Buzzard and the Kachou
This Friday evening, Shinya Arino, the star of the Japanese television show “Game Center CX” (Also known as “Retro Game Master” for its Kotaku releases) visited the Japan Arcade in Los Angeles to celebrate his show’s release in America. And VidyaGameZ.com had two representatives who were there to greet him.
Community members Requiem and Buzzard were VGZ’s greeting to Arino-san, and they gladly hopped on the train and worked their way up to Little Tokyo to meet the famous Kachou. After an uneventful train ride and a few hours playing some awesome arcade games (We spent our time playing Typing of the Dead, King of Fighters XIII, Virtual ON, Initial D, and several iterations of the Street Fighter series) Arino finally made his appearance, and was greeted by a mob of enthusiastic fans. All in all, probably two hundred people came to meet him, swarming the small arcade for a handshake and a chance to talk to the Kachou for a few seconds. Former AD Inoko Max, Abe the Cameraman, Arino-san’s producer and several other staff members joined the Kachou and mingled with the fans.
The Kachou Entering the Arcade
After a long time waiting in line, we were finally able to meet Arino-san. I presented him with a VGZ business card, saying that I was introduced to his show through VGZ, and that we are a community of gamers who love his show. In broken English, he thanked me, and introduced himself as Arino, the Kachou. I received a business card in return, and posed for a picture in front of Abe’s camera as well as my own. Buzzard greeted Arino-san in a similar manner.
Requiem and the Kachou
It was a great event, one that Buzzard and I both enjoyed thoroughly. It was a once in a lifetime chance to meet Arino-san, and neither of us could pass it up. Here’s to you, Kachou! We love your show, and can’t wait for more.
EDIT: Thanks to new VGZ member DrChibi (who we met at the event!), we have several more photos of the event. They are viewable at his website, shown below!
http://www.squishycomics.redlinedaily.com/arturo/Meeting%20Arino/
“DO YOU KNOW THE KACHOU?”
“YEAHHHHHH”
It really is a heartwarming sight to see such a gathering of Game Center CX fans here in the states. Makes it pretty clear that Arino’s fandom is spreading well beyond Japan.
Aaaaw yeah, UGZ
Oh sweet. I went to the event as well and met Requiem in “the line that never moved”. I actually took some video of his entrance and speech. Arino and I got to the front door of the galleria at the exact same time.
Apologies if it’s a little shaky, by Canon got borrowed out from under my by a sibling so I had to make due with a cybershot running out of juice–__–
Meeting the Kachou