I heard that there was a store called Animate somewhere down near the Hirakata-shi station that sells anime goods, like models, figurines, and good luck charms with anime characters on them. Well, I looked all over twice, and asked some police, but I couldn't find it. What a waste of an afternoon.
This evening I finished Nausicaa. Boy, if you ever want feel confused, doomed, insignificant, or hopeful, then read this series. It says a lot, but not really anything at all.
I saw what is most probably the most awesome game show ever, and I have to recount it all. It was like The Running Man, an old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where convicts have to run through a giant maze-like arena while avoiding gladiators with super-weapons in an effort to win their freedom. Except this time around there was no killing, so it looked fun. Fifteen contestants started at the entrance to USJ near the Hunters, basically the ones who tag you and your out. They were dressed to look like agents in The Matrix, and even acted like it, not once changing their facial expressions or saying a word, even while running. Each contestant had a map of the park and a cell phone to contact other players with.
There were four Hunters, and they started the game in cages, with fifteen different chains run through a box in front of them. The contestants went one by one to pull a chain, and if it wasn't the right one that that person would get a head start to run into the park and hide. Only the first two managed that, though; the third contestant let them out, and everyone ran, scattering in different directions. And the Hunters were fast. I know I'm one of the faster people at Appalachian when going full out, but I'd be hard pressed to outrun these guys.
The game timer lasted for one hour and thirty minutes, with various breaks and missions at certain times. Also, the reward money went up by 100 yen every second, the last person to be caught getting whatever the amount is at that time. At 1:25:00, the first mission started, which was to disable seven spotlights in order around the park within fifteen minutes. For each left on after that time, an additional Hunter would join the game. Five of the lights were turned off. After that, there was a break as the eleven survivors played a giant Jenga game. On the blocks were things that could change the game, and the same person, twice in a row, got a blocks removing Hunters, dropping their numbers back to four. Also a coincidence, she was the first to be tagged out in the next round :)
This all took place at night, and the break continued until morning, when the clock resumed. The second mission, from 1:00:00 to 0:45:00, was for two people to get to the Jaws ride and at the same time throw two switches that would slam down a gate barring passage to and from that ride. The ride itself takes fifteen minutes, and there were fifteen Hunters riding on it. If they got through, there's no way anyone could have lasted till the end. One woman managed to get there and hide, but no on showed up until it was almost too late. The Hunters actually got of the boat and were walking up to the exit (guess they couldn't run until the time limit expired) when some guy finally came running. They closed the gate with three seconds to spare, literally in the Hunters faces. It was so thrilling!
Next there were boxes placed around the waterfront area, one of which held a special key card. At this point only eight were left; the rest had to wait inside a giant cage in the park until the end. But the card would activate a wheel of chance thing that would let one of them back in the game. Sadly, it was the youngest guy who got freed, and almost immediately he walked right into a Hunter and got tagged again...
0:25:00 to 0:15:00 was something to do with the parade. It came along it's normal route, advancing slowly toward a set of sensors (I feel I must point out that there was no one else in the park during this game). Again, two people had to turn off the sensors, this time with key cards everyone had been given from the start. By this time, almost everyone had formed into groups of two, and were constantly calling each other to know their positions. A stupid move, of course, because of the ring tones. The guy who up until then had been doing the best was called by his partner right when a Hunter was walking by. Only when he didn't die was I reminded that this wasn't a movie. It was that cool!
Sadly (not!), the mission failed. But instead of more Hunters came the Legmen, ninjas on leg stilts that ran around (literally) from high vantage looking for the players and then whistling shrilly to call in Hunters when they found someone. This was the hardest time of all, and only three were left. In the end, it was only the wimpiest-looking guy who evading them, like the whole thing was some Hollywood setup. But his last few minutes were intense. He was found twice, and each time barely managed to get away and under cover again. Because the last mission wasn't completed he didn't get the 100,000 yen bonus that came with it, but if he had he would have won 1,000,000 yen! That's ten thousand dollars! We could drop shows like Jeopardy any day to make way for this cheaper kind, and it would be better! I really want to try my hand at playing, it's like Mission Capture the Flag.