Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Nuevo trailer

En Battlefield: Bad Company 2, la compañía “B” no la tiene muy fácil…Tienen que cruzar montañas, densas selvas y los polvorientos pueblos perdidos en el Medio Oriente ¿Cuál es la ventaja? Gran arsenal de armas y una gran cantidad de vehículos…sumas todos los factores ya expuestos y no da igual a esto: Volar todo lo que encuentren, derribar todo lo que haya, explotar todo lo que se mueva o niegue moverse, eliminar y destruir por completo todo lo que se interponga en su camino.

La destrucción total
EA nos regala el primero de un par de video sobre Battlefield: Bad Company 2, titulado simplemente “Momentos Battlefield – Episodio 1″.

Vía: Tierra Gamer

Umineko no naku koro ni 12 & 13

ugyaa~~ umineko 3rd arc. on epi 12, i saw Beato loli-version~~ *kyaa~n she’s so cute. actually, Beatrice isn’t a person names, it is a name that can be passed through their power. ‘Beatrice’ name was for a witch that have enormous power of magic, endless magic. ou, almost forgot, they’ve made a minor changed on the OP,, besides the pic on the beginning, they’ve add other pic like the seven stake.

i think so far, the things happened was the same with the 1st arc, but this one kin of the ‘answer’ for the 1st arc.


on epi 13, Maria confessed here that se saw Beato died. a long time ago, Beato was a pure human, trapped in a homunculus body and a big house. she can’t go outside cuz she’s being told, that there were many wolves there, until Maria come to that house and told Beato that there was no wolf. but, alas, Beato’s feet, slipped in a cliff, and she fell down from there.

Beato choose Kinzo, Shannon, Kanon, and Ginzo-san for the sacrificed for the first twilight. and then to be continued~~ ^^v

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Bakemonogatari 12 : You are my everything

Senjougahara WANTS YOU! ... to watch this review

This is the last TV-anime episode of Bakemonogatari. Except for the title, Tsubasa has nothing much to do with this episode. We’ll get a long, but joyous ride in Senjougahara’s life and car. Expect nothing too long, but expect it to be entertaining. This being said, I’ll give more of my thoughts about this episode, than doing a review. It starts on some day, at some place, at lunch break. Araragi and Senjougahara are having a bento (probably made by Senjougahara) and tsundere-chan asks Araragi out on a date. This leaves him with a complete  ”HAH?!”  Senjougahara teases him some more by picking rice of his cheek, which she put on his cheek in a very subtle way before.

Ah~

Oh~

Uh...

What’s fun about the part in which Senjougahara thinks about the phrases she should say best in front of her boyfriend, is that she’s actually trying it out in front of him. Instead of doing it in front of a mirror like you see normally. The I love Senjougahara/Araragi bento were quite fun to see as well.

After the opening we go for a ride. A loooooong ride…

And that's the last thing we recorded from Araragi... nante ne~

Senjougahara’s father drives the car, which leaves Araragi in quite a tight position. Not only that, she starts giving him an examination on how he feels about her. Araragi struggles through the sea of Senjougahara’s sharp remarks and pointy questions.  However he always takes too long to answer or doesn’t give a pleasing answer to her. Things like…

Try to keep cool when her father's listening to this as well

I guess you’re all familiar with Japanese people calling someone by their surname when it’s supposed to be formal. Now she always wants him to call her Hitagi instead of Senjougahara and since he father is with her, she uses him when Araragi refers to the name Senjougahara. However… she keeps calling him by his last (formal) name, even when he starts calling her Hitagi.

He just died...

Since she asked him what he liked about her, Araragi now wants to know what she likes about him. Surprisingly Hitagi-san answers the question without a second of thought.

Senjougahara 1 - Araragi 0

She continues by asking him how the tests went. He replies that he scored better than usual thanks to her. However, he answers by saying “Senjougahara” making her lean forward and tell her dad that Araragi wants to thank him.

Even doing well looks bad in her eyes...

Gonna give him a banana?

…as you can see, she teases him some more by placing her hand on his lap and tells him that if she’ll reward, he might even aim higher. She asks him if it’s okay to study together everyday at her place then. When Araragi starts talking about Hanekawa, Senjougahara coldly answers that she’s at a complete different level than them.

Then the conversation gets to Kanbaru’s pervertness, Araragi tells that even Oshino thinks she’s more of a perv than a sports girl. Senjougahara replies that’s simply because they are looking for a male’s perspective and that Kanbaru is just honest with herself. Senjougahara then starts whispering something about her in his ear and it leads to…

Say "Ah" to this as well

The atmosphere of this biting moment of awesomeness gets even better thanks to the car honks and the speeding up noises. When Senjougahara goes back to her seat, Araragi is…

E for Everything that's out of me

They finally arrive at the place of the date. Senjougahara leaves Araragi in the car telling him she needs to prepare some stuff before they can go. Instead he should just have a chat with her father she says. Her father who completely looks like Soichiro Yagami in my eyes, starts talking to Araragi and for all convenience I’ll call him Yagami too. Yagami shows he has the same taste of humor as his daughter when telling that Araragi should take care of his daughter (usually said when a father agrees to give away his daughter to her future husband, I guess?) and then says he’s kidding.

Yagami thanks Araragi for being there for his daughter, Araragi however replies that it was all a coincidence and that it might have been any other person who could’ve saved Senjougahara. But her father tells him…

spot the error~

He says that since he never could spend a lot of time with her due to his work.

A bit later, Hitagi-san arrives back at the car and while she brightens up the grey and dark car, she asks Araragi to come with her.

For all good fathers out there~

Senjougahara pulls Araragi with him, he isn’t allowed to look up yet and for that reason, she pushes his face down while they’re walking up the hill. Then they lie down on a blanket and she tells him to open his eyes. The view is amazing and leaves Araragi speechless .

You'd want some tomato juice with that, wouldn't you?

Senjougahara starts explaining the star’s names, but Araragi starts reminiscing the things he went through after meeting her. Then tells him that this is everything she has.  The ability to help him with his studies, her cute senior (Kanbaru), her blunt father and… her stars.

she's a god...isn't she?

She still adds her sharp tongue and foul mouth to the mix, which Araragi says he doesn’t want to have. But when she bonuses her body, Araragi has to rethink a bit. Hitagi looks away and says to him that her body rudely handled by a low-life. For that reason, she is scared to give herself away to him and ending up hating him. When she says that she’s afraid of losing him, Araragi takes her hand…

The best answer he could ever give her...

Until she finds a way to solve that problem, the stars are the last thing she can offer him. But since she is certain she’ll find a way, she wants him to wait for that moment. She lastly tells him that she came to the same spot with her parents a lot in the past and that’s why those stars are her treasure.

Then she starts asking the same questions she asked back in the car. This time, Araragi is able to answer every single one smoothly…

Senjougahara tells him that they should kiss now, but then starts wondering how she should say it more fitting to atmosphere. In the end, she still says the same thing…

We don’t get to see the kiss though, but that isn’t such a let down if you ask me. This ending was perfect already.

_

Thoughts

One could think an episode with only scenes in a car and lying down in some park could be dull and endlessly boring, but this was just… a masterful. I loved the last scene where they watched the stars and the ending theme playing in the background. The best part of it was obviously (for me at least) when they replayed the same conversation as they did in the car. It really showed how Araragi got to understand Senjougahara’s feelings and gives word to them. Senjougahara also made it sound amazingly beautiful by saying the stars were the last thing she could offer to him.

I was just… blown away by this. Call me a fanboy or not, but I really loved this last part of Bakemonogatari.

The rest of it will be shown on web only, if the quality is good enough (probably yes) I will blog those last ones too.

For the preview click the preview~ next week : Tsubasa cat part 3~

New Studio Ghibli film announced

Great news for fans of animation. Isao Takahata, one of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli, has announced that he will be directing a new feature-length animated film.

It is called Taketori Monogatari, or The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which is an adaptation of the classic 10th century folktale (known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya). He’ll be breaking his 10-year hiatus since last directing My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999.

Hayao Miyazaki is “in discussions with studio staff to make two more feature-length films in the next 3 years.”

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is about a mysterious girl called Kaguya-hime, who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. She is said to be from Tsuki-no-Miyako (”The Capital of the Moon”) and has unusual hair that “shines like gold.”

Ghibli’s Ponyo was out in the States recently and it is just great to know they are working on another.

Source: First Showing

Monday, September 28, 2009

Uma Nova Visão, ou O Dia em que o Blog foi Reformulado

Conversando com o V no fim de semana, resolvi dar uma reformulada na idéia do blog.

Ao invés de apenas postar coisas específicas, vou passar a falar sobre várias coisas que estão acontecendo no mundo do entretenimento *música bombando, mangás e animes da hora, livros bacanas, etc*. Foi uma idéia bacanuda!

"Siga por esse caminho, será grandioso!"

Então, a partir de hoje, os posts terão tópicos para cada asusnto! =D

Música

Rapaz… o mundo da música é curioso. Eu falei já aqui sobre covers e sobre o Metallica.

Vou passar a citar notícias e dicas!

Notícias

Segundo entrevista do guitarrista Joe Perry, o Aerosmith está dando um tempo. “Depois de cancelar essa última turnê, nós precisamos recuar, tomar folêgo e deixar que todos voltassem a colocar os pés no chão. Vamos entrar em hiato como a maioria das bandas fazem, não somos mais garotos, não precisamos ficar caçando trabalho todo dia, mas ficamos presos nisso de adiar shows e precisar remarcá-los.” Bandas como Red Hot Chili Peppers e Blink 182 já fizeram isso. Mas o Chili Peppers está de volta, ao contrário do Blink. Qual será o caminho do Aerosmith?

"Vou virar Senador!"

Ontem, dia 27 de setembro, fez-se 23 anos da morte do lendário baixista do Metallica, Cliff Burton, na Suécia, durante a tour do álbum Master of Puppets. O ônibus no qual a banda estava capotou, e Cliff foi arremnessado para fora do veículo. Ele tinha 24 anos, e deixou muitas saudades aos fãs da banda.

Deixou saudades imensas...

A banda norte-americana Bride confirmou uma apresentação aqui em São Paulo, para o dia 28 de novembro. Local e preços ainda não foram divulgados.

"Tamo chegando, galera!"

Recomendações

Ando escutando muito j-pop, mas ainda assim tenho tempo pra escutar algumas novidades do mundo do metal!

O novo álnbum dos finlandeses d0 Sonata Arctica, “The Days of Grays”, está em vias de ser lançado, mas como sempre, vazou nas interwebs. Achei um CD bacana, mas ainda aquém do que a banda fez em álbuns como “Ecliptica” e “Winterheart’s Guild”.

Capa bonita!

Andre Matos, ex-Viper, Angra e Shaman, e agora em carreira solo, lançou seu novo disco, “Mentalize”. Gostei bastante desse, apesar de preferir sua primeira incursão solo, com o CD “Time to be Free”.

Capa... curiosa!

Cinema

No mundo do cinema, eu citei aqui um preview de 2009 e um post sobre o filme “The Dark Knight”. Agora, vamos a notícias, próximos lançamentos e dicas de filmes!

Notícias

O mexicano Danny Trejo, muito conhecido por papéis coadjuvantes em filmes do diretor Robert Rodriguez como “A Balada do Pisoleiro” e da trilogia “Pequenos Espiões”, está confirmado no remake do clássico dos anos 80 “Predador”. Ainda não foi informado o papel, mas eu aposto que, relembrando do primeiro filme com o austríaco, e hoje “Governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger, ele pode fazer o papel principal, ou de um dos soldados que fazem parte do pelotão.

"Vai encarar, cabrón?"

Fãs de Popeye, tremei! Uam animação em CG foi anunciada. A Marvel (sim, Marvel!) comprou os direitos da obra, e pretende levá-la ao cinema em uma animação, também em 3D. Não sei o que esperar dessa… mas me lembro do filme de Robert Altman de 1980, com Robin Williams no papel de Popeye… e não me agrada muito isso…

"Eu sou o marinheiro Popeye!"

E agora voltando ao mundo do Morcegoman… a sul-africana Charlize Theron é a bola da vez nos boatos sobre o filme. Ela disse que gostaria, sim, de viver a Mulher-Gato na 3ª incursão de Christopher Nolan no mundo de Batman. Mas os boatos não sigificam muito no momento. O filme ainda não tem nem uma data exata para início das produções, e muito menos um roteiro com quem seria (ou seriam) o vilão (ou vilões).

E aí... ela merece?

“The Book of Eli”, filme pós-apocalíptico com Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman e Mila Kunis, ganhou um novo trailer. E dessa vez, é animador! Ele mostra um pouco mais dos personagens e do que poderá se tratar a trama do filme.

Próximas atrações

No próximo fim de semana, três filmes chamam a atenção para si. “Gamer”, dos criadores do ótimo “Adrenalina”. Num futuro próximo um revolucionário videogame on-line será a mais popular forma de diversão. Semanalmente, milhões de internautas assistem condenados lutando para sobreviver como se fossem personagens virtuais em um videogame. Kable (Gerard Butler, de “300″), um prisioneiro, se tornará a grande estrela deste jogo. Para o jogador, Kable é um mero personagem, mas para o grupo de resistência ele é a peça chave para a vitória. No meio dessa batalha, e sob o comando de um adolescente, Kable terá que usar todas suas habilidades extravirtuais para vencer o jogo e derrubar o sistema. (sinopse retirada do site Cinepop). O filme ainda conta com Michael C. Hall, da série Dexter.


“Tá Chovendo Hamburguer”, animação que está fazendo um tremendo sucesso na terra do Tio Sam, é uma história na qual um cientista com ótimas intenções tenta acabar com a fome no mundo. Ao menos para a população da pequena cidade de Chewandswallow, tudo parece perfeito quando começa a chover sopa, nevar purê de batatas e vem uma tempestade de hambúrgueres. O cientista só não imaginava que isso iria causar um problema de proporções globais. (sinopse retirada do site Cinepop). Vozes de Anna Farris e Bruce Campbell, o eterno Ash da cinesérie “Uma Noite Alucinante”.


“Deixa Ela Entrar”, filme suéco já citado aqui, que foi exibido no festival SP Terror. Oskar é um garoto comum, que vive sendo atormentado na escola por outros garotos, e não tem amigos. Até conhecer Eli, uma garota que mora no apartamento ao lado do seu. Só que ela não é bem uma garota comum…

Recomendações

O ótimo drama “Antes de Partir”, com Morgan Freeman e Jack Nicholson, em que dois velhos são diagnosticados com uma doença que os deixam com apenas poucos meses de vida, e então eles resolvem fazer uma lista de coisas a fazer antes de deixarem esse mundo. Um filme emocionante, com um final tocante.

"Essa eu vou colocar no orkut..."

O filme de quase terrir “Dead Snow”, vindo da Suécia, em que jovens vão acampar em casa nas montanhas geladas, e dão de cara com uma tropa de zumbis… mas eles não são zumbis comuns: são uma tropa perdida da SS, a polícia especial de Hitler! Risadas garantidas em algumas cenas ótimas!

"Heil mein Fürher!"

Anime/Mangá

Posts sobre Bleach e Azumanga Daioh já estiveram por aqui. Agora, passarei a falar sobre um anime e um mangá por semana!

Mangá

Um clássico, mas ainda assim, importante! Full Metal Alchemist, do mangaká Hiromu Arakawa. Conta a história dos irmãos Edward e Alphonse Elric. Quando pequenos, eles perderam sua mãe. Numa tentativa frustrada de trazer sua mão de volta usando alquimia, Edward perdeu um braço e uma perna, e Alphonse perdeu seu corpo. Agora, eles buscam a pedra filosofal, para tentar reaver o corpo perdido de Alphonse e os membros perdidos de Edward.

Um momento descontraído...

Anime

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. Segundo a Wikipédia, Dokuro-chan conta a história de Sakura Kusakabe, um estudante do segundo grau que em algum momento do futuro virou pedófilo e ofendeu Deus ao criar a imortalidade. Além disso, as mulheres são afetadas de forma a não envelhecerem mais quando completam doze anos, e Sakura é acusado de criar um “Mundo Pedófilo”.

Por esse motivo, Deus envia seus anjos ao passado antes que Sakura faça isso. Dokuro Mitsukai, uma membra de uma ordem anjos assassínos, chamada Rurutie, é enviada para matá-lo. Ela também tem o poder de ressuscitar os mortos. Acreditando que Sakura pode ser redimido, Dokuro sempre traz Sakura de volta a vida após matá-lo de forma impulsiva. Para aumentar a comédia, Sabato, outra assassina da ordem Rurutie que usa seus atributos femininos para completar suas missões é enviada para completar a missão de Dokuro: o assassinato de Sakura.

"Meu amigo da escola é um... MACACO??"

Por hoje, fico por aqui…

Volto com o próximo post em breve! =D

Listen to: Ready to Fly – Richard Marx

News !

Hiiii hiii Hachi esta de weltaaa!! con mas noticias ! , Ya conocieron a mi parner nekosuki que me estara ayudando a mil , thanks you nekosuki *-* , espero que mi proximo proyecto se cumpla  .

Big news sobre , Buono! , Guardian 4 Y Shugo Chara Egg

Ya empezarona salir las nuevas noticias sobre Buono , del cual sera su proximo single , y si seguira cantando para shugo chara! Party , del cual sale la otra semana , al parecer lo que ha salido en todos lados es que el nuevo single se llamara “Bravo! Bravo!” , lo cual sabremos como es el proximo 3 de octubre .

En cuanto guardian 4 ,este grupo aun seguira El grupo, tendran nuevo single , el cual sera el opening de shugo chara! Party , el cual se llamara “Party Time” , esperemos que este single sea igual de grandioso como Fue school Days.

Y en cuanyo shugo chara egg ! , Como dijo nekosuki es una nueva generacion y la unica que queda de shugo chara! egg , es saho akari , pero este grupo aparte de sacar un single , habra como un programa anexo , segun lo que he leido , que sera algo como un live accion ? ,en el que creo k estaran con los charas , bueno dejando eso de lado al parecer este grupo sacara un nuevo single que se llamara , “Watashi no tamago”, espero no decepcionarme con este grupo .

___________________________________________

Nuevo single de S/milage

El nuevo single de S/mileage se llama “Asu wa Date nanoni, Imasugu Koe ga Kikitai” , el cual es mui bueno *-* me gusto bastante , pero encuentro que aun ,sus canciones son aun para niñas chicas , deverian ponerles canciones de la onda de ºC-ute y Morning musume , en fin les dejo el video comentando su nuevo single , y le dejo la descarga .

Dejo la decarga ahora , recuerdo que hay que hacer clic en la imagen que dice ” Descarga aqui”

________________________________________

Shugo chara! Party Trailer

Esta kawaiii *-* Ya no pueso esperar morireee x__x.

_______________________________

Otra noticia del ambito del anime

Segun lo que he escuchado , saldra el final de inuyasha , bastante curioso , por que han habido varios rumores del final , y como sabran la serie quedo inconclusa , y nunca se supo el final , pero hace algun tiempo se han creado rumores de que este año sale el final , es bastante confusa la informacion que rodea por la web , por que dicen k salia en julio , pero aun no han dicho nada , esperemos que haya alguna fecha , y sepamos el final de esta serie .

Como hemos seguido , Kobato , esta pronto a estrenarse ,la fecha de estreno sera este 06 de octubre , espero con ancias , que salga , yo creo que las clamp haran un gran trabajo .

Bueno sin nada mas que anunciar me retiro , Bye bye!

Hachi


Sunday, September 27, 2009

Fall 2009 Season Preview

For my first official post of my blog I thought I’d talk about what anime I’m interested (and not interested) in for the Fall 2009 season.

Trapeze – This is about a psycho doctor who has a ‘fetish’ of stabbing his patients with needles. Seems like one of those anime where the writers will have been tripping on acid the whole time, and not to mention the green bear looks like a creeper. I might check it out from pure curiosity but I imagine it’ll either be like taking shrooms or a snooze-fest. But who knows – it could also turn out to be genius.

Chance of Blogging – Decent

Yumeiro Patissiere – A clumsy girl named Ichigo wants to be a pastry chef and enrolls in a culinary school. I’ve always had a sweet spot (bad pun lolol) for anime centering around cooking. With this looking very cute, I might have to give this a chance, especially if there’s going to be fluffy romance involved~!

Chance of Blogging – High

Seitokai no Ichizon – Sugisaki Ken becomes the only male in an all-female student council. Daily conversations ensue.

I don’t usually have too much patience when it comes to shows that center around jokes and harem situations. They tend to put me to sleep if they aren’t absolutely hilarious. If that’s not the case, it’ll be a bore, because it doesn’t have any other redeeming factors. The success of this anime depends solely on how funny it manages to be. I also find the art style unappealing and have heard the light novels were pretty awful.

Chance of Blogging – Very Low

Sora no Otoshimono – Middle school boys, girls falling from the sky and droopy breasts? I’ve heard it all before. Yawn, not interested.

Chance of Blogging – Virtually Zero


Sasameki Koto – One word: yuri. Seems very school-life, and yuri school-life all turn out the same, don’t they? I’ll pass on this.

Chances of Blogging – Virtually Zero

Kimi Ni Todoke – Kuronuma Sawako is nicknamed Sadako because of her scary face. She greatly admires the popular Kazehaya-kun and yearns to make friends.

Ahem…. SHOUJO!!! I have read the manga and thought it was cute, not to mention I am a sucker for all things shoujo. If this stays true to the manga it will make me squee with delight.

Chances of Blogging – Very High


Winter Sonata – Kang Joon-Sang, a high school boy, has his life tied to that of his classmate, Jung Yu-Jin. The drama follows the two as tragedy befalls them and those around them in the years between high school and young adulthood.

As much as I love mushy romance… nothing about this excites me. I am just not a fan of the art and it seems like it could get corny. The whole boo-hoo atmosphere is just… dull.

Chances of Blogging – Virtually Zero


11eyes – This is an adaption from an eroge that I heard decent/good things about. I don’t get the plot too much but I did catch alternate worlds and dark spirits, which seems very generic. I’m not too sure how I feel about this, as the character designs are not bad but the story seems pretty bleh. Let’s hope they don’t let the eroge roots show too much and load it with ecchi. Only the first episode will tell.

Chances of Blogging – Decent

Kampfer – Senou Natsuru is a normal high school boy. One day he wakes up to find himself turned into a girl. A stuffed tiger tells him to fight as a female psychic fighter “Kampfer”.

So… let me get this straight. All of these ‘Kampfers’ are basically just traps? Or Natsuru is the only trap, and the other ‘Kampfers’ were actually born with XX chromosomes? And wait, what were they fighting about? I’m confused. Well, an anime with a premise that ridiculous probably shouldn’t be thought about too deeply. Nonetheless, the character design looks boring and I sense a lot of ecchi/yuri situations with very little sensible plot. This is definitely not my cup of tea.

Chances of Blogging – Very Low

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra – Okay, so basically books are actually dead people, a guy named Tonisu has a bomb in his chest, and he has to kill a psychic armed librarian. Weird. This could be a brilliant story or a complete mess. Either way, I’m not interested in this type of anime.

Chances of Blogging – Virtually Zero


The Sacred Blacksmith – A girl who’s a knight, a blacksmith with a ‘devil-contract’ and a sacred sword. I have a thing for guys with ponytails, but this looks like a pretty standard fantasy. I’ve never gotten into those, so the chances of me liking this are pretty slim. I did like the trailer though, and if it’s true that there are only twelve episodes, I could give it a chance.

Chances of Blogging – Low

Kobato. – I haven’t read this manga and the last time I enjoyed anything CLAMP it was CCS like ten years ago. Well, Kobato and the whole concept seems sugary. That could be a bad thing or a good thing. I’ll be checking this out though, as it looks pretty cute.

Chances of Blogging – High


Nyan Koi! – While walking home from school, Junpei, a boy who hates cats, kicks an empty can and unfortunately beans the local neko-jizo-sama. He finds he can now understand what cats are saying, including his family’s own ill-tempered cat, Nyamusasu. However, if he does not grant 100 wishes from cats, he will turn into a cat himself. I also hate cats, but I am looking forward to Nyan Koi! The premise is a little silly but nothing that makes me hate it. In fact it has this whole hilarious-cute air around it, especially in the trailer, that I always enjoy. The animation quality seems good and well, something about this just makes me excited… I have a feeling it’s going to be a good mixture of hilarity, cuteness and romance, a never-failing formula!

Chances of Blogging – Very High


So basically, the anime I’m interested in this fall season are: Nyan Koi!, Yumeiro Patissiere, Kimi ni Todoke, Kobato, and possibly 11eyes.


That said I tend to have high expectations so the chance of me blogging all of those is very little. Hopefully Kimi ni Todoke and Nyan Koi! turn out good. Here’s looking forward to an exciting fall season!

1st post: Short Goal, Long Goal

This is my start. Since I want to secure my goals, I want to express that on this blog.

My Short term goals:

>raise my grade to B or above

>Practice singing everyday

>Read English book- finish the book in 2 weeks

Long-Term Goals

> Become Opera Singer and sing at Metropolitan Opera

> Raise self-confidence

>Be positive

Few days ago, A thought occurred to me. I don’t remember being enthusiastic about something for long period of time. Even when I start something, I would give up in the middle or just simply forget about it. If I can get myself motivated to do something for a long period of time, I think I can really make a change.

I want to improve myself, both academically and mentally. I want to CHANGE!

So, That is my goal.

And as for this blog, my goal is to make updates every 2 days at least. Writing is one of my weak skill, so this will help me improve my writing skills.

I will write about various things from what happened today to critiques and arguments. I might write something like essay for in-class essay practice for English Class. Actually, I might do that for next Post.

Any comments, please post! I would like to hear reader’s voices!!

~~~~See you Next!~~~~~

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Koihime†Musou review

With the new anime series “Shin Koihime†Musou” set to air soon, wanted to review the first “Koihime†Musou” anime that originally aired last year. Both are anime adaptations of eroge that go by the same name.

The story of “Koihime†Musou” and “Shin Koihime†Musou” is loosely based on the “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” novel. A noteworthy change compared to the original tale is that nearly all of the famous characters from “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” are female in “Koihime†Musou”.

The first anime adaptation took another surprising novel approach compared to what we are used to for anime series that are based on eroge. Instead of showing us a male lead that all the female characters fawn over and desire to be with, the “Koihime†Musou” anime forgoes this classical harem and simply omits the male lead character from the eroge.

The anime instead focuses more on popular character Kan’u Unchou and the other girls she befriends on her journey to bring peace throughout the lands torn apart by conflict.
With its all-female cast “Koihime†Musou” pulls the card of comedy and suggested yuri relationships. Though most of the yuri implied scenes are either humoristic in nature or pure fanservice, alas at no time are serious relationships really thoroughly explored, save for the bond of sisterhood that forms between Kan’u and Chouhi.

In most of the yuri scenes, Kan’u is the token victim, whether she’s being teased by Chouun, embarrassed by Chouhi or openly pursued by Sousou. As episodes go by, you can’t help but wonder who will go after Kan’u next or which yuri tinted situation will befall her.

That being said, “Koihime†Musou” focuses mainly on humor, while there is a certain amount of action it’s primarily used to drive the overarching plot of Kan’u trying to bring peace to the people.
Briefly put, “Koihime†Musou” is really all about watching this group of cute girls sharing laughs and adventures on their journey together.

As such the series is largely episodic in nature, each episode telling a different tale of how Kan’u and her traveling party befriend someone new, defeat a foe encountered on their path or have other adventures.
Those adventures range from working at a restaurant, to participating in a martial arts contest, an eating contest, fighting bandits, solving a kidnapping case,…

Next to Kan’u, the series revolves mainly around her companions Chouhi, Koumei, as well as Sei and Bachou when they are present in her party. I had hoped Ryofu would play a bigger part but alas she was only featured briefly.

Although Sei is featured in many episodes, during the latter half of the series she strays from Kan’u’s party and appears less which is a shame since her character’s interaction with Kan’u always provides ample laughs.

Except for main characters like Chouhi, Koumei and Bachou, most of the girls do not especially have any meaningful character evolution, so they remain rather superficial characters. But given the nature of the series, this isn’t really bothersome.

The final episodes sees Ryuubi, the only male character appear. Although he initially seems to be able to seduce Kan’u in typical romance harem series style, he quickly ends up earning Kan’u’s wrath and disappears from the series.

Perhaps this is a hint that Kan’u ends up choosing a life together with her female companions where no man is welcome or needed? Who knows… but in the spirit and atmosphere of the series, this leads to a very fitting conclusion with a nice epilogue scene under the sakura trees.

The animation in “Koihime†Musou” was quite good, throughout the episodes there are multiple scenes of the characters in cute chibi forms. All of the female characters are portrayed with unique hairstyles and lavishly decorated and colored outfits. The cast is physically diverse, from tall, long haired beauties with large bosoms to smaller, flat chested girls,… all to cater the different tastes of the audience.

Since the series focuses on the girls, they receive the best animation and detail treatment, usually a feast for the eyes and the DVD version of the episodes got additional touch ups and a few more steamy scenes here and there.

The soundtrack is average, it supports the series nicely and features an upbeat opening song and cute ending track. Especially when watching the closing sequence, you get that feeling “Koihime†Musou” is more a light-hearted action comedy, nothing too serious or dramatic.

With this more comedic style, peppered with action and ecchi scenes, “Koihime†Musou” was how I had hoped “Queen’s Blade” would have been to in terms of style and atmosphere.

Instead of desperately clinging to cheap fanservice methods such as explicit breast exposure, “Queen’s Blade” might have been far better if it had played that ecchi card in a style similar to “Koihime†Musou”, with more suggestive scenes and humor in them, like for example the scene between Reina and Nowa.
Alas “Queen’s Blade” goes for the cheap explicit approach, while it no doubt attracts a certain amount of viewers it’s too bad in a way since I feel that it’s lost potential.

Am looking forward to “Shin Koihime†Musou”. A sort of spin-off or more a retelling of the original “Koihime†Musou”, the “Shin Koihime†Musou” eroge focused less on Kan’u and also emphasizes more on characters like Ryuubi Gentoku (though female this time, unlike the male incarnation from the first “Koihime†Musou” anime). Seems like Ryuubi will be one of the main characters in the anime adaptation as well.

Suppressing Your Power Level

(Source)

I’m going to cram this entry in real quick because I just realized that I forgot to make a “personal” post last week.
I probably should have timed this better because all this fatigue is making me have a huge brain fart.
Anyway, bear with me, as this is the kind of entry that I would very much like a personal response to, as I’m sure some if not all of you have considered it at some point or other since you first started watching Anime.

Also, I find this whole business with updating blogrolls to be a bother. If someone regularly comments, I feel that it’s only polite to add their link to the list. Am I right? If anything, I’m just glad that WordPress arranges them numerically/alphabetically, as it places priority on the only Anime blog worth reading.

Y’know, people are usually subtle with their brown-nosing tactics. But I’m so fucking jittery right now after downing two cans of Red Bull, so I just don’t give a shit! On with the post!

So do you have any close friends or family members who are active fans of Anime?
Do you have any close friends or family members who are active fans of Anime as much as you are?
I’ve quietly accepted the fact that openly claiming Anime as a hobby will invariably throw some menacing glances in your direction.

In that regard, I find it puzzling how there’s a whole de facto caste system for determining where you fit in as a so-called hardcore fan of Anime.

At the top are the elitists, and I mean that in every sense of the word. These are the people who keep up with current seasons, know all the otaku jargon, and provide commentary on some of the finer points in a show’s mechanics. They’re able to break a show down to its bare essentials and understand what it is that they like and don’t like about it, allowing them to be self-assured in their beliefs. But through it all, they understand that it’s something that other people in the normal, industrialized world have yet to come to terms with, so there’s a sense of shame that comes with it.

At the bottom of the caste are the more open fans, the people you see wearing Naruto headbands and t-shirts in public who rant about how Japanese animation is the end-all, be-all of the animated medium in between chomps of pocky. These people are plastered as the face of Anime fandom. Not to say that there isn’t a subculture out there that doesn’t have an exaggerated caricature that’s brought to mind, but frankly, they should have some sense to know that there’s a time and place for everything.

(Source)

But throwing away the caste system idea, you can see that the line of demarcation is so clear-cut that it leaves no room for an “in-between” group of hardcore otakus. You’re either in group A or group B. It’s almost like a power struggle between the two groups, with the first group using a subtle approach to show that not all Anime fans are complete dorks, that they’re capable of some restraint and can even be intelligent. But then the second group comes in to undo everything by being uppity and obnoxious, which in turn only digs a deeper hole for the first group. It’s a vicious cycle.

From the tone of this entry, you can deduce that I’m of the first group. We often talk about how we have to “suppress our power level” in public because of this social stigma. As I was writing this entry, I had trouble thinking of a better word for the first group and eventually settled on “elitist.” I’m certainly not claiming that you have terrible taste in Anime if you watch Naruto, but there’s a fine line between awareness and delusion, and you know you’ve crossed it when you think you’re making a fashion statement by wearing an Itachi cloak to school.

Being opinionated is always attributed as a vice. I like opinionated people, even if their opinions run contrary to mine. I want to be able to agree or argue with others in a way that lets me know that we’ve connected in some intangible way and shared a common thought process for a transient moment in time. Anime can be a good proxy for just that.

Oh, wow. I derailed. Anyway, my point is that it’s hard to find other people who share your interests outside of the Internet. So I guess I’m lucky enough to have a few close friends I’ve known since childhood who have an active interest in Anime. They don’t keep up with current season shows, and they find things like conventions to be a bit over-the-top, but they’re certainly not condescending to others in any way. I mentioned in an earlier post about my best friend, the unlikely gay guy, who just so happens to be a casual fan of Anime. Now, the term “casual” would usually denote that he watches some of the more mainstream shows, but the guy actually has pretty refined taste. He’s the one who turned me to Mushishi and Haibane Renmei, and he even laughed at me when I told him that I teared at certain points of both shows. He tried to watch yaoi but was turned off by the sickly and emaciated character designs and the girly mannerisms. (Real gay guys don’t like yaoi. Funny how that works.) And then there’s my other best friend, a girl I’ve known since the 4th grade who lived down the street. She’s pretty sociable and outgoing, but lately, I think my 2D complex is rubbing off onto her – she recently developed a massive crush on Date Masamune from Sengoku Basara.

The thing is, they don’t bother to really dig deep into the shows they’ve watched in the way that I do, so at best I’ll have a superficial discussion about whether a show was enjoyable or not. You know those picturesque moments where you’re sitting on a park bench on a balmy day with a good friend, just musing about the latest episode of so-and-so and exchanging witty banter about how much we loved or hated a character. I want that moment, as pathetic as it may sound.

So what about you guys? Do you “suppress your power level”?

With that over and done with, I will now go jog 5 miles without rest. I started this entry as a way to just talk about my Anime-watching friends, but ended up sloppily rambling about otakus in general.
Don’t consume energy drinks while blogging, kids.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Cat Shit One ó Apocalypse Meow

Mucho ha pasado en el país del sol naciente desde que a Kurosawa le dio por dejar este mundo y dedicarse a la jardinería. El cine hecho con ganado (actores de carne, hueso y algo mas), ha dejado paso a series animadas protagonizadas por adorables bichitos o seres informes con poder para traspasar la pantalla y provocarte ataques epilépticos, esquizofrénicos o de vergüenza ajena. Pero si a esto añadimos la pasión irracional que sienten los japoneses por toda la “cultura” yanqui, indudablemente como consecuencia traumática de los dos bombazos nucleares que se llevaron, obtenemos el siguiente inquietante resultado.

No se si me gusta o me deja de gustar, pero a partir de ahora, ninguna peli de guerra será igual.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Review

Animation Production – Bones

Director - Masaki Tachibana

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is an 11 episode drama surrounding the events of a fictional earthquake devastating modern day Tokyo. It is a much welcomed disaster drama based in reality, a departure from the usual robotic or supernatural elements of Bones’ past work (Eureka 7, Rahxephon, Full Metal Alchemist). Masaki Tachibana debuts as a director following storyboard and episode directing for such shows as Noir and Ghost in the Shell: SAC.

The show is centred around Mirai and her brother Yuuki who are caught in the midst of a strong earthquake and have to make the dangerous journey home. They immediately encounter Mari, a young single mother, who promises to guide them after a slight detour to her home where she hopes her daughter and mother are alright.

The show is an amazing piece animation held together by believable drama involving strong characters and events. The quality of animation is very high with interesting depictions of a earthquake damaged Tokyo in the opening sequence and throughout the episodes. When each episode begins we are reminded of the great care they made to depict the situation as realistically as possible as shown with the emergency response, shelters and after effect issues of fires, dangerous buildings and aftershocks. It ends very strongly with an unexpected event that elevates the greatness of the show which was already very impressive.

Rating – A

Genre - Drama, Disaster, Adventure Length – 11 Episode series Year - 2009

Currently not licensed in the US


Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ikoku Irokoi Romantan (Ova 1)

Vamos a hablar un poquito de este gran anime, que para mi gusto, sus dos protagonistas son de lo más sexys que he podido ver en lo que a yaois se refiere.

Los protas de Ikoku, Albert es el potente italiano rubiales y Ranmaru nuestro morenazo japo.

Basado en el manga de Yamane Amano, nos cuenta la história de Ranmaru, un chico que siempre clama lo que debe ser un hombre “japonés”, viaja en un lujoso barco rumbo a Italia con su prometida, la bella Kaoru. Al ser japoneses son el centro de atención de los curiosos. Todo hasta aquí sería normal sino fuese porque ninguno de los dos desea casarse ya que es un matrimonio, llamémosle de conveniencia para el bien de sus familias que son del clan Yakuza. Ranmaru es un chico bastante engreído que aguanta el peso de la boda haciéndose el mártir resignado, y por otro lado kaoru menoprecia las indumentarias japonesas, además de resentir la actitud de su prometido.

Con todo lo cuál en vez de tener una noche de bodas como dios manda, acaban discutiendo en la habitación y Ranmaru sale a despejarse a la barra del bar que hay en el barco. Aquí es donde conoce a nuestro esperado italiano Albert, que después de una serie de acontecimientos, se ponen a charlar y en fin acaban…donde deben acabar pero eso no lo voy a desvelar ya que hay que verlo.

Momento taquicárdico del anime...tutum tutum

Escena de la futura parejita charlando

No me digais que no esta para hacer varios favores

Aquí se huele la tensión y no sexual precisamente...

Próximamente hablaremos un poquito de la segunda y última Ova de este emotivo yaoi, aunque en el video salen bastantes imágenes.

Nillaithiel

Susumu Hirasawa: Sign II

I don’t know how I missed it the first time around, but the Playstation 2 Berserk game (a Japan-only release) featured a second original song by Susumu Hirasawa — one which is unsurprisingly incredible. ‘Coz with this guy, you know to expect a soundtrack emotionally unfurling the cosmic essence of ambition, perseverance, valor, and other epic qualities;  as would be expected and necessary from whomever was conscripted to score music for the greatest story ever told (Berserk, genius).

Anyway, he revisits the theme from the first song off the soundtrack, “Sign”, in much a similar way as he reprised the theme from “Forces”. I really can’t say much more worthwhile information on the track. Listen to the song, watch and then read Berserk. In that order.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The New Kid On The Block

Greetings Readers!

I am A x e l – F, proprietor of the Anime St. George Convention and new contributor to the ~DaGrayman Blog.

I look forward to working with everyone here and it is a joy for me to be able to write for this blog and to continue to feed the anime/video community. I suppose now would be the best time to introduce myself as well as plug in my own business…*cough*

I currently run and host the Anime St. George Convention out of St. George, Utah. We will be celebrating our first year October 10th 2009 at Best Western Abbey Inn. We strive to bring Anime and Japanese culture to Southern Utah where it is lacking on a large scale. Because the only larger anime conventions (such as AnimeBanzai in Salt Lake City or AnimeVegas in Las Vegas, NV) are over a 100 or more miles away, it is difficult for some people to travel the distance down to SLC or Vegas so we give them a good alternative. We are also only a two hour drive from Las Vegas, NV so those who can make the trip can came and enjoy the festivities as well.

Planning for our big day has already exceeded our expectations. We have a full panel schedule set up, all day anime screenings, Special Guests and live music lined up for the day. If your in the Southern Utah area or don’t mind traveling from other surrounding areas, make sure you come on by! You find complete information on my own WordPress Blog or by visiting the official Anime St. George Convention website.

Now then, please stay tuned for all of your anime, manga and video game needs! Be sure that this won’t be the last you’ll hear from me. 0_~

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi S2: The Sigh (Part 1 of 2)

Isn't she ridiculously adorable?

After being absent for a very long period of time, J is finally back in the blogging scene. This time I’ll be writing about the Sigh arc of SHnY; but since all the episodes have already aired, I guess I’ll just make a couple of great giant posts, instead of five bite-sized ones. So here we go!

sigh clearly the disappearance arc has disappeared

Summer is finally over (finally), and the second term begins. The first episode starts off with a relay race between the clubs of North High. Yuki literally files across the track, leaving the other runners to bite the dust, spreading Suzumiya Haruhi’s Merry Friends’ reputation as weirdofreaks yet further.

I-is that Azunyan? A-and Ritsu?!

It’s autumn, and everyone in North High is excited about the upcoming Cultural Fest — that is, everyone except a certain Class 1-5. Ever since the “mysterious disappearance” (Kyon speaks as if he has nothing to do with this) of Asakura Ryouko, the class has been left in shambles, without a leader. Haruhi is disgusted by their lack of motivation, and promptly decides to do something much, much more exciting with the SOS Brigade.

In the clubroom, Haruhi and Co. hold a meeting about Haruhi’s new pastime supercool project: the filming of an independent movie. Apparently she figured that any joe could flim a half-baked movie, and that she could do better. She proceeds to declare herself as the producer, the director, and the screenwriter (big surprise there). Kyon’s attempts to dissuade her prove to be futile, (big surprise again !) as his input is completely ignored by the tyrannical Brigade Chief, and the group of jolly pals are dismissed. Kyon admits that he is a bit curious as to what kind of movie would hatch from Haruhi’s eccentric mind.

"Yuki, are you alright with Disappearance being postponed?" "I don't mind." "Okay, cool."

The next day, Kyon enters the clubroom to find that Haruhi has assigned roles for everyone to work on in the movie. Mikuru is appointed the heroine’s part; Yuki as the antagonist; and Itsuki plays the male lead. Much to Kyon’s dismay, he will be getting zero screen time, and as if to ridicule him further, he is in charge of all the menial tasks that may occur during the filming process.

Haruhi brings up the necessity of a camera to begin filming, and so she, Kyon, and Mikuru head down to the shopping district in town.

M-Mio! And Yui, too! Maybe they go to that all-girls' (!!) school at the bottom of the hill (that would explain the uniform!).

Upon arriving at the shopping district, Haruhi takes the two of them to an electronics store. Her conversation and negotiation skills works wonders; she manages to persuade the storekeeper, a kind-looking middle-aged man, to hand over a digital camera free of charge, much to Kyon’s confusion. The three then head over to another part of the shopping district, and acquire a couple of BB guns. Again, Haruhi doesn’t spend a single penny. It soon becomes clear to Kyon what Haruhi was scheming: She’d brought Mikuru along as a means to “convince” the various stores to sponsor her film, in exchange for undefined favors from the heroine.

Clearly, she is displeased by the absence of a Disappearance arc.

Kyon enters the clubroom as a part of his daily routine, and finds a waitress uniform-clad Mikuru, causing him to be at a loss for words. Shortly after Kyon settles down, Yuki enters the room, with a costume of her own. Haruhi misinterprets this as a sign of the humanoid interface’s enthusiasm. This unusual behavior may imply that she is fond of this particular getup.

Haruhi remarks that she is perfect for her role in the movie – an evil alien. Incidentally, Mikuru and Itsuki just happen to be a time traveling combat waitress and a boy ESPer, respectively. This unintentional pinpointing of hidden identities startles both Mikuru and Kyon, with the latter feeling apologetic and responsible for this turn of events. Meanwhile, the other two members (the “ones who can look after themselves”) seem to be completely unfazed.

"...I've been dragged into too many bizarre events. This madness ends here -- give me the Disappearance arc, or die!" - Kyon is rehersing his plot to usurp the Chief's position.

The three female members leave the room, leaving the other two to assemble the model guns to be used in the film. Kyon and Itsuki further discuss the nature of Haruhi’s unnatural powers, and Itsuki’s circumstances as an observer.

N-n-n-no Disappearance arc?! I-I think I'm going to c-c-cry, too!

On Haruhi’s command, the SOS Brigade is deployed to the “filming grounds” the next day, with both Mikuru and Yuki still clad in their filming attire. The crew arrive at the electronics store from two days ago – Oomori Electronics, and the director announces that they will begin the filming of the commercials. Wait, what?

Much to Mikuru’s embarrassment, several onlookers start gathering to ogle at this most curious display of cosplayers. Haruhi decides that a bunny girl costume would be more fitting for a situation like this, and goes on to demands Mikuru to change into such a costume (a costume that she had conveniently brought along with her). Kyon’s awesome skills of deduction reveal that Haruhi most likely received the camera in exchange for an advertisement to be featured in the film.

After they finish filming at Oomori Electronics, the gang moves on to their second destination: the Yamatsuchi Model Shop. A familiar scene ensues (see Episode00), and an exhausted Mikuru returns to the clubroom after the long-winded filming session.

She's despairing over what happened to Disappearance.

During the weekend, our director/producer/screenwriter/brigade chief announces the start of the filming of the “real movie”. The setting of the film is located at a location that Kyon describes to be “a place no one in their right mind would visit”. Shortly before the filming begins,  Haruhi cheerfully attaches a colour contact lens to Mikuru’s left eye, leaving the unresisting combat waitress in tears. They start by filming a few scenes of Mikuru running back and forth, and of her shooting BB bullets at Yuki, an act which the silent Evil Alien comfortably accepts.

The megaphone-welding Chief quickly grows bored, and decides to move along. Under the pretense of shooting scenes with doves, everyone heads over to a conveniently located shinto shrine in the neighbourhood. Ignoring the warnings and such placed around, Haruhi tosses breadcrumbs all over to attract a large crowd of grey and black doves. This causes much annoyance to the resident priest, who chases them away (not without taking a few bullets from Haruhi first).

She's still upset! Poor thing. (look what you've done kyoani)

Meanwhile, some people don't seem to mind. (She's actually kinda depressed, but is not letting it show)

The SOS Brigade hide out at a soba parlor before heading towards their next destination: the “no-one-in-their-right-mind-would-visit” park! Haruhi’s demands begin to take a turn for the unreasonable (as opposed to her usual senselessness), as she suddenly orders the two female actors to start performing, without the slightest intention to direct them, or any other form of instruction. Her irrationality continues as she orders Mikuru to shoot beams from her left eye, and starts hitting her when she fails to do so. Kyon, as the only reasonable person present, jumps out to stop her, and pumps common sense into Haruhi’s brains. She shrugs off his comments, and the filming continues.

The situation turns from “unreasonable” to “downright illogical” when Yuki charges towards Kyon at (or above?) the speed of light, blocking the camera lens. During the confusion, the reflecting board held by Koizumi suddenly splits in half, and Yuki flies towards the heterochromatic heroine (at a more physically acceptable speed this time), knocking her down. It appears that in the ensuing chaos, the colour contact was lost – or so Haruhi is told. After the Brigade Chief’s attention is diverted, our favourite humanoid-interface-for-the-Data-Entity explains that the electromagnetic waves emitted from the contacts caused constructive interference with the waves emitted from Asahina Mikuru’s left eye through coherence and consequently became a beam of light, amplified by a constant radiative source (i.e., a laser).

DISAPPEARANCE ARC GETTO DAZE

"I-is it true?! You finally captured it ?!"

"No... this is...!"

"It got away again..."

This news causes a great impact on Kyon: Haruhi’s abilities are capable of harming or possibly killing people, and the laws of physics prove to be unable to stop her. Their discussion is cut short by the return of the reality-warping girl, accompanied by a certain bunny girl.

And so the filming continues.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Bae Yong Joon llama a ver el anime de Winter Sonata


Fuente: Tokyo Today

El actor surcoreano Bae Yong Joon llama a sus fans japonesas a ver el anime de su famoso drama “Winter Sonata”, ya que el ha puesto su voz para el doblaje de éste al igual que su compañera en el drama Choi Ji Woo. El anime se estrena en Japón el próximo mes y Bae cuenta en una conferencia de prensa que “La trama es un poco diferente a la original, por lo que le da a la historia un nuevo encanto”, así mismo también comentó “Fue dificil imaginar usar solamente mi voz para expresar mis sentimientos”.

El equipo de doblaje lo integran varios actores y actrices que participaron en el drama original, además el anime mostrará partes que no fueron mostradas en televisión, mientras que el final del anime aun no se termina por lo cual tiene a todos los fanaticos muy expectantes.

Another thought on feminine looking men in anime

This is one of the reasons why I enjoy some anime and manga. It twists around the traditional concepts of gender, feminine looking men, to me, are an example of this. I have a soft spot for ‘girly’ men, because I know that just because they appear feminine that doesn’t make them weak. Some of the most badass men have been bishonen. For instance, some may possess martial art skills or be extremely athletic.


I also think showing feminine looking men is an interesting contrast to Japan’s society, where strict gender roles are enforced and masculinity is more valued. Of course, it is fanservice, there’s a trend in Japan right now where feminine looking men are viewed as being more attractive. But I also feel there is another element to this. Perhaps it is a way to counter the dominant ideas of masculinity and femininity. However there are issues with this. Particularly in the West, when people first see anime, manga, or some Japanese bands, I know they’re going to be shocked and maybe even a little disturbed by their femininity. Then, the assumption about their sexual orientation comes up. Feminine men aren’t often seen as being gay, when in fact many of them have been heterosexual. By why is this first assumption some people make? That a feminine man=homosexual?
I think this is based on stereotypes about homosexuals, that since they are feminine they must be gay. But I also noticed that some of these feminine looking men are sometimes despised. And a lot of times it’s not because of their character, it’s because of the fact that they’re feminine.

You can also find this video games as well, the Final Fantasy series is a great example. Kuja, probably one of the most underrated villains from the series is quite feminine in his outward demeanor. Yet at the same time he is described as being cruel and narcissistic.

So this is something I’ve been thinking about. Being feminist that I am always wondering about gender, masculinity/femininity, and sexual orientation. I can’t help it.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Jornaicas 2009 Sábado y domingo

Bien, mi asistencia se limito a sábado y domingo no hablare del viernes (los otros dos no fueron el domingo, por eso lo hago yo)

Han estado bien, bastante bien. El sábado para llegar pillamos la manifestación de la opel, lo que fue una puñeta por que nos  retraso, pero bueno, al llegar allí cogimos sitio en las mesitas que había para sentarse, si nada más llegar no sentamos. Acto seguido dimos una vuelta de reconocimiento a los stands, que eran variados y tenían cosas bastante majetas, también pasamos por el de los wees pero como tenia pensado dejar las compras para la tarde no me lleve nada (lo que luego resultaría un gran fallo).

Depuse lo típico pasear, ver conocidos (en estos sitios suele haberlos, “no se por que”), gente bailando etc. Los primeros que recuerde que actuaron en el escenario fueron unas chicas con pelucas de colores que a pesar de ver que se lo habían trabajado no me llenaron del todo (opinión personal), luego karaoke libre que me sorprendió gratamente por que el ultimo lo recordaba con peores voces (partiendo de que ,por no tener valor de subir, no soy quien para criticarles).

Chica cosplayeada, en el karaoke libre

Luego ya tocaba comer que fuimos s a una cafetería por ahí cerca donde había buenos bocadillos con buenos precios.

Ya a la tarde asistimos al concurso de cosplay, variado y entretenido. Como ganador individual tenemos a un Snake, y como grupal a dos personajes de Kurohitsuki (nunca se si lo escribo-digo bien). Valoración personal: el Snake si que era el mejor individual, en grupal ya había mas duda,  por que dos participantes hicieron una representación de Rukia  que a mi me encanto, consistió en como se toma (una) un alma modificada (ahora no me acuerdo el verdadero nombre pero me entendéis) para salir del gigai, y entonces la otra, shinigami, entraba en escena (muy vistoso) para acto seguido hacer como una pequeña disputa/riña con la espada y como segunda parte bailaron parte del actual opening Shojo-S de Scandal, lo que le dio un toque muy graciosete (detalle que no paso inadvertido: A la Rukia colegiala, creo que se hacia llamara Sakuri, se le movía en exceso la falda lo que encima de un escenario se traduce en visión de la ropa interior, por supuesto yo aparte la vista…. … .. mierda no cuela xD), eso si los trajes de los ganadores estaban muy bien. Anécdota, salieron dos chicas una vestida de Nyu (con unas lentillas rojas muy tochas) y otra de no me acuerdo quien de Inuyasha, la cual cogio el micro y dijo algo así como “como sabéis los que os habéis leído el manga [personajeX] se casa con [personajeY]” lo que hizo saltar la “Spoiler alert” de tooooodo el publico, lo que se tradujo en gritos, pero que no trascendió en violencia.

No se si antes o depuse hubo desfile de moda Lolita, lo que fue un fiasco, me refiero, habíamos visto a un par que, para que camuflarlo con rodeos, estaban bastante buenas, así que esperábamos algo así, pero resulto ser algo distinto, seguía siendo un desfile de moda lo que era malo y aburrido y además las señoritas (vuelvo a decir que a pesar de criticar mi opinión es solo barro) no se parecían en nada, recalco nada, a las dos de antes. Con lo que no fue nada entretenido.

Acto seguido a las lolitas, exhibición de Kyudo (tiro con arco japonés) que fue bastante soso y lento, pero sin quitarle importancia, la tiradora era 5º DAN así que tenia nivelazo.

Kyudo

Después tocaba presentación de “antología del webcomic”(de lo que se habían agotado existencias ya) que pintaba entretenida y amena, pero que a raíz de la casi una hora de duración de esta se hizo tan espesa que tuvimos que abandonar la sala 15 antes, lo que mas o menos representaría 1/3 del publico (éramos 7) lo que hizo que cantase mucho, y Koopa dijese “pero no os marcheis” cosa que no fue acatada .

Weees: Ismurg, Listo y Koopa

Luego tocaba comprar, me hice con un reloj de alquimista (seeeeeeeex) y un cartel de “Wanted” de One Piece de Shanks, con lo que salí contento, y no hubo mucho más ese día.

El domingo lo voy ha abreviar (ademas no tengo fotos), llegamos monologos, solo hubo dos pero el del posadero estubo bien y por la tarde música muy entretnida, los ultimos Red Square bastante buenos, tocaron canciones conocidas y tambien suyas,ademas muy majetes (hablamos con ellos al irnos), antes que ellos tocaron Whitenoise, tambien buenos.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

4ºECK!

Asi es, como leen en la imagen de arriba, el cuarto encuentro esta muy cerca, como siempre, se llevara a cabo una semana despues del senka para que asi todos podamos lucir nuestros trajes

Esta imagen es la parte delantera del folleto que se estara repartiendo en el senka por Deirian, yo y varias personas que se han ofrecido a ayudarnos. Ahora les dejo la parte de atras para que puedan ver el mapa de como llegar al lugar y los camiones que pasan por ahi! Les dejare el link a la imagen

Parte de alante: http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h209/Ino-chan_2006/4ECK01.jpg

Parte de atras: http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h209/Ino-chan_2006/4ECK02.jpg

Recuerden que si llegan temprano habran dulces :3

Where to watch anime ??

Here I have links for watching anime :

  • www.crunchyroll.com

    Here, we can watch many animes FREE and not just watching anime, we can also disscuss it with other anime lover. Really a greatie site

  • www.animeseason.com

    Here is the most updated place to watch anime. We can watch anime from many site like myspace, veoh, and more…

  • www.watchfreeanime.net

    Really free and fast place
  • www.sweetanime.com

    Watch Anime Online for Free at SweetAnime.com it loaded with more than 400 Anime Series.
  • www.animethat.com

    This site not just provided by anime series but also by anime movies and all for free!!
  • www.animegiant.com

    Watch anime online here for free watch anime TV,anime episodes, anime movies, anime videos and also anime TV series.
  • www.animecrazy.net

    Here, we can watch Anime Online For Free – Anime Episodes, Anime Shows, and Anime Movies all for Free subbed in English.
  • www.zomganime.com

    ZOMG Watch Anime Online FREE. Stream 10000+ Full Anime episodes Online, Stream Anime Movies, and Anime Series all free! Anime Streaming by zomgAnime.c.
  • www.watchanimeonline.com

    Watch Anime Online Free, Free Anime Episodes, Anime Music, Anime Images and more!!!
  • www.animefushigi.com

    Watch Anime Online FREE. Stream Full Anime episodes, Anime Wallpapers, AMVs, Chat and More just at Anime Fushigi.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Kyon x Itsuki

hola hola.

Estaba hace ratito ordenando un poco lo que son mis files. me di cuenta que tengo varias imagenes de una parejita yaoi no muy conocida por las fuyoshis,asi que aqui esta una mini galeria de ellos dos.

para quien no los conosca…

Son del anime Suzumiya Haruhi no yuutsu. Kyon e Itsuki tienen 15 years y van al mismo colegio y tienen el mismo problema que es Haruhi. El verdadero nombre de Kyon nunca ha sido revelado ya que Kyon es un apodo que le puso su tia. Kyon es uno de los personajes principales y es quien nara la historia a su modo siendo sarcastico y eso.  el en cierto modo detesta a Itsuki ya que segun el , este es un hipocrita que no demuestra sus verdaderos sentimientos. Itsuki es muuuuy diferente a Kyon ya que el vive sonriendo y tratando a la gente con cortesia mientras Kyon solo se queja de todo.

Mi opinion es que eso de que uno no demuestre o diga lo que siente en realidad y hace que el otro se enoje los hace una bonita pareja yaoi para fanfics. en realidad no he visto mucho ese anime,  solo un para de episodios chistosos pero en lo que he visto me parece que Itsuki es un poco “demasiado” afeminado comparandolo con Kyon. si ven bien las imagenes no demuestran quien es el uke o el seme a si que todo queda en su imaginacion.

bye bye, nos leemos al rato

Most Popular anime~

all about anime

Anime is the things that more than half of the entire worlds loves …

I will make some list from the most popular anime 2009  in here and also their updates

  1. Naruto Shippuden *stills from I was really a child O__O*
  2. Shugo Chara *This is my fav tooo xD*
  3. Fullmetal Alchemist
  4. Neon Genesis Evangelion
  5. Pani Poni Dash!
  6. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
  7. Negima!
  8. Gundam
  9. Bleach
  10. Prince of Tennis
  11. Rozen Maiden (TV)
  12. Strawberry Marshmallow (TV)
  13. Shana (TV)
  14. Dragonball (TV)
  15. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (TV)
  16. Eureka 7 (TV)
  17. Yu Yu Hakusho (TV)
  18. Overman King Gainer (TV)
  19. Naruto (TV)
  20. Slam Dunk (TV)
  21. Kyo Kara Maoh! (TV)
  22. Inu Yasha (TV)
  23. One Piece (TV)
  24. Gintama (TV)
  25. Detective Conan (TV)
  26. Saiyuki (TV)
  27. Saint Seiya (TV)
  28. Rurouni Kenshin (TV)
  29. The Law of Ueki (TV)
  30. Hunter X Hunter (TV)
  31. Fafner (TV)
  32. Sailor Moon (TV)
  33. Doraemon (TV)
  34. Air (TV) *so sadd T.T hiks~*
  35. Sergeant Frog (TV)
  36. Touch (TV)
  37. City Hunter (TV)
  38. Ranma 1/2 (TV)
  39. Digimon (TV)
  40. My-HiME (TV)
  41. Lupin III (TV)
  42. Cowboy Bebop (TV)
  43. Blood+ (TV)
  44. Mahoraba ~Heartful days~ (TV)
  45. Pokemon (TV)
  46. Cardcaptor Sakura (TV)
  47. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV)
  48. Major (TV)
  49. Eyeshield 21 (TV)
  50. Crayon Shin-chan (TV)
  51. Galaxy Angel (TV)
  52. Nintama Rantarou (TV)
  53. s-CRY-ed (TV)
  54. Tactics (TV)
  55. Tsubasa Chronicle (TV)
  56. Black Jack (TV)
  57. The Twelve Kingdoms (TV)
  58. Best Student Council (TV)
  59. Honey and Clover (TV)
  60. Zatch Bell (TV)
  61. Sousei no Aquarion (TV)
  62. Harukanaru Toki no Naka de ~Hachiyou Shou~ (TV)
  63. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (TV)
  64. Bincho-tan (TV)
  65. ARIA The ANIMATION (TV)
  66. Ojamajo Doremi (TV)
  67. Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime Gyu! (TV)
  68. Futari wa Pretty Cure (TV)
  69. Macross (TV)
  70. Urusei Yatsura (TV)
  71. GaoGaiGar: King of Braves (TV)
  72. Fate/stay night (TV)
  73. Ouran High School Host Club (TV)
  74. Mushishi (TV)
  75. Kamichu! (TV)
  76. Heidi (TV)
  77. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (TV)
  78. Azumanga Daioh (TV)
  79. Play Ball (TV)
  80. Gakuen Alice (TV)
  81. Jigoku Shoujo (TV)
  82. Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (TV)
  83. Hikaru no Go (TV)
  84. D.C. ~Da Capo~ (TV)
  85. Planetes (TV)
  86. Full Metal Panic! (TV)
  87. Candy Candy (TV)
  88. Chibi Maruko-chan (TV)
  89. Sakura Wars (TV)
  90. Space Battleship Yamato (TV)
  91. Fist of the North Star (TV)
  92. Onegai my Melody (TV)
  93. Martian Successor Nadesico (TV)
  94. Peacemaker (TV)
  95. Black Cat (TV)
  96. Fruits Basket (TV)
  97. Brave Saga (TV)
  98. Yu-Gi-Oh! (TV)
  99. Maison Ikkoku (TV)
  100. Samurai 7 (TV)
  101. School Rumble (TV)
  102. Patlabor (TV)

*Taken from darkdiamond.net

Nah~ *sweating bullets*, after all of  looks at the list, I need your help to choose the top ten

View This Poll

answers

Friday, September 18, 2009

Nuevo anime de Mai Mai Miracle

Nueva película que podremos ver en Japón el próximo 21 de noviembre, que tendra por nombre Mai Mai Miracle, del  director Sunao Katabuchi fue director asistente de Hayao Miyazaki en Kiki’s Delivery Service.

La historia de la película transcurre en 1955, en un pueblito del suroeste japonés. Shinko es una niña a la cual el gusta imaginar cómo eran las cosas en el pasado de la provincia milenaria en la cual vive. Shinko conoce a Kiiko, una nueva estudiante que llega a su escuela transferida desde otro colegio y ambas inician una mágica aventura. Mai Mai Miracle estrena en cines el próximo 21 de noviembre.

Fullmetal Alchemist -brotherhood- 23: The Girls on the battlefield

This chart shows Rie's Loliness exceed much greater heights; Even though Alphonse isn't a loli.

First of all, happy birthday to my mother (September 18). Bad thing I didn’t told her about this site.

So far so good. This episode contains part two of the battle between the Homunculi, the ninjas, the State Alchemists and the wanderers. This episode has a lot of fighting scenes, Winry’s dramatic scene, eww blood scene and loli scene.

____________________________

Let’s continue from where we left from the previous episode:

These commoners didn't even noticed someone had just jumped from god-knows-what floor and runs away covered with blood.

The episode started with Ling and Ranfan breaking through the windows, followed by an explosion. Ling runs away, injured. However, the Homunculi team isn’t chasing the two. Wrath and Gluttony walks using the stairs, with Wrath asking Gluttony if he can trace them by scent.

On Edward’s side. The military are now cleaning the area while Winry is still crying on Edward’s shoulder. Edward left Winry together with his signature jacket and headed to where Alphonse is.

"Just as planned!"

Roy’s turn. Roy ordered Riza Hawkeye to provide assistance. Riza left, with a rifle, a cosplay outfit and a paper given by Roy. Roy continued on playing with his gadgets.

Homunculi’s Turn. Ling was still running with Ranfan atop his shoulder. Apparently, Ling reached a dead end. Wrath orders Gluttony to take care of Scar while he goes to kill the two.

Aladdin rpg

Ling’s Turn. For an unexplored reason, Ling was running again. Ranfan, knowing that she’s just dead weight on Ling, asked to be left. Ling disagrees completely. Ranfan made a move, puts out her kunai and…

Shining Finger!!

Alphonse’s Turn. Alphonse aggressively attacks Scar with his gigantic rock hands. Scar continuously evades Alphonse’s attacks and at the same time throwing questions at Alphonse’s face.

Scar’s Turn. After talking to Alphonse about his body, which Alphonse rejected every word thrown by Scar, Scar reacted his tattoed right hand at the water to form steam and attacks Alphonse. Edward intercepts Scar’s attack.

Yes, you are.

Edward’s turn. After the two continuously remark Edward’s oh-so-brilliant timing on telling about the Rockbell’s tragedy, the three conducted their battle pose. Sadly, another interference arrived.

Interference number one! Gluttony

Gluttony enters the battlefield, tongue’s out with saliva dripping. Gluttony attacks but Scar easily pinned Gluttony and kills him with his blue electric of death.

3 seconds Wrath fanservice while following the trail of blood.

Smile and wave~ smile and wave~

Gluttony revives once again and fights back, smashing Scar to the metal walls. Gluttony attacked again but got kicked away by the Elric brothers.

Another 3 seconds. Wrath pulls out his sword from the sheath and got shocked.

Interference number two! Ling; what the hell is he thinking!?

Ling appeared at where the Elric brothers were, from the manhole while he carries his sword on his mouth. He landed at Gluttony, forces a bomb inside Gluttony’s stomach and ordered everyone to stand back.

Gluttony explodes. Gluttony reconstructs.

Before Gluttony reconstructs fully, Ling binds Gluttony with a metal wire, sealing him completely.

Aw~ such a cute puppy

At Wrath’s side. Wrath sees a dog with Ranfan’s hand binded on it. That will surely go to one of my nightmares.

Learn the math. Bangs are always unique from one character to another

As Scar was wondering about the Homunculus, a girl (that is none other than Riza Hawkeye, which she certainly is, no doubt about it) riding a car shoots Scar in the leg. Ling puts Gluttony on the car and both of them ride away. Alphonse wanted to stop them but Edward stopped him, saying that the army is watching.

Interference number three! May Chang

With a very good advantage, Edward took the moment and attacks Scar. Scar, injured (but still like the previous episode) couldn’t hit Edward. Edward and Alphonse tried to capture Scar but then another interference arrived (and a cute one), slamming both the Elric brothers in the face.

Being outnumbered, May Chang made a quick decision, making one of the train explode with a different version of alchemy (daggers used from the target of explosion and surrounding the alchemic circle), filling the area with smoke. The two escaped.

Grand Theft Auto VIII

Riza and Ling’s turn. As Riza drives, Ling asked her to get Ranfan for him. Riza didn’t agree at first but accepted Ling’s request and headed left. Unfortunately for them, the Fuhrer is there and saw the two (knowing the it’s Riza as well).

Commercial!!

Scar's going to score some today~

Scar’s turn. Scar and the little loli were now alone in some alley as the loli heals Scar’s leg with alchemy. The grumpy man arrived, telling them that the army is around the corner and they should run for it. the little loli searched for for Shao May, her little cute panda but…

Edward: Is this thing a cat, a dog or a tiger?

The Elric brothers have possession of the chibi panda. Edward started to rant again on why Alphonse captured the panda. The panda tried to bite Alphonse but it didn’t work.

The Elric brothers reached the headquarters(?) to meet Winry. They met Winry, with the Fuhrer. The Fuhrer leaves the three with just telling them that ’she’s a good girl~’. The Elric brothers didn’t reply to anything and gave him a ferocious stare. After the Fuhrer leaves, Winry told Edward about his promise, to tell her everything he knew about her parents.

The explanation was cut and now Winry was riding in a car reminiscing what the Edward said. Edward and Alphonse were there but they kept silent.

Upon reaching the hotel, a call awaits for Winry. It is Mr. Garfield, telling Winry that everyone is missing her. Winry was touched and decided to go back.

Who the hell do you think I am!?

At the train station, Winry thanks Edward for stopping her. Winry told Edward to take care of his automail and she’ll give Alphonse some polishing oil. Winry also told them not to die. Edward replied, but the bell rings, making it unable to be heard, including the camera. Edward walks away. Winry asked again what he said. Edward stopped, looked at Winry and shouted “Next time I make you cry, it will be with tears of joy”.

Winry's cutest moments, perhaps?

Winry smiled and salutes. The train started to move as Winry looked at the Elric brothers walking away, reminiscing the old memories she have with them. Winry sits properly with her head leaning on the walls of the train. “I fell in love with him” she thought.

No one can beat Gendou in this kind of game.

Upon arriving outside, they are greeted by the Colonel, telling the two to hop in his car. They visited a man (the same doctor who looked at Maria Ross’ fake corpse). Roy told the man that there’s someone seriously wounded. The man seems pissed seeing Roy. Roy, however, told the man that if he doesn’t want to then it’s okay. The man accepted Roy’s request.

Yes!!

The doctor operates on Ranfan, grimly. Ling and the Elric brothers were outside, waiting for the operation to finish.

The operation ended, Ranfan wakes up with everyone around her. She told Edward that his trap from the first time they met is astounding but now she needs another arm. Edward replied that he’ll introduce her to one of the best mechanics he knows.

Roy: Actually, the doctor is not free and don't worry, the price is cheap.

Roy introduced himself to Ling. Ling is very grateful for finding a doctor for Ranfan. Roy replied that Ling also helped them concerning Maria Ross and capturing a Homunculi. Roy explained that the Homunculi is named Gluttony and he has connection from the upper echelons of the military. Ling replied, it is not just a portion. He told everyone that there is a huge possibility that the Fuhrer is a Homunculus and he saw the tattoo of Ouroboros on his eye which is underneath his eyepatch. Ling also explained that the Fuhrer has the same feeling as an ordinary human, unlike Gluttony.

Tentacle teeth anyone?

Alphonse asked about the Fuhrer’s son, telling everyone that Homunculi cannot reproduce. The doctor however, told the Fuhrer’s son Selim was adopted. The three then argued on who’s going to keep the Homunculi. However, after hearing Roy’s name, the killer of Lust, Gluttony went berserk.

_________________________________________

The Emperor’s thought:

Such a nice episode, I can’t get enough of those continuous cliffhanger showing Wrath and Gluttony simultaneously. What Ranfan did is also spectacular, so I guess she deserves a new and improved hand?

Overall, I like the episode. The fighting scene isn’t that good but still worth watching and I dont care about the animation quality since my computer is a piece of crap like everyone else’s.

The episode preview shows Gluttony, berserking as the protagonists run for their lives. Envy was also shown, I hope it will be good~

Until next time.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Letter Bee

Ya que estamos a poco tiempo de la temporada otoño 2009 de estrenos en Japon, quise adelantarme un poco para quienes van a seguir algunos de estos titulos. En el caso de hoy me dedicara a “Letter Bee” o tambien conocida como “Tegami Bachi”.



Un manga de Hiroyuki Asada, originalmente publicada como one shot en la revista Shueisha, y serializado en la revista Jump Square.

Tuvo si primera aparición en anime mediante un OVA-especial a fines del 2008 titulado “Letter Bee: Light and Blue Night Fantasy”.

Este año contara con un corto anime de 13 capítulos que será estrenado el 3 de octubre, a cargo del estudio de animación Studio Pierrot.

La historia de Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee) trata de un chico llamado Lag Seeing, que trabaja como Letter Bee, un mensaje de Bee Hive (servicio de mensajería) en la tierra de AmberGround, un lugar donde la noche es perpetua y solo es iluminado por un sol artificial. Junto a el esta su “Dingo” (ayudantes de los Letter Bee) Niche y su “mascota” Steak entregando cartas por duros caminos repletos de obstáculos y los llamados “Escarabajos Acorazados”.

Impresión del ova:

Una de las cosas que más me gustó de este OVA, fueron los diseños de las arquitecturas y paisajes, realmente bellos. También los BGMs bien usados..

Lo que no me gusto para nada –y espero que en el anime sea diferente- fueron los insectos 3D, la verdad que eso mató bastante la animación tan armoniosa que llevaba…

El ova es exactamente igual al epilogo del manga con un poco mas de historia agregada sobre el pasado de Lag.

Realmente una hermosa obra, la que me hace esperar mucho del anime.

Les dejo el OVA con subtitulos en ingles (ya que no la pude pillar en español) para que vean si es de su interes este tipo de series.

[MU]Letter Bee : Light and Blue Night Fantasy
  • Desde aqui pueden bajar un poco del manga en español [LINK]
  • Y aca esta en ingles pero mucho mas completo [LINK]

Kumoricon 2009 Review

I attended Kumoricon this Labor Day weekend. I had been planning on writing this review earlier, but life often throws random things in my path. Hence, I’m finishing this article today! For everyone unfamiliar with it, the convention encompasses anime and video games. It meets every Labor Day weekend in the Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area.

I’ve attended a few years of this convention, seeing as it within a convenient commuting distance (Sakuracon, often held in Seattle, WA is too far away for me to comfortably travel out of laziness and cost). In past years, it has been a delight, often filled with random enjoyment and surprises. This year, however, the convention seemed to be a hiccup compared to the spectacular reputation they have built for themselves.

Does this look like it makes sense to you?

For full details on the epic fail that is Kumoricon ‘09, I’d suggest reading the convention forums. However, there were a few topics that were continuously being repeated by various attendees that can easily be summed up in a list;

  • The Portland Hilton and Executive Tower was far too crowded for the level of participants, the floor plan was inconvenient for the setup necessary to run efficiently, and the fact that events were spread between 8 floors and 2 buildings (executive tower; lobby and level below. hotel; parking garage, ballroom level, lobby, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, and 23rd floor) made navigation in the convention space a challenge.
  • There was confusion between the creation station workshop and the workshop.
  • Hotel staff were increasingly unfriendly.
  • There was a large number of transients who were aggressive outside of the hotel.
  • With such a large, compact city location, there were no designated meeting places (such as a specific park in prior conventions) for attendees to meet up.
  • There was quite a bit of confusion about what privileges the VIP attendees receive amongst the staff. Remember, the VIPs invest quite a bit of money into their tickets!
  • Many minors who attended the convention were increasingly irritated by events that either were past their curfew or were designated either 18+ or 21+.

 



The map spanned almost 50 square blocks.

 The convention is scheduled for the same hotel for Kumoricon 2010, which has disheartened a large number of attendees (if the forums are correct). Rumor has it that the hotel may be attempting to back out of the contract, but since when are rumors correct? That is likely a rumor started by someone who really wishes the convention wasn’t going to be in the same place.

On a side note, I took it upon myself to keep mental tabs on some of the costumes I saw a lot of in the convention. Keep in mind, however, that I am subjective due to the fact I’ve been an avid Alice in Wonderland fan since early Jr. High and often find things unappealing if they are overdone. Here’s a list of costumes that I immediately noticed were in abundance; 

  •  Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I suspect this is due to the upcoming Tim Burton movie. Sigh.
  • Kingdom Hearts. This has always been popular.
  • Nameless/random Gothic Lolita.
  • Final Fantasy series. Again, this will always be popular.
  • Haruhi from The Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzimiya
  • Naruto
  • Skimpy costumes inspired by Pokemon
  • Mario, Luigi, and especially Princess Peach
  • Chi from Chobits

I was surprised by a decrease in Sailor Moon (they were around, but not as abundant as last year. The Final Fantasy 7 cosplay has seemed to progress to Advent Children’s versions, but I did enjoy the chocobo group roaming around! There was a well done human-version of a moogle. By far, the biggest single overdone character (not series or game) was Haruhi. I suspect it’s because her costume is surprisingly simple, however the character annoys me and thus anyone pretending to be the character annoys me even more.

Thus concludes my coverage on the Kumoricon ‘09! If you’d like to see pictures or further information, please check kumoricon.com and their forums!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Boat No Op

School Days – Boat No Op

The day before the final episode was scheduled to air, a sixteen-year-old girl killed her father with an axe in Kyoto. In response, TV Kanagawa replaced the episode, which was known to contain similarly violent material, with half an hour of scenery and classical music to avoid association with the murder.

Quote from wikipedia.

The video which replaced the final episode was of a boat. This Youtube video is a parody of the original anime’s OP, and will not make sense unless you’ve seen the op for this anime which is here. Actually, it never made any sense.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

[DD] Orphen (24/24) + Orphen Revenge (23/23)

 Hace cinco años en Talon’s Peak, un grave accidente sucedió con la espada mágica Baltoandeles y el mago Azali. Incapaz de controlar el poder de la espada, Azali se transformó en un gran dragón que desde aquel día se llamó Bloody August. Kiridanshera, un joven mago que se preocupaba por Azali se enfada mucho porque los ancianos de Talon’s Peak no quieren salvar a Azali y fingir que allí nunca pasó nada. Enfadado con su postura, Kiridanshera juró que encontraría la forma de devolver a Azali a su forma original. Así abandonó el nombre de Kiridanshera y se da a conocer como Orphen, abandonando Talon’s Peak y sus estudios mágicos para vagar por el mundo…

Episodio 1 – Mi nombre es Orphen 

Episodio 2 – Terror en el agosto sangriento

Episodio 3 – Acompañadme en mi viaje amigos

Episodio 4 – El jardin del monstruo durmiente

Episodio 5 – El dragon y la medium

Episodio 6 – El aullido del lobo

Episodio 7 – Las ruinas de Baltarntes

Episodio 8 – El secreto de la hechicera de Termna

Episodio 9 – Un socio en la ciudad del canal

Episodio 10 – Muñeco obedece mis ordenes

Episodio 11 – La pequeña aventura de Reky

Episodio 12 – Mi amigo el hombre gamba

Episodio 13 – Retorno a los origenes 

Episodio 14 – Creeis que no puedo superarlo

 Episodio 15 – Hechicero bajo la luz de la luna

 Episodio 16 – El retorno del hombre Gamba

Episodio 17 – El secreto de la espada

Episodio 18 – Vosotros dos devolverme la espada

Episodio 19 – Planes y mas planes

Episodio 20 – El secreto del color del arco iris

Episodio 21 – La sagrada vision del pasado

Episodio 22 – Inseguros ojos azules

Episodio 23 – La hechicera Azalie by Henky

Episodio 24 – El fin del viaje

 

Orphen Revenge  

El viaje de Orphen un hechicero negro ex miembro de la famosa torre del colmillo cuna de grandes hechiceros continúa, y Cleo y Magic su pandilla a la que se une otra chica llamada Licorice, que está empeñada en que nombren a Orphen “Hechicero Real”. Mientras tanto, Flamesoul intenta vengarse de Orphen y les envía diversos monstruos que irán interponiéndose en su camino. ¿Qué se esconde en el pasado de Licorice? ¿Y en el de Orphen? Poco a poco las dudas se irán despejando mientras nuestros amigos siguen adelante…

El viaje de Orphen un hechicero negro ex miembro de la famosa torre del colmillo cuna de grandes hechiceros continúa, y Cleo y Magic su pandilla a la que se une otra chica llamada Licorice, que está empeñada en que nombren a Orphen “Hechicero Real”. Mientras tanto, Flamesoul intenta vengarse de Orphen y les envía diversos monstruos que irán interponiéndose en su camino. ¿Qué se esconde en el pasado de Licorice? ¿Y en el de Orphen? Poco a poco las dudas se irán despejando mientras nuestros amigos siguen adelante…

Episodio 1 – Las termas de Zeon 

Episodio 2 – Falsas termas

Episodio 3 – Licorice bajo sospecha

Episodio 4 – El anillo de piedra verde

Episodio 5 – La flor inmortal

Episodio 6 – La langosta y el cangrejo

Episodio 7 – Compras peligrosas por JuanCarlos

Episodio 8 – Un día de trabajo

Episodio 9 – Una carrera interminable

Episodio 10 – Montañas de ilusión

Episodio 11 – Monstruos al acecho

Episodio 12 – Juicio y castigo

Episodio 13 – Resfrío inoportuno

 Episodio 14 – Majic en apuros

Episodio 15 – Huida en noche de luna llena

Episodio 16 – Batalla en el barco de lujo por hanna.

Episodio 17 – Los impostores de Orphen

Episodio 18 – Triste canción de cuna

Episodio 19 – Las hijas de McLegar por hanna

Episodio 20 – Dónde está Majic? por hanna

Episodio 21 – El hechicero Majic

Episodio 22 – Sentimientos

Episodio 23 – Adelante espada de la luz

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Episode 10 Mirai, you know

(EPISODE 10 SPOILERS) I really mean it, do not read this without watching the previous episodes.

…..……. well first of all this was totally unexpected, after the seemingly trite ending of episode 7 and uneventful episode 8, episode 10 brings it all back into focus. All along the creators were in control and knew exactly what they aiming for. The last 2 episodes set up an uneasy feeling that something was not right and gave us hints to what had happened. I was in complete amazement as I watched episode 10 and realised what was really going on.

It is worth it to go back and watch the last 2 episodes again now that we can point out and explain was was going on. First of all in episode 8 there Mirai’s dream sequence of Yuuki, then Mari picking up a piece of paper we now know is a death certificate, and then the reason for Mari crying at the end of episode. In episode 9 the part that I thought was weird was Mari picking up Yuuki’s left behind bag, this set me off thinking at the beginning of episode 10 that something was wrong since you clearly see Yuuki with his bag on. The way the reveal was built up was mind blowing, it gives the series the unexpected ending that I thought wouldn’t be possible.

Next episode we can look forward to the conclusion of the series with how Mirai’s parent react and if Mari makes a return.

Monday, September 14, 2009

TOP 10 - Anime Boys

Hej xD Chyba piszę najtrudniejszą notkę ze wszystkich, jakie napisałam do tej pory. Z moim zdecydowaniem to będzie to trudne wybrać 10 panów z anime, którzy mi przypadli do gustu. A muszę Wam powiedzieć, że jest ich dość dużo xD

Kilka dziewcząt wcześniej też zamieszczało notkę w takim temacie, ale z moich obserwacji wynika, że nasz rankingi się różnią. Każdy ma w końcu inny gust, co innego mu się podoba i na co innego zwraca uwagę. Tak więc prezentuję Wam stan na dzień 14.09.2009, który może się zmienić w czasie, gdy oglądnę inne serie^^

No to poumilajmy sobie czas szkoły i poniedziałek oglądając animowcowych panów xD

No to zaczynamy:D A no i zasada przyjęta przeze mnie: wybieram tylko jednego pana z danego anime, w przeciwnym wypadku w życiu nie doszłabym do ładu i składu xD

10.

Postać: Hei

Anime: Darker than Black

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Zaczynamy od DTB i jego głównego bohatera. Najtrudniej zacząć, ale mam to już za sobą xD Dlaczego Hei? Jest ładny to raz, dwa lubię mroczne i tajemnicze charaktery, a on niewątpliwie do takich należy. Do tego nie stoi i nic nie robi, jak to zwykle w zwyczaju mają główni bohaterowie, ale posiada zdolnośći, które używa w pełni. O to właśnie chodzi xD

9.



Postać: Takashi Morinozuka “Mori”

Anime: Ouran High School Host Club

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Za nisko dla niego:( Ale muszę Wam powiedzieć, że wszystkie miejsca, które tu przedstawiam, to ścisła czołówka, więc niech będzie ta dziewiątka dla Mor’iego. Od początku był moim ulubionym Host’em. Zawsze z boku, cichy, opiekuńczy, małomówny i do tego przystojny.  Po pietnastym odcinku (Orzeźwiający Konkurs) powiększył u mnie swój plus^^

8.

Postać: Rayne

Anime: Neo Angelique Abyss

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Anime to oglądałam stosunkowo niedawno i od razu Rayne przypadł mi do gustu. Zawsze skory do pomocy, można niego liczyć. Do tego z całego zastępu facetów w tym anime, jest według mnie najlepszy i najładniejszy. Do tego facet umie gotować. No niemal ideał xD

7.

Postać: Kanamu Kuran

Anime: Vampire Knight

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Tego pana nie mogło zabraknąć. Kaname już od dawna wygrywa, jeśli chodzi o Vampire Knight. Jak przeważnie wolę bad boys’ów^^ to w tej serii Kaname bardziej mi przypadł do gust. Jest to nie tylko kwestia wyglądu, ale też charakteru. Kiedyś padły o nim słowa: smutny, męski i przystojny. Podpisuję się pod nimi xD Dlatego Kaname zawsze będzie numerem jeden w VK^^

6.

Postać: Gilbert Nightray

Anime: Pandora Hearts

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Na kolejnym miejscu Gil, którego nie mogłam tu nie zamieścić. Strasznie podoba mi się jego oddanie i opiekuńczość. Naprawdę widać, że mógłby zrobić dla Oz’a wszystko. Do tego jest przystojny, jak widać na obrazku^^, nic dodać nic ująć. Zasłużył na miejsce w tym rankingu.

5.

Postać: Sebastian Michaelis

Anime: Kuroshitsuji

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Pierwsza piątka, a tak naprawdę to jedno wielkie pierwsze miejsce. Nie da się wszystkich dać na pierwszym stopniu podium xD

Po oglądnięciu Kuroshitsuji nasunęło mi się tylko jedno pytanie na myśl: Dlaczego nie mam takiego lokaja? Demoniczny lokaj, rodem z piekła, doskonały w każdym calu, przystojny, grający na skrzypcach, do tego przystojny. Z kimś takim to tylko żyć i nie umierać^^

4.

Postać: Len Tsukimori

Anime: La Corda D’Oro

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Tutaj miałam największy problem. Wiadomo, że z La Cordy ktoś być musi. Zastanawiałam się nad Hiharą i właśnie Lenem, ale moja miłość do skrzypiec zwyciężyła i pojawił się Len.  Do tego lubię go, nie tylko za skrzypce i wygląd, ale też za ciekawe podejście do życia. Taki “olewający” stosunek do innych jest fajny, ale wiadomo, że w głębi serca i tak mu zależy na tym, co powinno, czyli na Hino xD

3.

Postać: Ikuto Tsukiyomi

Anime: Shugo Chara

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Zaskoczeni, że Ikuto na trzecim miejscu?:P Hehe xD Lubię go oczywisćie, do tego gra na skrzypcach, ale moje poglądy uległy ostatnio zmianie. Jakieś 2 miesiące temu był na pierwszym miejscu, teraz jest na trzecim, ale i tak na podium^^ Lubię go za jego odzywki, czasami chamskie xD Wiadomo, że mimo wszystko zależy mu na Amu i jest w głębi serca dobrym człowiekiem. Za to ma wielki plus.

2.

Postać: Frau

Anime: o7 – GHOST

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Jak nie lubię blondynów, tak jego wprost uwielbiam^^ Najbardziej zdeprymowany biskup, jakiego widziałam^^ Z jego udziałem jest najwięcej scen humorystycznych, do tego potrafi zaskoczyć, nie jest z  nim nudno. Opiekuje się Teito i chce dla niego jak najlepiej, chociaż się do tego na głos nie przyznaje. Naprawdę świetna postać. I zasłużone miejsce na podium.

2.

Postać: Lelpuch vi Britannia

Anime: Code Geass

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Mamy drugą postać na drugim miejsce. Odkąd tylko obejrzałam Code Geass, to wiedziałam, że Lulu będzie na pierwszym miejscu. A dlaczego? Ano z prostego powodu od zawsze lubiłam inteligentnych i przystojnych facetów^^ A że ten ranking ma na celu wybranie mojego ulubionego bish’a to pada na kogoś, kogo wybrałabym na żywo. Ma cel, do którego uparcie dąży, do tego tworzy świetne strategie.  Zasłużone pierwsze miejsce w moim mniemaniu.

1.

Postać: L, Lawiet

Anime: Death Note

Kilka słów uzasadnienia: Jak można mówić o manii, to u mnie właśnie występuje Lmania xD  Przy tym pierwszym miejscu trzeba postawić wykrzyknik, a nawet dwa.  Death Note obejrzałam stosunkowo niedawno, ale czuję, że szybko mi L nie przejdzie. Kolejny niezwykle inteligentny pan, do tego przystojny. Początkowo może sprawiać wrażenie takiego niedorobionego, ale nie dajcie się zwieść pozorom! L ma moc xD Jak go widziałam w anime i na zdjęciach teraz, to się we mnie taki instynkt macierzyński rodzi, o który się nie podejrzewałam^^ Dobra wczułam się za bardzo, ale tak działa na mnie nadmiar bish’ów. L wygrywa bezapelacyjnie.

Ranking mamy z głowy. Teraz mogę stawić czoła ponurej rzeczywistości szkolnej. Od razu człowiekowi lepiej, jak na nich wszystkich popatrzy xD