Gotten from a fellow NOHK friend, credits to him
Unbelievable.
You know, Hime-senpai will make a post short and quick for once.
It’s over 9000!!!
See that? Nine Thousand Five Hundred Pesos. Courtesy of Otaku Expo 2016 Tarp Auctions.
Every time there’s an Ozine con, the sicko inside me always longs for the results of the TRUE highlight of the cons – the tarp auctions. You see, every time an Ozine event closes their gates, they usually auction off their tarpaulins that they hang on the ceiling of the event for decoration purposes. Sounds innocent enough, right? That is true until you realize how much money people have been throwing at them.
Behold, the Tarp Auction Hall of Fame!
Stolen from Facebook.
My personal reactions to this? Ehh, generally it’s in the line of indifference. I mean, it’s not my problem. However, in times like this, it really makes you question the spending habits of fans in this country. (I mean, something has to trigger this post’s creation, right?)
Nine thousand bucks can get you:
a.) Multiple official merchandise of Re:Zero (CDs, BDs, figs, TCG accessories), shipping included. You can support the official creators doing this, in case you didn’t know.
b.) Four PSVita games of your choice (slim chance, but they’ll probably even get a Re:Zero game out some time soon on the JP Vita that’s prolly gonna cost 3k bucks, given how quick they shell out tie-in games for the Vita. I mean, freaking Umaru got a Vita game)
c.) A budget flight to Singapore to go to some anime con and airfare to fly back
d.) Probably a lot of random weeb stuff you can spend your money on
Then again, not my money, not my call how people want to get the item. My thoughts on the legal side of things since the alleged Re:Zero image was taken from a dakimakura art by a Pixiv artist? It’s Ozine’s problem if the artist decides to go after them.
Now I admit I’m not entirely innocent. I did join a bidding war on one of those tarps a few years ago. Through that experience, I can agree with the justification that public auctions are fun. It’s a whole different experience being able to “control” the crowd into wild shouting every time you throw that bid up, especially when you begin edging towards the four digit mark.
Trust me, it’s fun, being able to will the crowd into reactions every single time.
Being the introverted geek that I am, I would say that in my experience, having that much influence over such large group of people will deliver a flowing gush of adrenaline and energy that’s really really satisfying.
Still, when is enough? Even until now, I personally have a bit of regret in winning one such auction, and back then, I only tossed barely a thousand bucks at them.
I’m not here to attack Ozine for this activity (I have to thank them for these laughs myself), nor am I here to bash the guy who threw 9500 bucks (I don’t even know him), but I have to wonder what happened with the guy. The guy probably got caught in the hype, which pretty much shows what the auctions essentially are: a contest of showing off who has the most devotion to his “waifu”. It’s probably not about the money, it’s about sending a message.
As to what kind of message has been sent to the community? I’m just gonna let you guys judge.
Hime-senpai checking out.
Nihon Otaku-Hikikomori Kyoukai 