hi, I'm testing this out with this old fanfic.  Some of you might
remember this fanfic.
Anime Park
Part 1
by
Peter Kaminsky
--
I was thinking, not so long ago, about Jurassic Park. Yeah yeah yeah,
it's
the biggest hit of the summer, it'll earn half a billion dollars before
it's
through, etc. Then I got to thinking... what if there was some way that
anime
characters could be brought to life? And run around in a theme park,
like in
Jurassic Park? I guess the demented mind of an otaku works in many
ways... :)
The plot doesn't match up exactly with the one of Jurassic Park; It's
not
supposed to. I didn't want this to be a Jurassic Park with different
names
and different things (in this case, anime characters), although *some*
of the
situations have been written into the story. Reading the book may help
you to
understand the story just a bit more.
I'll make up a supplement for each part that describes exactly how all
the
technology in the story works, as well as descriptions of the characters
in
the story, and it should be distributed along with this file. If you are
missing the supplement, you can download the original release from Anime
Fanatics BBS, at 718.966.4047. Of course, most of it really can't be
done
(yet!), but it's there for reference purposes. (If anyone uploads this
to an
FTP site, please tell me so I can keep track of things!)
Anime Park contains profanity, violence, and a whole lot of other stuff.
(There is no sex, however. ;) If you can't deal with it, then you might
as
well delete this.
Anyway... here is part one of Anime Park. Enjoy...
---
Part 1 -- 'Welcome... to Anime Park!'
/----Prologue----\
        He had done it. Dave Takahara walked across the lab to the
creation
chambers, and there he was. Garfield the cat, as real as life. Hell, it
*was*
alive. Garfield meowed, and waddled over to where Takahara had laid out
a pan
of lasagna. Takahara watched in awe as Garfield ate the entire thing in
less
than a few seconds. He picked up Garfield and hooked him into the
ThoughtSynthsizer. Takahara tapped a few keys on the keyboard of the
Mac, and
Garfield had as much brain activity as a plastic cup. He had downloaded
Garfield's personality into the computer and saved it in the database.
Takahara walked over to Garfield, put him into the DeRez unit, and broke
him
back down into atoms from which more thoughts could be brought to life.
        Takahara was a rich man, and he knew it as soon as he saw the
computer
blink 'Duplication Success Probability 100%'. He shut everything down,
except
the Mac, which ran a VR so that the personas in the database could run
around
and play while they weren't in use. Takahara wondered just what it would
be
like to be in that VR, in a custom-built existance. Takahara wandered
out of
the lab, and securely locked the door. He wondered what he would do with
his
millions as he walked down the hall to the parking garage.
        The clock applet running on the Mac said that the time was 5:42
PM,
July 3, 1993.
        The first time that he heard about it, though, Mark Collins
thought it
was a load of shit. "Cartoon characters. Hmmph. Why the hell would
anyone want
to go to a park with a bunch of cartoons?" was his initial opinion, as
he
glanced around the lab at the computers and equipment that could make
him
millions if he invested.
        "Oh, come on. Don't tell me that you've never wanted to meet
Mickey
Mouse," Takahara said, "Even as a little kid! This would make those
dreams
come true, for kids of all ages!"
        "And where, pray tell, are you going to get the money for all
the
licensing fees for these characters? As soon as Disney finds out what
you're
doing," Mark pointed out, "They'll want 50%. Maybe more. And they might
try
buying you out, just so they can put it in... what's that thing. EPCOM
Center,
or something."
        "That's why I need you, Mark. I can't get started with this
until I
get some characters to license. Besides, it's EPCOT, not EPCOM."
Takahara
chuckled to himself silently.
        "So... what do I have to do?"
        "Just get me Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and
Porky
Pig. That's all I need to start."
        "And... what do I get?"
        "You get to be my co-chairperson. And two million a year... once
it
takes off, of course."
        "Give me a month while I hammer out contracts... Meanwhile,"
Mark said
while starting towards the door. "Make more of these. If we're turning
out
dozens of ducks and mice and pigs, we'll need more'n one. Besides, I
think my
kid would like one." Collins laughed and left the room.
        Takahara sat down in a chair, and raised his hands toward the
ceiling.
        The janitor said later that you could hear his shout of "YATTA
ZE!!"
throughout the halls of the building, and in the parking garage.
/----First Iteration----\
'At the earliest entry into anime fandom, an otaku may still get out of
it
 with little damage to his or her wallet... or sanity.'
                                        ---Peter Kaminsky
**Contracts
        "What do you mean, they won't grant permission?" Takahara yelled
into
his phone at Collins.
        "They don't want to. Mostly because they don't know what we're
doing.
Maybe they think we're making something that they could make money off
of,"
Collins replied. He had just got out of a meeting with lawyers for
Disney.
Disney refused to grant permission because of two reasons; They wanted
75%,
and they wanted to know just what Takahara would be using the characters
for.
Two things that Takahara did not want from them.
        "Well, fine. Screw 'em. What about Warner? Any news from them?"
        "I never got a response from them."
        Takahara sighed. He had no ideas for cartoon characters that
were
popular with the kids and easy to get the contracts to. "Get on home,
Mark.
I'll think of something." Takahara hung up the phone, and wondered if he
would
actually get rich.
        That night, Takahara went down to his local video rental store.
He
hadn't been there in a while, and thought that there must be something
new
that he could see. He glanced over the New Releases section, and still
there
was nothing that interested him.
        That is, until he got to the Japanimation section.
        Ten tapes, ones that looked like that they had been copied from
other
tapes just so that they could be put out for rent. Half-assed color
coping
of the covers made it even look more and more like a piece of trash. He
marveled at the artwork on the box covers, even though it was messed up
by
color copies of color copies of color copies. He grabbed all of the
tapes and
headed for the register.
        "You aren't gonna rent all those tapes, are ya?" The fat woman
running
the register stared at him in disbelief.
        "I sure am," Takahara said. He shelled out $30 to rent them all,
and
he had to watch them all in three days. 10 tapes, with strange names
like
'Kimagure Orange Road' and 'Bubblegum Crisis'. Takahara hopped into his
Jeep
and rode home.
        It was 3 in the morning when the phone rang. Mark pulled the
pillow
over his head, thinking that it was the clock telling him that it was
time to
get up and go to work. After a few rings, he realized what it was, and
picked
up the phone.
        "Hello?"
        "Mark? Did I wake you up? It's Dave."
        "Hell yes. It's the middle of the night for chrissakes."
        "Sorry, but I've got an important question for you."
        "What?"
        "Do you know any Japanese companies? Like, cartoon studios?"
        "Yeah... a few of them owe me a couple favors. Why?"
        "I want a list of them in the morning. Good night, and sorry for
waking you, Mark." Takahara hung up.
        Mark handed a piece of paper to Takahara. It was filled with
strange,
comical names like Toho, Artmic, Youmex, and a whole slew of others.
"All of
these companies owe me favors. The ones on this list, however, don't,"
Mark
said. He handed Takahara a seven page list.
        "Get contracts for as many popular characters as you can from
the ones
that owe you favors," Takahara said without even looking at either of
the
lists.
        "Why such an interest in Japanese cartoons all of a sudden?"
        "Last night, I stayed up all night watching Japanese cartoons
that I
had rented from my video store. Even though the tapes were really bad in
quality, I could see one thing... Japanese animation kicks ass when
compared
to other cartoons from around the world." Takahara bounced up and down
excitedly. "Here, take this tape home and watch it." Takahara handed a
tape to
Mark labeled 'Bubblegum Crisis 8 -- Scoop Chase'.
        "Ok, I'll see what I can do. And I'll watch the tape. See ya."
Mark
turned and walked out of the lab.
        Takahara suddenly remembered something important, and ran after
Mark.
        "Mark! Don't let your kid watch some of it!"
        Mark was almost out of the building, and down the long hall that
led
to the parking garage. But he heard Takahara. He spun around and yelled
back,
"Why not?"
        "Because there's nudity in it!"
        "WHAT?!"
**Disbeilef
        Drew Merchant walked out of the Dealers' Room, laden with CDs,
laserdiscs, t-shirts, and other things he wasted his money on. He always
came
to OtakuCon, every year, without fail. From August 2nd to the 5th, every
year.
OtakuCon was a convention of fans of Japanese animation. It was a good
thing
that he was rich; he was a very successful corporate lawyer. Otherwise,
he
might not be able to afford this expensive hobby. He stepped into the
lobby of
the Hilton where the convention was talking place, and got onto the
elevator.
He peered into his bags to see just what he wasted his money on. "It's
junk,"
he muttered to himself in the empty elevator. He punched the button for
the
fifth floor, and a few seconds later, the doors slid open. He walked
down the
hall to room 503, unlocked the door...
        And there was this Japanese guy sitting on his bed. A Japanese
guy
wearing that obviously was not supposed to be there.
        "Excuse me," Drew said slowly, "But what are you doing in my
room? And
how'd you get in here, anyway?"
        "I'm sorry, Mr. Merchant, but the people at the front desk were
getting really snotty, and refused to let me leave a message for you. In
any
case... I'm Dave Takahara." Takahara extended his hand.
        Drew was so mad that he would have thrown Takahara out of the
window,
but he kept his composure. He didn't even think of shaking hands with
Takahara.
        "Takahara," Drew said. "Your name is familiar. Didn't you
receive an
award not too long ago--"
        "Yes, I did. From the U.S. government, for making a Virtual
Reality
War Machine for 'em. I hear they sold machines like it to all the NATO
member nations. But anyway, Mr. Merchant," Takahara stood up. "I, and a
few
colleagues, would like to speak to you in one of the conference rooms
downstairs. Room 6B," Takahara glanced at his watch, "In about 15
minutes."
        "What's it about?"
        Takahara grinned. "I can guarantee that you will find it most...
interesting, Mr. Merchant. Jaa ne." Takahara walked out the still open
door.
Drew stood there, wondering just what had happened. And what was going
to
happen.
        Drew stepped into the lobby wearing a very nice Sailor Moon
t-shirt
that he had just bought at the con. He walked through the Dealers' Room,
and
headed to Conference Room 6B. He opened the door to see six people,
including
Takahara, sitting at a long table. Drew stepped into the room.
        "I'm glad to see that you could make it, Mr. Merchant," Takahara
smiled. "Please, have a seat." Takahara beckoned to the only remaining
empty
seat.
        As he sat, Drew looked around at the others at the table. Only
Takahara and two people flanking him were in suits. There was a tall,
brown-haired man to Takahara's left, and a short, balding Japanese man
to his
right. The other three were dressed casually. Drew recognized all of
them
from the con. Tricia Seward, a woman representing AnimEigo at the con,
was
there, as well as a few other people that he couldn't place as working
for a
company. Tricia was 26, about six feet tall, and dirty blond hair that
hung to
her waist. One of the other people had a little name tag that read 'Hi,
I'm
John. Now mind your own damn business', and wore black everything. Black
sneakers, black socks, black jeans, and a black Ren & Stimpy t-shirt.
Drew
thought he was around 5'11". The other guy was wearing a Ranma 1/2
t-shirt,
and a beanie with the Ranma 1/2 logo on it. He also had a pair of dark
Gargoyles on. Either he was shooting up or he had been watching anime
all last
night and it hurt to open his eyes, Drew thought.
        Takahara smiled at everyone. "I like to thank you all for coming
to
our little meeting. The man to my left is Mark Collins, and the man at
my
right is Yoshi Nakasone. Mr. Collins is in charge of licensing and
contracts
for our organization, and Mr. Nakasone is in charge of most of the
corporate
things that a corporation must do." Takahara laughed.
        "But what exactly are we doing here, anyhow?" Tricia asked.
        "We're just getting to that," Mark replied. "Of course, all of
you
have a great interest in Japanese animation. Am I correct?"
        Everyone nodded their agreement.
        "Well. Let me ask you a question," Mark said. "What would you
say if
we told you that we could bring cartoons to life?"
**Meeting Fantasy
        Without hesitating, Drew replied, "I'd say that you're full of
it."
        "Ditto," said the guy with the beanie. "It's impossible."
        "Actually," John said, "I'd ask for proof first. Ok, so no one
has done
it before. Maybe," John looked around at everyone, and lowered his voice
to a
low whisper. "Maybe they've found a way to do it."
        "Davidson has a point." Tricia shifted in her seat. "I mean, you
wouldn't actually call us all together for nothing, would you?
        Drew slowly gathered who the other two men were as the
conversation
went on. John Davidson was the man in black, and the guy with the beanie
was
Vince McHarley. Davidson was a very popular newspaper columnist... and
McHarley was in charge of Viz's Ranma 1/2 things. It explained all the
Ranma
stuff he has on, Drew thought.
        Nakasone spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "Well. Now
that
we know what you all think... we'll unveil the proof that you require."
Nakasone fumbled with a box that he had in front of him, and a side door
to
the room opened.
        An incredibly life-like C-ko Kotobuki walked in. She stared at
everyone for a second and then yelled out, "HIIIIIIIIII EVERYONE!!! My
name is
Kotobuki C-ko! I'm so glad to meet all of you!!"
        Vince was so scared that he jumped out of his seat and hid under
the
table. He gradually lifted his head above the table and removed his
sunglasses
to get a better look at her. "Holy Mary, Mother of God..."
        "This... it... she isn't real!" Drew exclaimed. "How'd you do
it
Is she a robot with lots of makeup?"
        John laughed. "Hey, can I take home one of these things, but
like
Ayukawa Madoka? In lots of lacey lingerie?" Tricia leaned over and
slapped
him.
        Takahara smiled. "So, I guess right now the question is... what
do we
need you for?"
        Vince regained his composure and sat back down in his seat, but
still
a little shaky. "Actually, that ain't such a bad question," Vince
stammered,
still staring at the grinning C-ko. He managed a weak smile
        Mark stood up and began to pace the room. "Right now, we have
made a
little island resort fi