Whatever happened to “Girugamesh Guy?”

Fandom

girugamesh_guy

“Girugamesh!”

It’s the most quoted line in an oft-quoted commercial. Directed by one voice actor (Vic Mignogna) and starring others, this promotional video for Sakura-con that took on a life of its own. Today, it’s hard to find an anime fan who doesn’t respond to the phrase “I love sushi” with an automatic, “I love Japan, period!”

Like it or lump it, this low-budget commercial has become a cult classic with fans. And at the epicenter, there’s the actor who says “Girugamesh.” His black lipstick, contrasted with his sheer enthusiasm, has had a significant impact on fan culture.

In the past few weeks, as I mentioned in my Anime Herald podcast appearance, I have made it my mission to meet and interview Girugamesh Guy. I think it’s worth stating that I am totally earnest about this. While I realize the commercial got its fair share of critique as well as praise, I’m not looking to pass judgement, but simply to revisit this moment in anime culture. Once you become Girugamesh Guy, what happens to your life after that?

The search began with some promising leads. I found some apparent clips from Girugamesh Guy’s film reel. As you can see by this scene at the beach and this scene at a party, this black-lipsticked actor has become pretty typecast as the jerk that gets his deadly due. From there, I found two possible identities, complete with names and emails. I found a Facebook page that belongs to a man who looks suspiciously like Girugamesh Guy. I contacted all these people (and Vic Mignogna, and the Sakura-con staff), but it’s been over a week and I haven’t received a single reply. At least to me, Girugamesh Guy remains an enigma.

I wrote this blog post as a eulogy to this and all the other articles I’ve attempted and failed to report. There are so many threads of curiosity I’ve attempted to explore. Some get scrapped early when I don’t have any sources. Others get spiked by my editors, when there isn’t enough evidence to ensure I’ve found the truth, not just a rumor. For every story that gets told, there’s another just waiting in the wings for anything to give it legs.

If you see this, Girugamesh Guy, please contact me. I’m still hoping.

Otaku Links: What is this deliciousness?

Otaku Links

oremono

  • This My Love Story!! cosplay from TuxTeam is incredible. They were also behind that viral Big Hero 6 cosplay a few months back.
  • Anime Vice was one of the news sites that shaped my concept of reporting about fandom in the beginning. Nigorimasen eulogizes it in its final days.
  • Jisho, my favorite resource for looking up kanji, got a major redesign. Now if you remember a kanji’s pronunciation but not how it looks, you can use voice search. Paired with Lexilogos Hiragana and Katakana keyboards, there’s nothing else I need for writing in Japanese.
  • Yoshiyuki Tomino, the father of Gundam, has really opened up about the flaws he perceives in his latest show, Reconguista in G. This show recently became legally available and I need to watch, but so far it looks like fans are divided.
  • In my book, I interviewed Ink of Ani-Gamers about his Drunken Otaku column, which is fairly unique as columns go but pretty self-explanatory. You’ll be surprised at how often alcohol is a theme in anime.

Photo via TuxTeam

Frequently Asked Questions about Build Your Anime Blog

Writing

There’s nothing like the high that comes after a book launch. After having my nose to the grindstone for two months, I can finally celebrate and look ahead to a schedule full of exciting and diverse new projects that aren’t the book. No joke, I had a fantasy list of to-do items I would let myself start once the book was out—and am cheerfully doing those now.

However, I know from my friend, self publishing guru Nathan Meunier, that launching the book is just half of the work; after that comes promotion. The majority of my promotion fell on the same day as the launch—just look at all this press—but there’s still a little more to be said. I have been getting repeated questions about the book, and I’d like to take a moment to address them.

Q. I don’t have a Kindle. Does that mean I can’t buy your book?

A. This is so very far from the truth. I do not even own a Kindle myself. You can get the free Kindle app for your computer, tablet, or mobile device running Windows or iOS. It is a one click installation, and you can get it on the Amazon sales page for my book.

Here is a handy illustration showing you how to get the Kindle app instantly:

kindle_app

Q. I don’t want to use the Kindle App. Can I get an EPUB version for iBooks?

A. Buddy, I will give you whatever version you want. Just PayPal me $5.99 and put the format you’d like in an email to me or the PayPal comment line.

The reason I have made my books available exclusively in the Kindle store is so they will be entered into the Kindle Unlimited program, which means Amazon Prime members can read my book for free. I think that’s pretty cool, but as more and more people ask me for different formats, I am going to have to make some tough decisions soon.

Q: If I entered your contest last week, should I wait to buy the book in case I win?

A: Sorry, I already gave out three free copies to the winners, whom I notified on Friday when the book came out. That brings my total of book giveaways to 18, since I gave copies away to each of the bloggers I interviewed for the book, too, and one to a beta reader.

And yet, after all of those free copies, the book is still selling better than Otaku Journalism did at first. “If you love something, set it free” and all that!

Q. I really liked the book! How can I completely make your day in return?

A. You are the sweetest, hypothetical question asker! If you liked the book, the absolute kindest thing you could do for me is leave a review about it on the sales page.

Amazon’s algorithm kicks into gear and starts seriously promoting a book after it receives 10 reviews from readers. So if just nine more people review my book, Amazon will make it so the book gets a heck of a lot more visibility, which will ideally lead to more people discovering Build Your Anime Blog, and that’s my only goal as an author, really.

Thanks for humoring me while I prattle on about my book baby for just a bit longer. I’ll be back and writing your regularly scheduled otaku journalism soon.

Build Your Anime Blog is on sale now!

Writing

build_your_blog_3d_large

At long last, the book I’ve been hinting at for months is available for purchase.

Build Your Anime Blog: How to Get Started, Stand Out, and Make Money Writing About What You Love is on sale today. At an estimated 173 pages, it’s much longer than Otaku Journalism, but I set it for the same initial price: $5.99. Get it here!

Build Your Anime Blog isn’t just a how-to guide on building a successful anime blog with loyal readers, surging traffic, and an income stream. It’s also an anthology of interviews with anime bloggers who have each found success in their own way.

You can buy Build Your Anime Blog in the Amazon Kindle store. You don’t need to have a Kindle; I personally don’t. You can use any Kindle app on your desktop, tablet, or mobile.

If you check it out, I’d really appreciate if you let me know what you thought of it in an Amazon book review.

I’ve been fortunate to get mentions of the book launch on several other blogs today. I’ll be updating a list of them here in this post as I see them go live.

Putting the journalist back in Otaku Journalist

Writing

blog_selfpub

I always promised myself I wouldn’t become the kind of blogger who puts up a post to say sorry for not blogging, but here we are. I haven’t been this off my game since I took an intentional hiatus in May 2011 in order to work on a site redesign. In retrospect, temporarily ditching the blog while working on a big project is a great idea.

The big project in question is, of course, the book you’ve been hearing so much about: Build Your Anime Blog. I’m thrilled to say that as of today, there’s nothing left to do but push it live, so it will meet that May 1 deadline I promised last month. The final product is more than 50,000 words, more than TWICE the length of Otaku Journalism, but it’ll retail for the same price my first book did.

If you can’t spare $5.99 for the book, read the next few paragraphs carefully to see how you can get it for free. I’ve been thinking a lot about the Big Picture, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve had as much fun blogging here as when I’m getting back to my roots and practicing actual reporting. I love investigating questions that I (and hopefully my readers) have, like where American anime wall scrolls came from and how blind fans watch anime. I love reporting on topics like how Anime Boston navigates religion and fandom on Easter so much that I think of my yearly visit as a vacation, not as volunteering.

I’d like to do more journalism here at Otaku Journalist, and I’d like your help. Leave a topic for me to report on in the comments—it can be as simple as a question that you’re interested in me researching—and if I decide to take it on, I’ll send you a free copy of Build Your Anime Blog. I’m not sure how many ideas I’ll want, so theoretically everyone who comments could be a winner.

So much of what I do here depends on your feedback—even my decision to write a 50k word book. I’m really excited to see what you’re interested in having me report on.

Illustration by Kevin Bolk