The G-Fest Experience (2023)
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- It's that time of the year again! G-FEST XXVIII took place in Illinois last weekend, so just like last time I threw together a video documenting my experiences. Hope you enjoy.
Last year's video:
• The G-Fest Experience ...
Support me on Patreon, if you please:
/ zagorudan
Timestamps:
0:00 - Woah, that's crazy, another G-Fest
0:50 - Day 1
9:28 - Day 2
20:26 - Day 3
25:51 - Goodbye now, G-Fest (sayonara, IF we meet again)
Music used:
Return of Ultraman eyecatch stinger
Son of Godzilla - “The Birth of Minya”
Prophecies of Nostradamus - “New Guinea Expedition”
Ultraman (1966) - “Ultraman Tojo (Ultraman Entrances)”
Ultraseven sfx - “ULTRA SEVEN”
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla - “Godzilla x Type3 Kiryu”
Ultraman 80 - “Ultraman Sensei”
Godzilla vs Megalon - “Highway Road”
Gamera March Karaoke Version (1969)
Kamen Rider (1971) - “Lonely Soul”
Godzilla 2014 Main Title Synth Cover - Kweer Kaiju
Ultraseven (1967) - M8 A
Ultraseven sfc - “Eleking”
Super Tokusatsu Taisen 2001 - Space Sheriff Gavan
Ultraman Leo (1974) - Ballad of the Starry Sky (Instrumental) 
Развлечения
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That video with Zetton being stomped on by Gamera that was mine. Thank you for including it in this video. Thank you so much dude. I’ll be uploading it to my channel soon
Cool
Going back and watching the first video, I made the exact same comment this year about the egg and cheese croissant from last year without realizing it. lol.
Lol
Bro. Theres something called the entertainment district like right across the street through the parking garage. Theres food. Nothings stopping you from going out and finding food. Only clowns buy the hotel food.
All Monsters Attack is a pretty neat con by the looks of it, plan on maybe attending one in the future! They also have artists that sell their work too, which is nice.
Always appreciate your videos on G-Fest, will probably never go but it’s nice to see what I’m missing out on, for better or worse.
my dad shouted at me and said “don’t touch! you’re not supposed to touch!” when i was a good 6 feet away from a model and he insists it was the funniest thing ever when it was just really embarrassing. i’m not bringing him again
we also went to the same pizza place and waited 80 minutes for a single pizza
Me and my gf found out about G Fest through your video last year and were able to make it on the last day this year and had a really great time! Thanks for all the great videos you’ve been putting out
3:47 kinda crazy they got rid of the pamphlets. All the cons I've gone to become wifi/cell phone service black holes cause of all the traffic. Don't feel just having a website will always be ideal.
The tragedy of Johnny Sako's 8mm print dying made me audibly wail. (Gen X fan here LOVING your content and snark. When I get a regular paycheck again, I'm joining the channel. )
I enjoyed going to this year's G-fest but it does really feel like it's really dropped off in quality since covid happened. Outside of missing last years convention I had been going since 2015 and I remember those earlier years being a lot better. G-fest only having two panels an hour instead of the three they used to really hinders the experience, and as you go over the costume parade is far, far worse. The artist alley was something I really enjoyed, it was a much quieter space than the dealer's room and I remember a few times where I would just vibe in there and chat with an artist and have a nice conversation, it was good, and you can really feel it's absence. A very good video, I was glad to be there for it this year.
I think part of the problem is that attendance has risen dramatically, but other than moving to a physically larger venue, the operation is still pretty much the same -- you've got the same few people in most of the key roles, same guy doing the A/V, etc. I think, even with less stuff going on on paper (fewer panels, no artists' alley, etc.), the usual way of staffing the event may not be quite keeping up with the size of it.
@@KyodaiKino They don't have a dedicated ops department nor did they bring in Dorsai for event security. Without the necessary organization, it's just going to be one snafu after another.
My literal first exposure to JD was hearing that he wanted everyone to come to G-Fest at the absolute height of the pandemic and he was just insisting no one would get sick because he thought it wasn’t serious
TJ seems like such an awesome dude! Really wish we could get someone else in charge of the con.
6:38 “I couldn’t have bed it saider myself” lol
"Daddy's home, cake every night."
I was overwhelmed by all the people, but i ran the ultraman panel on Sunday. There were a TON of people there and i was really nervous. But i think i did ok.
Was really hyped to see this one. Very weird seeing myself mentioned in it too, but kinda cool. I agree with pretty much all of your points though.
Gfest I felt didn't offer as much as I would've hoped. Especially with the art and model room. As some who loves that stuff, it was pathetically small unfortunately. Wish they really made that a bigger point instead of the dealers room(which I unfortunately spent at least half my time in) and even the dealers room was very overpriced mostly. I did snag some good deals, but it was very hard to find those.
I honestly would kill for an Ultraman convention. Really wish we got more stuff with Ultraman, instead we got G98 stuff this year. Yay. But fun nonetheless. Still wish we had more options at Gfest or even different conventions other than Gfest.
I like your points and views on Gfest it's refreshing I'd love to see more of you at Gfest✌️🔥
There's All Monsters Attack. The first con was in Indianapolis
They also had a convention in the same hotel as prior G-Fests. It's quite literally the same exact drive with an extra block, so if they have more panels and things to do next year I'll consider going.
@@ZaGorudanas an artist who went this year, I will admit that the one thing hindering AMA from really taking over Gfest is that there's not that much to do outside of panels, dealers and guests. I've over heard that the owners of AMA really want to keep things simple and casual so it's hard to say if they'll add more. But on the bright side the con is still young so who knows
Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on Space Monster Wangmagwi. I watched it with a few friends and we were laughing our asses off.
It’s pretty much the kaiju movie equivalent of The Room.
same with uktena the horned monstrosity. you can’t tell if they’re taking themself seriously or if it’s a living shitpost.
Great video! Thanks for sharing!
I wasn’t able to meet everyone I wanted to see including you it the place was so huge it seemed impossible. Still, I had a fun time but the magic is starting to wear off especially when nothing really improves and things are taken away
I'll go next year if the artists alley is back and they're selling JDFantis art
I don't think it will ever come back
Another good video from you, always fun to hear G-Fest from another person's perspective (so long as they can tell it well) and I sorta wished I could have met up with you (I am on twitter but you probably couldn't tell who I am in particular)
But in any case, you took the words out of my mouth on a lot of issues related to G-Fest. It feels like the dealer's room prices keep getting steeper and all the good stuff for reasonable prices are bought out in the first 30 minutes of when the room opens every day. Many panels felt redundant or pointless and made me question why I was attending them (though I will say the G98 panel was decent fun, even if the topic was redundant and I do rather wish I attended the Ultraman panel at that time instead) and though I was fortunate enough to get good seats in the ballroom for the costume contest, it did seem to be a total mess outside.
The things you mentioned at the end about going to a different kaiju-themed convention should one arise to overtake G-Fest was something I discussed quite a bit as well. I'd be willing to go to one not run by people with their heads permanently stuck in the sand, but it feels like most of them just don't have the core tenets of G-Fest. Hopefully one of them steps up and "slays the dragon"
But regardless, I had fun myself. I got quite weepy during the G14 panel since G14 was my first Godzilla movie I had ever seen and being able to see it in theaters again reminded me of why the film made me a fan in the first place. I was also lucky enough to meet TJ Storm on Sunday (though the wait was a little much) and it meant so much to meet one of my personal heroes. He really is such a cool guy to meet in person. This was also the first year I got to arrive on Thursday and watch the Pickwick double features, which was nice... even if they weren't really showing the best movies in it this year.
All in all, I think one thing is for certain. With all of the kaiju related content being released some time in the next few months, G-Fest 2024 will be many things, but most likely not boring. Hopefully they can find something meaningful to talk about with Minus One and Godzilla X Kong. Great work on this video, the bit about J. D. Lees and G-Fantis was really funny.
Boring panels, over priced dealers room, poor organization for events like costume parade. They really need better management. People need to come in with a lot more interactive panels. I’m there to take history of kaiju courses like I’m in high school.
Oh maybe u should do ur own panel on how to make a really cool fan film since you're SO good at making them!!
Was a great pleasure to finally meet you this year! I agree with some of the negative elements of this year's con, most especially the costume parade nonsense, but regardless I still had a blast and met so many new people and enjoyed hanging out with old friends.
The dealer room I didn't particularly think was any more expensive, especially considering the items I was looking for. I think the kind of collector that focuses on the new stuff will probably be bummed but the vintage stuff was fairly well-priced in my opinion. But, that just depends on what type of collector you are, I suppose. I'm more into the obscure type of stuff, not the typical Bandai vinyls or super-articulated stuff. I got a few good sofubi pieces for great prices and some amazing deals on a few gashapon sets and figures too.
Agree on the surprising lack of movie vendors this year but I think there was also a HUGE lack of comics and magazines as well! I was looking forward to completing my Rulers of Earth issues but I only managed to find one vendor selling any comics before the past two years of releases.
I saw a staff member making another female staff member uncomfortable. He was much older than her and touched her somewhat inappropriately.
...pretty big bombshell to drop. I would not be surprised. Gross.
I ran the Godzilla 1998 panel. I get it, the convo is nothing new but it was the films 25th anniversary so we felt it was appropriate to do it and to my knowledge this was the first, G98 panel in a while.
Oh, hey, there's me at the Ultraman New Gen Panel in the front row. I think Taguchi making a surprise guest appearance was my highlight. I was very glad to let him know that I enjoyed his shows when getting his autograph. And the Bugon short was a fun little treat.
And yeah, the way the costume parade was handled this year was abysmal. The fact that it started two hours late really didn't help matters.
Also, if you do decide to attend a future G-Fest, you get a lot better food options if you're willing to walk over to the mall by the Crowne Plaza. Much better pricing.
I've always wanted to attend G-Fest,and I thought about going this year,but it just a bit late to go and plus it seemed really expensive. Like most cons nowadays it seems like it was a bit too crowded and like you mentioned before,the dealers room seemed wayyyyy too expensive. Eh. Maybe one day I''ll make it up there.
Holy shit I know I already commented on this but on second watch that's me and my girlfriend walking into our seats around the 45 second mark. I've made it big.
Damn, I want that gremlin Jet Jaguar plushie. 😂
Och, I made the two pipe cleaner sculptures in the back table and helped out with that random Smash setup in the gaming room on Saturday, hyeh hyeh hyeh
I'm gonna start making this a once a year thing for me. I love this place so much. I love the people there. It was the one place other than Universal Studios where I feel like I'm in my element.
I would do anything to see Godzilla 2014 in theaters again, as it is one of my happiest memories as a kid. The pure joy I felt watching it felt like heaven
Gotta love the crowd popoff when Gamera shows up, makes me smile
My first, I was the Ceasar in the suit, not the bunny version
I was sadly scammed by a vendor this year, they didn't tell me that the transforming moguera I bought did NOT come with the parts needed to finish the transformation and when I asked him about it his only reaction was simply "Yeah thats why it was $75". There was no sign, no attempt to tell me it was missing pieces, just told me it transformed and took my money when I said I'd take it. But aside from that I had great experiences with each vendor I purchased from. I got a bandai takkong for only $12 compared to the near $40 I constantly see it going dor online. I even got the shma hedorah at $20 below retail! The convention was a ton of fun with so many great costumes and even more nice people. (Also if you by chance saw a custom lunatux in the sculpture room and some personal takes on bullton and keronia in the art room, that was me ;] )
That was you?? Those art pieces were great.
@ZaGorudan yeah!!! They're some of my favorite pieces I've done! I was actually working on a custom pagos and I was gonna enter it into the model room, but I didn't have the time to finish it, I added joints and everything too, just not finished yet oof. And thank you so much!!!
But hey, at least the UltraWiki is improving.
It probably helps to have the official sponsorship to steer them in a better direction (if that's the same one).
@@ZaGorudan The one with the red boarders and everything? There's no sponsors, the Tokupedia group booted them out of the lineup and then made another wiki in response. Only one that didn't turn it's back on them was Wikizilla. But they got some editors who know their stuff now, like a person going mental with figure identification edits. And then there's me, uploading stage show suits cause... funni.
Any slander for Trigger is good in my book
Honestly, I’d like to go to the fest but I live too far away to make it feasible
15:21 My neurons would definitely activate if someone said godzilla 2000
I had a good time overall got some great footage for my own vlog plus future episodes. However one booth was not only credited for jacking prices on stuff but was really hot headed with customers. Got some decent stuff. The fans werw great on my end. Next year ill try to come for more than a day and a half. 😊
Thanks for saving me a Trip.
My name has been changed from RJ to Artist to AJ, I wonder what new name is waiting for me next year
Oh there is my cameo
I hope I'll get to see you at the Canadian Con this year
16:36 Wait, didn't they remaster the movie with the newer 4K BD? I have the 4K file on my drive and it looks gorgeous when played on TV. No more "too dark" scenes & the colors are popping.
Anyway, it's great that you can see Taguchi in person.
Hey I’m curious if you have video of the shorts that played. I’m curious how people reacted to my Team Godzilla vs Zetton video
If that's the toy one, it's covered a little on day 3.
@@ZaGorudanOk. Because I usually only go on Saturdays I wasn’t there to see it play so I was curious if you or anyone filmed it playing. What did you think of my voice acting for the Ultraman aliens or the video as whole
Word around the water cooler is that one of bootleg DVD guys had some adult content on his table last year and was asked by staff to remove it and didn’t. I think he wasn’t welcomed back. I don’t know how disappointed you were that they weren’t there, but my friend and I were extremely disappointed because we had planned to buy a bunch of their kamen riders and other things.
This ISN'T the G-Fest(G-Con) of the 1995 era. More gouging than ever and sad to have the "fun" of long ago. And I don't have a phone so I'm sure I would have been further bummed...
My parents might take me next year. Always wanted to attend one
Bro I didn’t even go to the costume parade because I had just finished up a 5 hour game of Godzilla risk, I started at 3:00 PM, and ended at 8:40 PM
i first thought you guys were overdubbing the Gamera movie with the plans to take over G-Fest. dealer rooms at any con smell.
2:40 I actually spotted him at AMA lol
I wish i could have met you. You said maybe in reply, and never got back to me. :( ... Were you able to watch the screening of Yumiko's film, Ike Boys? It was so good. Also, I met a cute girl at G-Fest and we've still been talking after the con.
Congrats on the blooming relationship! Genuinely sorry for getting hopes up, there was a lot going on and I forgot. I generally organize meetups and whatnot on Twitter or other social medias because of the immediateness of the notifications.
@@ZaGorudan I understand. Glad you had a good time!
Yeah, G-Fest has it's flaws, I'll admit that, but I still have fun going there with my family members. It's the only convention I ever attend(due to it being close to where I live) and I don't think I've ever really had a negative experience there. The dealers room, despite it's rising prices, makes me feel like a kid going to places like KB Toys again, the gaming room let me try a few games I've never tried before(due to either their rarity or exclusivity to Japan) and I always find it interestong to get the perspective of the people who stared in these kaiju films, especially the ones who portrayed the kaiju themselves. The dedicated G-Fest tv channel also let's me experience more obscure kaiju media at times, which is a good way to wind down as I recharge my social batteries. Overall, it might not be perfect, but I consider it a fun, harmless event.
8:54 PRIMAL! By genndy Tartakovsky it’s my favorite TV show
Wow if you all had managed to turn G fest on its head I would have been proclaiming, I was there when it happened 😂😂😂 I was there Saturday between 2 and 4, dealer area wasn't as smelly but dealt with a few people who said I was standing in the way of their gawking of products they couldn't afford. Definitely happy with my Ultraman Jack sh figuarts from Beast from the east, fair prices, and good staff. Hope to catch ya next year, I may be dressed as Tiga
15:05 legit lol
08:33 someone made bento from the soft ubi doll
I’m so sad I couldn’t go
I could never afford going to conventions
You aren't missing much anymore.
I had significant personal safety concerns, especially when cosplaying, so I'm not going to return next year.
(Yay, I get treated as a punch line...again.)
If it means anything, it was incredibly brave to show up to a place like this in a fursuit. Both of the friends mentioned in the video are furries too (Boom is a scalie but same-ish sorta deal). The (lol) was more in reaction to it being a mismatch with a kaiju convention, so apologies with it seeming like it could go either way. Best of luck.
Thank you for another great video on G-FEST. I haven't been in years due to having to save money after going to different anime conventions lol. But I miss going to G-FEST, seeing all the awesome Godzilla and other tokusatsu stuff. Not to mention meeting and hanging out with all the awesome people there. It makes me sad that the guy running G-FEST is so problematic and the artist alley is gone. I loved supported the artist when I would go. I hope over time, a lot of the big issues with G-FEST can be resolved or as you said, other big Kaiju-based conventions like G-FEST comes around bc yea hanging out with like-minded people at conventions is the best, especially when it comes to Godzilla and tokusatsu.
15:17 🤣🤣
arent you on the wikizilla team
Yes, he's known as Golden
Where is this con located?
Illinois. Suburb of Chicago
@@birdman9860 Thank you.
I was not mentally prepared for the make out art, and I think I almost suffocated laughing
So.,.why all the JD Lees hate? I've been out of the loop for a time
Pre-emptively defended the blackface in King Kong vs. Godzilla when most rational people recognize it as a product of its time (he specifically complained about "cancel culture," which is a red flag imo), his decision to cut the artist alley (despite this being a fan convention) made him extremely unpopular with my mutuals, and he felt the need to make his opinion on Canadian border policies about COVID known in the G-Fest booklet from 2022. Whenever I hear something about the guy I get deep, secondhand embarrassment and makes me wish they had a different, more impartial host. You can now add greenlighting obvious AI-generated Gfantis art to the laundry list of grievances too.
75% of us are autistic, of course we clap at stupid times.
I agree on beast of the east having better prices on figures than the other vendors. I was able to pick up the SH 2001 atomic breath Godzilla for a good price there
Wait...... a second..... are you a furry? Imao
*I'm* not, but I'm friends with more than a handful.
I believe ya, millions wouldn't but I believe ya.
20:44 - The theme park and military censorship panels sound amazing and is the kind of obscure kaiju information I personally love to see if someone bothers to record them or the presenters share their scripts online. I also agree, the total destruction of the artist ally is total BS on J.D.'s behalf and hope better kaiju / tokusatsu conventions pick up the slack. DEATH TO G-FEST.
You should not be so sardantic towards "boomers".
I was the adult category Zone Fighter cosplayer, was a little disappointed nobody involved with the convention cared about the 50th birthday but it is what it is. Also as a collector of 25 years have to say a big "ha, yeah right" to your statement about "cheaper online" for most of those figures. Anybody who tries to collect kaiju toys and figures, especially Godzilla, know how hard it is to shop at fair prices, so just hunting for tables at Fest where the prices are good is honestly a good way to load up on stuff without shipping and scalping bloat, but you seem to focus more on Ultraman stuff so maybe you don't know the Godzilla merch as well.
Also, a hearty screw you on the "let them stand in the hallway" comment :P They've done that before, and it SUCKED. This year they had a better system where they grouped us in short bursts and let us go through the back way. It was FAR better than previous years lining us up, making us stand in line for 2 hours and the pain that came with that, the legs really hurt as well as the backside. Yes, the con can be improved, but here and there they have, you really just don't know what you're talking about unless you've been deeper involved with it. This was my 14th year, I've seen at least some things get better.
Couldn't make it 😔