THE ANIME SOCIETY OF ITHACA COLLEGE PRESENT(ED)
THE TWELVE KINGDOMS
39 episodes back to back to back to back to back...
7pm Friday, November 7 through 12:30pm Saturday, November 8
Center for Natural Sciences room 112
Can a dozen otakus stay up 13 hours past their bedtime?
YES!
Will anyone be able to follow the plot while undergoing serious sleep
deprivation? YES!
Will there be enough food? YES!
If not, who will be eaten? NOBODY???
Will you pass up this opportunity to hang out with a bunch of cool guys?
And Evil Jim too? ALL BUT 23 OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION
For eighteen hours the majority of ASIC's members crowded into a very spacious room 112 and settled in for one long night of one epic masterpiece. Although we didn't watch all 45 episodes (not all have been fansubed unfortunately), we got through the first 39 eps (that's 3 story arcs), and what an incredible experience it was. I have literally just come in through my door to write the entire thing down before I collapse into a cafineated, anime-influenced nightmarish fantasy dream sleep. After waking up very early, working very hard, and running to make it to my 12pm class on time, I doubted I'd last 10 episodes. Well, somehow, something inside me really didn't want to miss out on this show. And those instincts were absolutely right.
To the 'thon I went with the following supplies in my backpack:
3 cans Red Bull
1 1L bottle Mountain Dew: Code Red
1 pillow
1 camera
1 sketchbook w/pen + pencil
1 cell phone (for emergencies and episode time calculations which came in
handy)
1 coldpak to keep the Red Bull cold (cuz it's nasty warm)
1 mini-can Pringles Sour Cream & Onion (shattered. WTF?)
lots of tissues
I only made one quick sketch of Carolyn at her request before it all started, but the sketchbook turned out to be a valuable log and notetaking device as I frantically tried to keep up with the major locations and characters in the world of The Twelve Kingdoms. The following timeline is transcribed from my chicken-scratch in the dark as I tried to write down events that happened while eyeballing the subtitles racing across the screen while illuminating the paper with my phone's LED. The log is as follows:
Friday, November 7, 2003
7:00pm - Arrive at CNS. We wait for core members to show up.
7:40 - Marathon begins despite absence of one core member.
8:06 - "Does this anime get more exciting?" "Does your mom get more
exciting?"
8:20 - First failed attempt to land empty cola bottle into trash can.
8:48 - Your Mom, Mononoke and InuYasha jokes getting old
fast.
8:50 - Second failed attempt to land empty cola bottle into trash can.
10:34 - Red Bull #1 opened.
10:45 - "I like my ass!"
11:35 - "This is such a touching anime. There should be more touching!"
11:52 - Break #1 instigated prematurely due to codec problems.
supplemental - I dash over to Park's vending room for a bag of Doritos and
a Snickers. Doritos eaten by 1am, Snickers saved for 6:30am.
Saturday, November 8, 2003
12:02am - I don my brand new ASIC tee-shirt and say "Good morning"
to fellow ASICers.
12:11 - Carolyn, Art, and I order wings.
12:12 - Pajama Contest. Our souls are stolen by Josh's entry. Oh that's an
image that's never gonna fade.
12:16 - "Can I take the pigs into the bathroom for approximately ten
minutes?"
supplemental - Josh wins the Brian Prize for his PJ entry. The prize? Unbroken
chopsticks.
12:18 - Marathon resumes with episode 11.
12:26 - 1-liter Mountain Dew bottle exhausted. My own failed attempt at landing
empty Mountain Dew bottle in the trash. (ASIC attempt #3)
1:12 - "That's a lot of blood." "This is an anime."
1:19 - First (and last) successful attempt to land empty cola bottle into
trash can by Jim Classic.
1:20 - Red Bull #2 opened.
1:57 - Carolyn calls Wings Over Ithaca to check on our order's status. They're
running very late tonight.
2:01 - "And then the projectionist died."
2:10 - Wings finally arrive. Carolyn goes outside to pick the order up and
shortly thereafter calls my cell after the motion-sensor doors fail to open.
Must be on a timer. Once inside, we chow down.
2:21 - "Who are you and why are you naked?"
2:43 - Anime: "Black Kirins bring joy and happiness." Art: "...and grape
sodas."
4:03 - Fourth failed attempt to land empty cola bottle into trash can.
4:06 - Fifth failed and moderately pathetic attempt to land empty cola bottle
into trash can.
4:27 - Break #2 after completion of second chapter. While Chapter 2 recap
episode plays, ASIC members slip and slide on waxed floor in hallway with
their cute slippers and attempt to walk up walls.
4:45 - "I've had a one-liter bottle of Mountain Dew and two red bulls, and
Carolyn's STILL more hyper than I am!"
4:53 - Marathon continues with episode 22.
5:17 - Red Bull #3 opened.
~6:00 - Map of Twelve Kingdoms in sketchbook completed.
~7:30 - With no more notetaking or MST comments to keep me busy I start dozing
off at several points during two episodes. Note that I did not fully lose
consciousness.
8:36 - Break #3 halfway through third chapter for some file copying. I dash
to Park and procure another 20FlOz bottle of Mountain Dew: Code Red. By this
point about 3/5 of the original participants remain, and 6/7 of those are
conscious.
8:50 - Marathon resumed for the home stretch at episode 31. Mountain Dew
#2 opened.
10:05 - Art acurately predicts the next line a character speaks. "This is
what happens when I fall asleep. I start channeling anime."
12:12pm - Episode 39 and Chapter 3 completed. Marathon ends with three sips
of Mountain Dew and approximately 14 ASIC members remaining.
I just want to say that I had a blast, Twelve Kingdoms was awesome (although they stole a couple plot points from Unfamiliar Reflection), and I can't believe I actually lasted the entire marathon. I was more awake when it ended than I was when it began, and that's frightening. I now take my leave and slip under the warm covers of my bed, knowing not when I shall awake or when my mental clock will realign with Eastern Standard Time. Thanks to everyone who provided the funny comments. I'm sure the club secretary got a bunch that I missed. Check out ASIC at http://www.ithaca.edu/orgs/anime. Good afternoon, and good night.
-Jim Whaley
Awake from 8:10am Friday - 2:00pm Saturday. A new personal record.