Kannagi exhibition in Aoyama

15.08.2009 by Patrick W. Galbraith

I am in love with Nagi. No shame in that. Or at least that what I thought until I took a trip out to Aoyama to see The Takenashi Eri Exhibition. I got lost, see, and had to ask directions in posh fashion stores, a heavily fortified girls school and even the United Nations. They seemed amused that a great white otaku would be in this area seeking out a two-dimensional goddess. At any rate, here is my review of the event.


























This actually wasn't just about "Kannagi," but the mangaka who brought her to life. Takenashi, who does not release her age and used a beefy bald man as her avatar, was born in Miyagi Prefecture north of Tokyo. Her brother is Yuuki Shinichi, a mangaka who introduced her to the otaku world at a young age. She got her start doing doujinshi based on Type-Moon series, for example "Fate/stay night." Takenashi actually was praised by Nasu Kinoko, the scenario writer for "Fate," and ended up being a guest contributor to "Fate/hollow ataraxia." In 2006 she started releasing "Kannagi" in "Comic REX," and this became her most popular work. Yamamoto Yutaka made it into an in 2008, and the folks on 2channel threw a fit when Takenashi suggested Nagi had someone special to her in her past (i.e., she might not be "pure"). Takenashi collapsed from illness and stress, in the process stopping the serialization of "Kannagi."









































This exhibition to her work is being held at GoFa, the Gallery of Fantastic Arts. It is easy to get there is you look for Oval Cafe next to the United Nations University. Head past the coffee stand to a door marked GoFa, open the closed metal door and take the stairs to the second floor. Not very inviting or easy to access, but moving on. The Kannagi event started August 1 and runs through September 6, but is broken into three stages. These stages correspond with special limited-edition door prizes, merchandise and so on. I went on the first day of the second stage, which was also the second day of Comike, and was suprised to see people lined up in the stairwell. They had come from all over Japan, and many had attended the first stage and had plans to attend the third. We could hear traditonal Japanese festival music from inside the venue, and spirits were high.


























































To my suprise, the event inside was mostly devoted to sales, not the presentation of original artwork. The space is comprised of only one small room, fiilled mostly with prints (8,400 to 36,750 yen), tapestries (9,975 to 15,750 yen) and limited edition shirts (wicked designs, but around 4,000 yen). Once in the door, most of the otaku guys headed straight for a box where they could draw to win anything from a "Kannagi" pen or character tumbler to wall scrolls or giant cut outs. Some guys tried 20 times in a row at 500 yen a pop to get the character standup cutouts. I also plopped down 1,000 yen for two tries, hoping to get my hands on Tsugumi (image below), but no such luck. Instead I got a pen with a pull-out scroll in it, which promptly retracts when the user does not pull it. This is truly useless, and also random, but a least I got the Tsugumi version. My 500 yen entrance fee also entitled me to one coaster specific to stage two (Tsugumi!) and a drink ticket for Oval Cafe. This does not include the Nagi-sama iced capacino, but everyone bought that one as well.









































There was some art on display, mainly framed, original ink pages from "Kannagi." Three episodes were present, but everyone was most interested in the beach and bath scenes (big suprise there). What set this apart was the inclusion of the "names," or rough pages as Takenashi originally planned and sketched them. These corresponded to the finished ink panels, so you could really get a feel for how her creative process works. There was also a book of some of her sketches from grade school, which were suprisingly good. The last attractions were an area to write messages and prayers to Nagi-sama, and a journal to write impressions of the event. In both cases otaku were reading and responding to one another like some kind of retro BBS.





























































This event isn't really a recommend. It is out of the way and mostly geared towards shopping. Then again, it is only 500 yen and includes a drink. A selection of Takenashi's high-quality color images can be purchased as a portfolio package for about 4,000 yen, which is well worth it for collectors. I enjoyed it because afterword I recalled I had preporded and prepaid for the Nagi Nendoroid at Shibuya Animate, and went down to pick it up. If you are the sort of person who weeps that this Nendoroid can no longer be found in stores, then the Takenashi Eri Exhibition is for you.