friendship really peaked during one of my favorite fights in the entire series though.

In a moment when Kid succumbed to madness, Black☆Star desperately tried to bring him back, reaching out to him with both his fists and his feelings. You can tell how much these two mean to each other through this fight. They’re willing to support each other till the end, even when they’re at their lowest moment. It honestly made me a little emotional when after he brought Kid back from the madness, Black☆Star promised Kid that he would help him create the world that he envisions.

After so many moments of him proclaiming his goal to be the strongest, seeing him proclaim a goal on behalf of a friend felt incredible. It’s this fight specifically that solidified my love for Black☆Star; he really proved that he’d grown as a person, emotionally and maturity-wise.

It’s easy to call Black☆Star an annoying character who doesn’t think twice about the people around him. But that’s only true for just a small part of the overall story, as just reading where the manga picks up after the anime can show you how much growth he truly undergoes.

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

Wonderlands x Showtime Project SEKAI Art By Miranda Zhang

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

OF HUMANITY AND THE STARS RAHM JETHANI

Editor-In-Chief

SPOILER WARNING FOR PLANETARIAN: CHIISANA HOSHI NO YUME AND PLANETARIAN: HOSHI NO HITO!

After helping Yumemi repair the planetarium’s projector, Kuzuya became entranced by the projections of the stars. No person in this age has ever seen these celestial bodies, and the sight of them gave the one human being present a sense of yearning. This sequence, perhaps, is meant to represent how even the most closedoff person, whose morals and actions have removed them so far from the concept of humanity, can still discover hope and cling onto it desperately.

Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito is a strange film. It is listed as the movie sequel to Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume, which is a five-episode OVA series that adapts material from the Planetarian visual novel. Plus, Hoshi no Hito’s story is directly described to be “epilogue content”. Despite this information though, and after watching all the Planetarian anime material (including the disappointing prequel, Snow Globe), I strongly disagree with this consensus. If one was to watch anything Planetarian-related, it should exclusively be the Hoshi no Hito movie. It is everything the original OVA series is, but it also includes vital context that further echoes the themes presented within the original work.

Ultimately though, Planetarian is a tragedy. After Kuzuya relearns the feeling of being human, and after he finally is able to emotionally connect with Yumemi despite her robotic nature, Yumemi gets killed by a stray machine. As her last wish, she prays that human beings and machines can still go to the same heaven, and that God doesn’t split heaven in two. This message communicates the idea that the difference between people and machines is not a perceived sense of humanity, but instead that hope is what makes someone human. In this sense, Yumemi was already more human than Kuzuya, which makes her role as Kuzuya’s catalyst to remember humanity all the more poignant.

2nd Year, English & Japanese

At the end of the world, what will give us hope?

The story of Planetarian is a tragedy. The world has been destroyed for a long time, with murderous, non-sentient machines roaming the streets. The atmosphere is shrouded by everpresent pollution, making it lethal to breathe without a filtering mask. Humanity isn’t even on its last legs; instead it crawls. Ideas of happiness and joy are either lost entirely, or are just far-gone dreams for those old enough to remember better times. We follow the main character, Kuzuya, who falls into the former category. His lifestyle of scavenging and pillaging has turned him into a shell of a person, wrecking the same havoc as the robots in order to survive. While his personality is bland, his characterization effectively communicates the crippled state of humanity. His characterization is important to pay attention to when he meets Hoshino Yumemi, a peaceful robotic attendant of an abandoned planetarium. Although he is annoyed by Yumemi’s optimism and constant needs, Kuzuya makes the choice to help her, despite what it meant for his survival. While we’re never given an explicit reason why he helps Yumemi, it can be inferred that the mundane and non-aggressive interactions with her stirred a feeling of connection within Kuzuya. The strings of despair began to loosen around his heart.

Hoshi no Hito’s “epilogue content” takes the form of an elderly Kuzuya traveling from settlement to settlement, hauling heavy projector equipment in order to show the stars to humanity’s survivors. He has, over the years, required the titular name “Hoshi no Hito”, meaning “Person of the Stars”. This epilogue (although it is interspersed throughout the film) is essential to communicate how powerful hope can be. Although he is eventually exiled by people who have forgotten what it is to dream, Kuzuya’s lifelong dedication to spreading the idea of humanity is beautiful, and the ending seems to agree too, as it shows him joining Yumemi in a shared heaven. Hoshi no Hito is a touching reminder that even in the worst times, hope endures, and its spark is what makes us truly human.

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

Jelli

Original Character Art By Catherine Rha

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

KAREN AIJOU'S SONG AND DANCE WAI KWAN WU

Managing Editor

3rd Year, Molecular Cell Biology

"The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

— William Shakespeare

SPOILERS FOR REVUE STARLIGHT THE MOVIE! If nothing else, Revue Starlight was a very ambitious anime. Juggling a massive cast of nine in only twelve episodes, it played the daring game of balancing the stories of each character while seeking to deliver action-packed spectacles for nearly every episode. It wasn’t always able to keep up the momentum, and some characters were left a little underexplored, but Revue Starlight still managed to wrap up its story, complete with a neat little ribbon on top.

Then, the unthinkable happened: Revue Starlight was to receive a film sequel, promising to deliver further on the conclusion of a story that, at the time, was thought to already be finished. And well, that it did: Revue Starlight The Movie completely recontextualized the original story from the ground up, fleshed out character arcs that were originally left unanswered, and boasted setpieces and cinematography that surpassed that of the original. However, most interestingly, Revue Starlight The Movie revisited the story of Karen Aijou, the main character. The central character that the story revolved around, where the thematic conclusion of the show equaled her own conclusion. So, what’s left to explore?

Karen’s story centers around her long-lost childhood friend, Hikari, and their promise as kids: to become stars together. Sure enough, they accomplish this in the show, and the story ends. Yet, there was always something missing. Why would a small promise that Karen makes with her lost childhood friend have such a dramatic effect on her that it completely restructures her goal in life even a decade since the two last spoke to each other? The film seeks to debunk this question. Thematically, in the Revue Starlight universe, the characters’ world is the stage; their lifeline is the blood, sweat, and tears that they pour into their craft. In the film, we see that Karen used to be a shy, bumbling kindergartener with no goal in life. However, Hikari enters and the two quickly become friends, after which Hikari makes a life-changing move: inviting Karen to see a play. From there, Karen is exposed to a whole new world that she’s never seen before. The world of the stage, which inspired her promise with Hikari, and a dive into acting. Essentially, Hikari and their promise together was what bestowed “life” onto Karen, what gave her purpose. It is said that we all live life in pursuit of finding and fulfilling our purpose. Thanks to Hikari, Karen found her purpose, and she will live life in tireless pursuit of fulfilling her purpose, within the world of the stage.

However, the question remains: while Karen’s goal makes sense from a thematic standpoint, her promise with Hikari still holds an unrealis-

tically large influence over her life, from a literal person’s perspective.

The film itself critiques this: throughout the film, we are shown snippets from different points in Karen’s life, with the connecting thread being Karen repeatedly muttering her promise with Hikari to herself, in order to push forward with her single-track goal. This is almost as if she didn’t quite believe in her own promise, struggling to grasp onto it as the reason for her to continue. In fact, she eventually does succumb and break the promise, when she decides to look up what Hikari is doing abroad, despite it being forbidden by their promise. However, if Karen’s promise is her lifeline, and if it was broken, what would happen? Why doesn’t Karen just drop dead on the spot?

The answer? In the story, Karen attends the prestigious Seisho Performing Arts Academy, which Karen’s middle school friends note as being notoriously difficult to get into. So difficult, in fact, that it is incredibly unlikely to be accepted unless one is the utmost talented and passionate about performing. This is common across all of Karen’s classmates at Seisho, and well, Karen herself is no different. She was the one who translated the entirety of her favorite play into a different language, a feat that only those most knowledgeable and passionate about a subject can accomplish. Karen isn’t just a shell that was given life because of a single purpose. She is capable of feeling passion, excitement, and competitiveness. Jealousy and stage fright. Karen is human.

In the climax of the film, Karen realizes these emotions for the first time. The burning warmth of the stage lights. The prying eyes of the audience. For Karen, who had her eyes only on Hikari and ignored all else, this is too overwhelming, and she loses her life as a result. However, this isn’t the end for Karen. All of her past, all of the time she spent on her craft, all of her passion—they come together to drive Karen forward, burning up to become her fuel. Karen is revived, no longer tied down by her promise to Hikari and the role she has to play, but as a true human. And Karen, as a new human, has new roles to play, and new stages to step on.

“Revue Starlight—We’ve acted it all out. Right now, I might be the emptiest person in the world.”

“Then, go on and find it. Your next stage. Your next role.”

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

Annie May

Cal Animage Alpha Art By Heaven Jones

KONSHUU | Volume 58, Issue 4

A

nime Destiny is an annual anime convention hosted, organized, and planned by UC Berkeley's very ‌own student run anime club, Cal Animage Alpha. Not much is documented on Cal Animage Alpha's history, but we do know that it is one of America's oldest anime clubs, having been founded in 1989 as the first Cal Animage club formed at various Californian universities. Some Cal Animage Alpha alumni have even gone on to found Anime Expo, Fanime, and Crunchyroll.

L

ast year was our first physical Anime Destiny event since the pandemic, and it was a great success! Although there were some setbacks, we were able to pull through thanks to everyone’s hard work here at Cal Animage Alpha. This year, we aim to retain the interest in our club through our variety of weekly social events including but not limited to: video and board game nights, trivia nights, AnimeMusicQuiz competitions, anime showings, and trips to Japantown and Crunchyroll HQ! We also wish to keep producing biweekly issues of Konshuu, Cal Animage Alpha's magazine, featuring original articles and artwork from our very own talented staff. Each issue is around 8-16 pages and has a central theme similar to how this Anime Destiny pamphlet is focused on a Starry Night theme. Please look out for future announcements on upcoming content and events through Cal Animage Alpha's Discord channel and our other socials.

O

f course, the biggest and most ambitious event we hold annually is Anime Destiny. After last year’s massive turnout, we hope you will have as much fun this time, too! After so much time and hard work went into coming back from the pandemic, we were able to organize a fully-packed, full-sized anime convention with the help of our dedicated team. And now this year, we have got even more in store, and are proud to see even more of our efforts come to fruition as we were able to gather a large variety of artists, clubs, performers, and guests. Not just from the Bay Area, but hailing from around the world, everyone here is collaborating for one awesome convention. We wish to deeply thank each department of Cal Animage Alpha: Anime Destiny, Events, Konshuu, Publicity, Tech, Video, and you, the reader (and, most likely, AD attendee!), for helping to make Anime Destiny and Cal Animage Alpha a resounding triumph.

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e would also like to sincerely thank all the sponsors and organizations who collaborated with us to continually make this convention possible! We hope you enjoy your time here and continue to support Cal Animage Alpha in this event and future Anime Destiny conventions to come.

Welcome to Anime Destiny 2023!

Editor-in-Chief - Rahm Jethani

Rahm Jethani

Heaven Jones

Wai Kwan Wu

Mio Kurosaka

Catherine Chen

Skylar Li

Miranda Zhang

Willow Otaka

Sophia Xue

Angelina Takada

Cas Geiger

Devon Nguyen

Catherine Rha

Max Rothman

Ellya Kim

Tony T.

Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor

Artist/Graphic Designer

Managing Editor - Wai Kwan Wu

Artist/Graphic Designer Artist/Graphic Designer Artist Artist Artist

Artist Artist Artist

Artist

Writer Writer Writer Writer

Annie May Cal Animage Alpha Art By Cas Geiger

VOLUME 58, ISSUE 4 OCTOBER 29