Playing Catch-Up: Bakuman Episode 4

Bakuman 4 might end up being my favorite episode, you guys. This episode was incredibly special to me for a handful of reasons, but most predominantly in how completely nostalgic it was. I've mentioned here in the past that I'm a Cartooning major, and that drawing comics is how I want to make a living for myself. This episode brought back so many memories of when I first decided that, and when I really commited to learning what went into making comics, what tools I needed, how to use them, and how to make a comic page the best that I could possibly make it.



A big focus of the first half of this episode is on Mashiro and his commitment to learning to use a G-Pen. This is a REAL type of pen nib, and one that anyone in comics and pen+ink drawing will be familiar with. It's a long-time standard for manga-ka, and has recently become a standard for American cartoonists as well.

I have to commend the animation tea for their accuracy in the first half of this episode, and for the little things they included that made the first half of this episode so real to me. When Mashiro wiped the edges of his pen on the side of his ink bottle, I actually had to pause the episode for a moment in shock. I knew that gesture. When I worked with a G-Pen, I had done the exact same thing a hundred times. The way they portrayed the motion was so natural. It was perfect.



Mashiro demonstrated the difference between the Kabura pen line and the G-Pen line to Takagi (also later breifly mentioning Maru pens), and it was such a surreal experience for me, having lived this, knowing what he meant, and feeing the same as he did. He was explaining to Takagi all of the things I've learned over the years. The degree of accuracy in the drawings of the nibs, the gestures made when Mashiro uses them, and the lines they create was just phenominal. I have to commend them on the attention to detail. I guess with this series you have to be accurate or it just seems dumb, but even just slight details of this seires that a causal watcher wouldn't know were accurate or not are perfect. And that makes this seires so much more special for someone like me, who's had to learn these things.

There's also something to be said for the "Kawaguchi Taro School Of Thought", which is Mashiro's uncle's three rules for becoming a successful manga-ka.



This rang true in the manga and it rings true now. You have to believe in what you're doing and put all your effot into it, but a lot of actually getting out there is being in the right place at the right time. You need to know people.

So, in order to get better, Mashiro spends the weekend drawing and learning to use the G-Pen and Takagi sits down and reads as much manga as he can in order to come up with a good story. They show Takagi surrounded by piles of manga, and all of the are actual series that have run in Jump! I'm actually amused by how much "Death Note" (also done by Ohba and Obata) and "Hikaru no Go" (which Obata did the art for) show up in this. There are glimpses of them everywhere, and Takagi keeps making "Death Note" jokes.

The latter half of this episode is about Mashiro and Takagi committing to being manga-ka and planning their futures around it. They make decisions about school and make the decision to try and talk to an editor at Jump. They begin making plans to do a one-shot over their summer break to try and get in to talk to an editor. The first stages of Mashiro and Takagi's fanstastic bromance begin to emerge, especially around the key to the studio that Mashiro gave Takagi.



And then we have a breif encounter between Mashiro and Azuki. This is the whole "on the same wavelength" scene, which, admittedly, Iw as worried wouldn't translate well to the anime. It was a very slow, still scene that was about reactions more than anything else. But it actually came out very well.

And finally, episode 4 gives us our first glimpse at Nizuma Eiji in the last 30 second of the episode, on the phone with his editor about moving to Tokyo todo manga. We onyl get close ups of his mouth and a shot of him from behind, and all he does is make bird noises, but it's a good sign of what's to come.



Man, this one sure was image heavy! But this episode has been my favorite so far and there was just so uch I wanted to cover!! I'll be looking at episode 5 tomorrow, and then I'll finally be caught up!

The Hub: Bringing Back The Classics

All over NYC, I've been seeing ads for a new children's/family station called "HUB" that went on the air on October 10th. I didn't think much of it. From the ads, it seemed like it was all just new rehashings of old franchises. New Transformers and Strawberry Shortcake, plus some original things that just didn't interest me at all.

On the 10th, I was at Downtown Otaku's, and we were channel surfing in the middle of the night. I was half asleep when he came across Hub, and spent several seconds staring at the television before I blurted out "Is that the old Men In Black cartoon?!"

It was.

We scrolled ahead through the lineup and saw a million things from our childhoods lined up. Men in Black the Animated Series, Atomic Betty, Batman Beyond... Not just rehashings, but the old cartoons and shows we had grown up with and loved. I saw Fraggle Rock on the line up and nearly cried.

In an age when children's programming is heavy-handed, all Nickelodean airs in "Spongebob Squarepants", Cartoon Network is starting to rely on live-action, and Disney Television has lost every entertaining bone in it's body, it's good to see that someone is still here keeping entertainment alive.

I've been watching Hub for a few days now, and those following me on twitter will have seen me proclaim multiple times that it is the best network ever. In the late morning I can watch Fraggle Rock, in the afternoon I can watch Men In Black and Batman Beyond, and in the evening I can watch Laverne & Shirley and old live-action Adam West Bataman.

This channel really has something for everyone. Kids who want Strawberry Shortcake or Transformers, parents who want Doogie Howser M.D. and Laverne & Shirley, twenty-somethings in between who want the cartoons they grew up with in the 90's. When Hub says they're a network for "Kids and their families", they are not lying. Anyone could find a good hour or two worth of programming to watch on Hub.

So, Hub, I'm sorry for doubting you. You're keeping good television alive, and I give you points for that. I hope you've got the chops to keep up as you are right now.

"Bakuman" episode 1: Starting strong right out of the gate!

Ah you guys!!! I just got through watching the first episode of the "Bakuman" anime! I've been excited about this for months, and the last few weeks my friends and I have really been building up to it. This morning I watched raws of the opening and ending sequences, and a little bit of the episode, then decided to wait for fansubs to watch the rest!

I was confused when I started and got the opening for "Super Hero Legend", in my mind I recognized what it was but I kept wondering if I was watching the wrong thing by mistake. But when it faded to a young Mashiro reading the manga for "Super Hero Legend", I laughed.

Then the real opening sequence began...



I instantly fell in love. Especially given the context of the early story, which focuses mostly on Mashiro and Miho, I felt that this opening was really appropriate. It focuses mostly on Mashiro and Miho, with a backtone of Takagi and Kaya. It really sets the tone for the start of the story, and I am just in love with the song, "Blue Bird" by Kobukuro.

So far it's pretty faithful to the manga. The "Death Note" joke was retained, and that was great for me. As of episode one, I have no complaints about how the anime is following the manga. Still, this is episode one so it's a little hard to tell just what direction the anime will roll in.



As for the visuals, I'm about 75%. I like the way Mashiro and Takagi are presented. They feel very natural and they look like themselves. Takagi pulled out some really great expressions, though as of now some of the comedic faces don't seem to have come through in the anime. I'm not sure how many really showed up this early on, so I'm hoping that they just haven't gotten a chance to really make those expressions yet and will pull through on it in the future.

But the girls... The girls are my sticking point right now. Kaya doesn't feel like herself to me at all. Of course we've seen almost nothing of her, so it's hard to really say what the problem is. But as for Miho, it's her eyes. In the manga, and even in Mashiro's drawings of her in the anime, Miho's eyes are very wide, bright, and expressive of the fact that she's a very hopeful, dreamy character. In the anime, her eyes don't always express that, and it's a little disappointing to me. I hope that as the anime progresses I lose this feeling and Miho's eyes begin to feel more natural to her character for me, because I really love Miho and those qualities about her.



The voice acting completely wins my support. My favorite is Takagi, who is being voiced by Hino Satoshi. I'm not familiar with any of his previous roles, even though he's had some major ones. But he really gives Takagi the energy, cunning, and personality that the manga always made me believe he has.

I'm really excited about some of the other voices (which are all listed on one of Wikipedia's "Bakuman" articles) for supporting characters who haven't appeared yet. Fukuda is going to be voiced by Suwabe Junichi, who voiced Grimmjow in "Bleach", and I feel like this is a perfect fit.

The background music is hard for me to comment on, as I tend to lose track of it while watching. But I suppose that is a good thing. It makes me comfortable watching the things going on and doesn't jar me or pull me out of the story at all. It feels natural to the events occurring while it plays.

As for the ending sequence, I'm just as in love with it as the opening.



Here we get to see a lot more of the backbone of what "Bakuman" is and will be. We get to see our supporting cast done up in manga panels, showcasing their personalities. The song is "Bakurock: Outline the Future" by Ya-kyim. The song has some drawing puns in it, which I think is fantastic, and the tone of the song just really fits the overall tone of "Bakuman".

Out of the gate, "Bakuman" gets a solid "A" from me, and I'm really really looking forward to episode 2 next week! I'll do my best to follow through with reviews on each episode if I have time and remember to!

Clone High: The Manga

Ages ago, Suri and I were in our local B&;N and we found a manga called "Afterschool Charisma". The cover featured a fairly standard teenage boy alongside teenage... historical figures. On the front was Marie Curie, on the back was Sigmund Freud, Napolean Bonaparte, and Florence Nightingale. Flipping through, it seemed to be about this boy going to a high school full of cloned historical figures.

I turned to Suri and said, "I just found Clone High: The Manga".



Last Friday I went out with my friends Hillary and Philip (or Letao. I'm not sure what he prefers to be called at this point) to finally see Scott Pilgrim. I guess that should have it's own write-up, but it probably won't since you've likely all seen it already. That's what I get for being late to the party.

But after lunch and before the movie we stopped at the big-ass B&N in Union Square. Now, I've made jokes about this manga to everyone I've been in a B&N with since I first found it. But this time I actually worked up the nerve to buy it.

As anticipated, it's so bad that it's spectacular. It's pretty ridiculous, but if you're willing to not take it seriously and ignore the fact that it is basically kicking history in the balls it is a pretty entertaining read. Basically, if you have an opinion on "Axis Powers Hetalia", you pretty much already have an opinion on "Afterschool Charisma", because you are going to think the same things. You're going to enjoy it because it's ridiculous (though AC is not a straight comedy like Hetalia), or you're going to hate it for being dumb about history.



Like I've said, the basic stripped down plot is basically the same as Clone High. Various historical figures have been cloned and are in high school. There is also Shiro, the son of the man who cloned all of the historical figures, attending high school with them. Many of the clones have a bias against him since he is not a clone like them, but he's still managed to amass a group of friends, so really it's just like normal high school except he calls his friends "Queen Elizabeth" and "Joan of Arc" or by their full or last names, which is really kind of weird if you think about it.

He was apparently pretty close with Marie Curie, but she's out of the picture before the first volume even starts, her departure setting up some of the conflict within the story. Mostly with Mozart, who is mostly a complete tool for all of the time we spend with him. He has his reasons for this, but still he comes across as a total jerk.

There's also the fact that the first clone, of JFK, is assassinated when he announces he's going to run for president, leading into a plot involving a mysterious group planning to kill all of the clones. On top of that, a few of the clones have formed some kind of cult worshiping Dolly, the first successfully cloned mammal. This hasn't amounted to much yet, but I'm hoping something interesting will come of it.

My favorite characters so far are Joan of Arc, Sigmund Freud, Napolean Boneparte, and (as tasteless as it may sound) Adolf Hitler.



I know, I know. It's Hitler. Hitler is bad and everything he did is bad and heaven knows I will never try and argue that. But that is exactly what makes Clone-Hitler so interesting in this manga. No one likes him. Well, Shiro does, but only because they had a conversation about everyone hating both of them based on their circumstances. (Hitler being Hitler and Shiro being not a clone.) Hitler is willing to accept not having any of the clones as his friends and being alone most of the time, and claims it is "punishment for his sins".

As Hitler puts it, they are the "clone and non-clone odd-men-out". I find this to be incredibly interesting. If he's handled well as a character he could make for some very very interesting storytelling. I like the potential that he has, and that they just outright acknowledge that "Hitler = As bad as it gets". It makes Clone!Hitler sympathetic without making Real!Hitler sympathetic. (Because he's not.)

When Suri and I first found the manga and flipped through it, we founds a scene with Hitler and Joan Of Arc arguing (after reading it, I learned they were arguing over whether or not Shiro can understand their feelings as clones since he is not one) and declared that I shipped Joan/Hitler. After reading it, I still kind of do. Joan unfortunately gets minimal face-time in the first volume, but is shown to have some really interesting insecurities involving being a clone.



But Joan of Arc makes the cover of volume 2, so I'm hoping that means that in vol 2, we get to see a lot more of her and that the whole "Dolly Cult" (which is run by Rasputin and some girl who was unnamed) will be further explored.

Unfortunately it seems that Volume 2 isn't hitting stores until mid-January, and I can't find it online anywhere. So I'm left hanging for the next four months until it finally comes out.

As a warning, there are some nude boobs in "Afterschool Charisma". It s a manga, so really you shouldn't be surprised. I was more shocked that I missed it when I was flipping through with Suri than the fact that it was actually there. It only happens in two brief scenes, and both end in hilarity.

So if you're a mature reader who can handle that sort of thing without getting OMGOFFENDEDATBOOBS and are willing to laugh at historical inaccuracy, definitely pick up the first volume, enjoy it, and wait with me until January when we can read more!

More New Pokemon Black & White Info

So it's time for more leaks and new information on pokemon and characters from the new Black and White games. This news came to me a little suddenly, and surprisingly via a commented on DeviantART.

As you all may remember, I got excited about Hihidaruma entirely because of the prospect of a little rolly fire-breathing daruma doll as a possible pre-evolution. Those who keep tabs on me elsewhere may even remember me drawing up "Daruhi", a made-up 'this is what I hope we get'.



In several palces I declared that I would totally give up on fire types if there wasn't a little daruma for me to love and cuddle and burn things with. I was do dead set on this pokemon happening, that I was almost completely convinced that it wouldn't. Because that's the kind of luck I have.

Well, this morning, I woke up and checked my messages on DA, to find a comment left with a link to this:



This is Darumakka. A little rolly fire-breathing daruma doll.

Thank you, Nintendo.

It's not quite Daruhi, but my design was based a lot on Hihidaruma. Darumakka seems to be a lot more red, and to have ignored the idea of appendages entirely. Which I am okay with. I think Daruhi is a little cuter, but Darumakka is still adorable and I will be catching one as quickly as I possibly can and never letting it evolve.

I guess while I'm here, I should talk about some of the other new information too shouldn't I? Okay, but only because I love you guys so much.



Emonga is that flying squirrel on the top left. Typing is, obviously, electric/flying. Which seems contradictory. It's ability is static, which is always handy. My first thought was "Oh look a flying pikachu." It seems to be following in the tradition of Plusle/Minun and Pachirisu. Unnecessary, but cute.

Below that is Gigaiasu, the high pressure pokemon. I'm not sold on this one really. It seems like Heatran and those "chromastone" aliens from Ben 10 had a love child. I'm sure some people will like it, but it's not a pokemon I'd have on my team. nice to see a rock type that isn't brown/grey for once though.

Then there's Victini who I have already covered in the past, but since we have a little more information I thought I should take another look at Butt-Wings here. It's official typing is Psychic/Fire, which just seems weird to me, it is the "Victory Pokemon", and it's ability is "Victory Star". Clearly this is why it is made of V's. It does not, however, explain the butt-wings.

To the right of Victini is Shikijika, who doesn't have a species type yet, but it's elemental typing is normal/grass, and it has the ability "chlorophyll". Apparently, in different weather or climate or something, Shikijika will change colors. It reminds me a little too much of Shaymin for me to be totally okay with it. I'd be more okay if Shaymin wasn't a legendary, but I want to believe that, for some reason, Shaymin is a rare mutation of Shikijika that further somehow mutated a sky forme and flew off to Sinnoh or some reason.

On the bottom are a still unnamed swan and caterpillar pokemon. The caterpillar seems to be yet another poor-man's Caterpie, but I'm hoping it will turn into something that is not just another poor man's Buttefree. I am a little excited about the swan, just because I can name it "SodeNoShirayuki". I'm hoping it's got an Ice typing instead of just water, but I find that doubtful. However, it is very pretty, and I could see it having a gorgeous evolution or a super cute pre-evolution. (Maybe even both? Eh, Nintendo? Wink wink, nudge nudge?)

And of course there were some new human characters released...



Aloe is one of the new gym leaders. I'm sorry guys but the first thing I thought of was Aunt Jemima. I am praying to god that no one takes that the wrong way, because I love that brand of products. And I'm sure Aloe is a great lady. But... I mean... C'mon. You see it too, don't you guys?



Then there is Dento. Dento doesn't seem to be a gym leader. there's how Bulbanews describes his anime counterpart (who, I assume, plays the same role in the games)...

"With an abundance of knowledge and experience, Dento is a "Pokémon Sommelier", who checks ("diagnoses") the compatibility between a trainer and their Pokémon, gives them advice on how to become better friends. Is the actual condition what is expected?"

Honestly, that sounds pretty awesome. And he walks around dressed like a waiter? C'mon, Nintendo. Are you trying to win my heart? Because it's working. "Pokemon Sommelier" is my new favorite job right after "Treasure Hunter" in this series.



And then we got the grunts for our new pile of bad guys, Team Plasma, who look like they are trying a little too hard to be medieval knights in outer space. I'd be far more receptive of this outfit if it didn't have the ridiculous hood, but guys that just totally killed it for me. I will never be able to take these guys seriously. I hope their executives and boss at least don't have hoods like that. Then maybe they'll be a little threatening.

So, more and more, this game is looking pretty great. I'm still not excited for it like I was with HeartGold and SoulSilver, but it looks like it's going to have some great stuff. And I cannot get over Darumakka and how much I want it forever.

In the hopes that one day I can play Atelier Marie.

Before I get started, I want to thank whoever linked my Saturday report for Otakon on facebook. It drew in a lot of traffic. I also want to welcome the new followers. It warms my heart to know people are actually reading this thing and it's not just me shouting into the dark.

Today I want to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. It is a game that I have fallen in love with, even though I haven't gotten to play it -- Atelier Marie.



For what it is, Atelier Marie doesn't get the credit it deserves in the western market. This is most likely because up until recently the Atelier franchise was struggling stateside. All we had was Atelier Iris, which iv'e heard is a bit different from the traditional games, and Mana Khemia, which is a spin-off of the Atelier series. More recently we've gotten Atelier Annie for the DS, which I have played multiple times and adore (and have covered here once), and are coming to Atelier Rorona for the PS3 (I'm not sure if this has hit the US market yet. I need to check my release dates.)

But a lot of modern RPGs owe their thanks to Atelier in one way or another, and Atelier all started with the one and only Atelier Marie. I've been completely in love with the artwork from this game for years now It's heavily influenced by Alphonse Mucha, who is one of my favorite artists. Some images are even reworkings of his illustrations.



Even with how Atelier has slowly been crawling into the western market, we still have not, and most likely will not, see any of the games from the original Zarlberg (Salberg?) continuity that started with Atelier Marie. Even if the franchise does finally become popular here, I doubt NiS (who is localizing the games) will go back and bring us Marie, Elie, Lilie, Violet, and Judie.



The closest we've come was Tokyopop localizing 4 out of 5 volumes of the manga "Atelier Marie and Elie: Zarlburg Alchemists". However, they dropped volume 5 when the going got tough. I have Japanese scans of all 5 manga, and have gotten the basic idea of what goes on in volume 5 (the ending is very clear from the visuals, and is fantastic.) but I'd love to actually get to read it.

Finding merchandise for what is, essentially, a dead fandom in the west has been a challenge, but I've managed to get some doujinshi, a guide book, a poster from the re-release of Atelier Marie And Elie, and matching figures of Marie and Elie. They're basically the stars of my collection of things, and I'm glad I was able to find anything at all. But it doesn't bring me any closer to playing the game.

However, there is still some hope for that. There is an Atelier Marie translation project that some fans are working on to make a playable rom of the game for English language fans. I've been following the project for a while now, both on the blog and on an Ar Tonelico forum and just quietly offering support.

But now I guess I'm going to make a little bit of a rallying cry? If there's anyone who has the time and ability to help with translating or coding, please drop these guys a line. If not, spread the word and see if there's anyone who can. I'd love to see this project completed and get to play Atelier Marie one day.

Otakon 2010 - Saturday

Day two of Otakon 2010 was a good time. It consisted mostly with trips around the dealer's room and artist's alley, and one long trip outside. Suri and I went around watching cosplayers until we met up with my friend Amber. She gave me things to give to Downtown Otaku, and gave me a cat-earred hat that she made for me (complete with a hole in the back for my ponytail!) and a pink collar with a green bell that she got for me at another convention.

Once we separated from Amber, we planned to go to the AMV Contest. Of course, that was when fire alarms started going off and everyone was told to leave the building. 30,000 nerds were suddenly sent out onto the streets of Baltimore, not knowing what to do. The area around the convention center probably sent the regular residents into a panic. We were out there for maybe an hour before they let us back in.



While we were out there I found a Prof. Birch and asked if I could take a picture with him. He let me and then offered Suri and I pokemon cards of Mudkip, Torchik, and Treeko. I laughed and picked mudkip, and Suri picked torchik.

Once regularity had resumed, Suri and I went back in and took a spin around the artist's alley. I picked up a few things for Cass. I also got a cute poster of Kamina, Simon, and Nia, a Raichu postcard, and my friend Kyle bought me a bookmark with Italy from "Axis Powers Hetalia" on it. I also hung out with the dudes from Studio Painted Blade for a while. They are really cool dudes, so you should totally check them out. I think they have a webcomic going, and they just generally have fantastic work from what I have seen.



When we were done there we went back down to the dealer's room. There wasn't much for me there. I bought a few more of those Bleach cookies, a DBZ blind box for Downtown Otaku, and a little Hetalia figure since I'm apparently going to be watching that due to my love of ridiculous accents. We then went with Kyle to the Dr. Who photoshoot, and while they were busy with that I found a trio of unexpected Magic Knight Rayearth cosplayers...



I found Lantis, Alcyone, and Caldina. I spotted Caldina's cape and then noticed Alcyone next to her and needed a photo. Alcyone is, and has always been, one of my favorite Magic Knight Rayearth characters and I have never seen anyone cosplay her before. I expressed my excitement to the woman cosplaying and then we went back to the Dr. Who shoot.



After that, Cass came and picked us up. Dinner consisted of nachos and ice cream, and we watched some of our favorite episodes of "Avatar: The Last Airbender". I have no plans to go back Sunday. I'm out of money and there are no panels I want to go see.

As I said yesterday, all of the pictures from this weekend are up in their own album on Photobucket, and there were some absolutely stellar ones, so you should definitely check it out. This was a fantastic convention, and I'm so glad I got the chance to go for another year.

Thanks so much to all of the attendees for being such great company, and an extra special thanks to the con staff for putting on such a great event and for handling a small emergency like total champions. It was a great year and I cannot wait for Otakon 2011!

What's More American Than New Jersey?

A few years ago, for the fourth of July, Cartoon Network aired a marathon of the anime "Naruto". Suri and I were fully perplexed, because there is nothing American about "Naruto". We then, simultaniously, declared that Cartoon Network should have marathoned the series "Megas XLR" because, to quote us both...

"What's more American than New Jersey?"

So, to celebrate Independance Day this year,I'm going to write up a post about what is possibly one of the greatest Giant Robot cartoons of all time. Unfortunately, Megas XLR was canceled in April of 2005, just shy of 1 full year after it began airing.



As I briefly mentioned, Megas XLR took place in New Jersey, which automatically made it a hit with me since I'm from the Garden State myself. Now it was set in Jersey City, which is a good deal north of where I live (I'm down by Asbury Park.), but the New Jersey spirit is still the same. They mention a lot of real location in New Jersey (Such as Hoboken.) and the attitude of Coop, Jamie, and all of the other locals are just spot on.



Megas parodied every giant robot series and iconic 90's anime and sci-fi that it could get it's hands on. And they did it with class. The show was, undboutedly a comedy. But what made it funny was how every teenage boy (and me) watching was saying "Yeah that's how I'd handle it too." Because no teenager, if given a giant robot, would take things seriously. They'd just runa round and wreck things with it and maybe accidentally beat a couple of bad guys in the process -- Which is exactly how Coop did things.

I wish I'd had time to rewatch "Megas XLR" before writing this, but the 4th just snuck up on me and I didn't think to do this until the 3rd. But if you want a little good old American fun, check out Megas. It does not disappoint.

Happy 4th of July to all of our American stoppers-by!

It's like watching myself on Youtube.

A brief post, but I wanted to share this. It's my blog and I'll do whatever I want.

So a while ago, I posted about the Chozokei Damashii Gurren Lagann blind box figures and how completely amazing they are. I know I've also mentioned in the past that my friend McLovin is a writer for the awesome toy site, Tomopop.

Well today on twitter, he pointed me toward a video of his editor-in-chief opening up some of the boxes. It was basically exactly the same as my experience, and I thought I'd share because it was pretty fun for me to watch.



It's refreshing to see someone who reacts to Yoko the same way I do.

Good job on "Toy Story 3", Pixar.

So me and a handful of my friends went to see Toy Story 3 on Friday. I should preface this with the fact that when I heard about Toy Story 3, I was kind of annoyed with Pixar about it. I didn't see why a third Toy Story was needed, especially this long after the first two, when Pixar was putting out so many other wonderful films. It was frustrating for me, since I'm not a fan of animated sequels, and especally part three's, since they are notorious for being terrible.



But, guys, this time I was wrong.

Toy Story 3 was not only entertaining and funny, but heartwarming. This was a movie made for all of the kids who had grown up watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2. For all the kids who had been eight or nine or ten when Toy Stoy came out and are now in their twenties. For us, who may have forgotten the things we loved as a kid. It was nostalgic, and sweet, and I commend Pixar on carrying this franchise gracefully from part one to part three.

One really fun thing about going to see a Pixar film is the animated short shown before each feature. Some of my favorite things to come from Pixar are their animated shorts. I recently found a DVD full of these and plan to buy it in the near future but that is a blog post for another day. Back to the tpoic at hand.

The short shown before Toy Story 3 was called "Day & Night", and it blew me completely out of the water.



"Day & Night" blended 3D CGI animation with tradtional 2D style animation for a product that just stopped me dead in my tracks. Watching these two characters bounce back and forth, originally disliking each other and trying to claim superiority to learning to accept each other and enjoy what made them different. It was absolutely stunning.

As I mentioned, I originally met this film with a lot of hostility. After I began seeing trailers and was given a good idea of the plot I was a lot more recpetive to Toy Story 3, but I kept a heavy dose of skepticism about the whole thing. It looked good, but I wasn't ready to get myself over-excited just to be let down with the final product.



But Toy Story 3 met my challenge head on and did not disappoint. It held up to the quality of humor, story, and emotion that we have come to expect from Pixar. Some of the funniest moments, as usual came from Mr. Potato Head. I'm fairly certain "GET THE TORTILLA!" will be my social circle's rallying cry for years to come.

Surprisingly this movie also had it's fair share of nightmare fuel, present in "Big Baby" and "The Monkey". More so in the monkey, since we all screamed any time that thing showed up. That thing was completely horrifying, and all of us are likely to have nightmares about it for the rest of our lives. Ironically, I've never felt more like a little kid than I did during some of the scarier parts of this movie. And yes, there are some really terrifying moments in Toy Story 3. Now I'm not saying this isn't a kids movie. It clearly is. If you've got kids, show them the first two and then take them to this. They will love it. But expect some screams of terror, not just from them but also from yourself.

All of the plot twists in this movie are, really, incredibly obvious. Looking back on them, it's really easy to see everything coming. But when you're watching Toy Story 3, it's so easy to get caught up in the suspense of it all that you end up watching with blinders on. Even some of the most obvious things just come completely out of left field. You will spend the latter half of this movie on the edge of your seat.

And once that all passes, and you reach the last ten minutes or so of the movie, it becomes very apparent who this movie was actually made for...



This movie wasn't made for today's kids. They will all enjoy this movie thoroughly, but this is for all the 18 to 20-somethings who are Andy's age now. Who were kids when Toy Story first came out, many of whom have now had to part with beloved childhood toys. For young adults in tha age group that my friends and I populate. It was just a little something to remind us of when we were young, and of the things we loved.

All four of us; Suri, McLovin, Kyle, and myself, cried through the end of this movie. Now, we are all big toy nerds, so in the beginning we were all like "Why doesn't Andy just bring ALL of his toys to college?" since that's what we do. But I guess logically people that aren't total dorks like we are might want to not do that. The way Pixar chose to end Toy Story 3 was heartwarming, bittersweet, and wonderful. Even now, writing about it two days later, it is hard for me not to start crying again just thinking about it.

If you grew up watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2, go and give Toy Story 3 a shot. If you're nervous about being an adult in a children's movie, find a friend with younger siblings and go with them. But really, you shouldn't worry about appearances. You won't be the only non-kid there. There are plenty of people like me and my friends who will be there too.

Arrival of the RamenBox!

So, a week ago my mom and I placed an order from RamenBox.com. We put together a big 40-slot ramen box, placed the order, and waited. It arrived today just as I finished making some pasta for lunch, since for all the good comedic timing I tend to have, my practical timing is generally terrible. None the less, I was totally excited to have my big box of ramen finally in hand. After eating, I tore it open and this is what I found:



37 glorious packages of ramen (I had a few 2-slot items), 14 different types, all packed into two boxes. It's a truly beautiful thing. My lineup consists of the following:

- 3 Indomie Spicy Beef Ramen
- 3 KungFu Beef Ramen
- 4 Sappolo Ichiban Beef Ramen
- 4 Mama Pork Ramen
- 3 Indomie BBQ Chicken Ramen
- 2 Indomie chicken Curry Ramen
- 2 NongShim Spicy Chicken Ramen
- 4 Sapporo Ichiban Chowmein
- 3 NongShim Chapghetti
- 1 Paldo Bibim Men
- 1 Paldo Jja Jang Men
- 2 Vewong Peppered Beef Ramen
- 2 WuMu Garlic Sesame Oil Ramen
- 3 Indomie Fried Noodles



I've had a few of these before (like the Sapporo Ichiban beef and the NongShim Spicy chicken) since I have apretty diverse super market in my area, but I'm excited to try a bunch of new things. Especially some of the vegetarian options that I ordered.

Because the guys over at RamenBox.com are so cool, they also threw in a few sets of chopsticks, some chili sauce, and a pack of Tung-I Beef Flavored Instant Rice Noodles. These little extras and free noodles totally won me over, because I'm a sucker for extras. Way to snag yourselves a repeat customer guys.



So since I got a hold of something a little unexpected with my order, and I'm hungry, I'm going to write more about the Tung-I Beef Flavored Rice Noodles. I've never really done a food review so bear with me on this one.



So, prep on this is pretty standard fare. You've got your noodles, a pack of seasoning, and an oil packet. Three minutes in boiling water, and then add in the seasoning and eat. The rice noodles didn't absorb the seasoning very well, but they had a pretty nice texture to them. Even though the noodles didn't absorb it very well, the broth had a lot of flavor and held up to the texture of the noodles pretty well.

I'd definitely have it again, though next time I'd change a few things. I'd add the seasoning in at the beginning so the noodles could absorb it straight on, and I'd use a bit less water. I'dS also add that leftover steak in the fridge. Yum. Meat is always a good addition.



So all in all, if you like ramen, Ramenbox is a good deal! It'd probably cost you more to buy them all inidivitually, even if you factor in shipping. And it is run by some fantastic, friendly people, and when you order you might even get a little something extra! There's also their free slots program, where you can earn slots and eventually get a free box of ramen! So drop by and check it out. You most likely will not be disappointed. I know I wasn't.

Nerds and Ramen Are Inseparable

Ramen is kind of a staple of my household. I like being able to make quick, easy meals for myself at any time of day since I have a ridiculously erratic eating schedule. I keep a couple boxes of pot-stickers and microwave rice pouches and things around, but there's nothing quite like a good bowl of ramen.

But as I'm sure many of you know, a girl can only eat so much Nissin Top Ramen before things start getting a little stale. Then one day, a friend of mine on LiveJournal mentioned something that caught my eye...

RAMENBOX.COM



I made myself an account and kept the link sitting around in my favorites until I could get money to order a Ramenbox of my own. In the meantime my mom kept picking up packs of Nissin chicken flavor Top Ramen, which I've eaten maybe three bows of and wishing it was something more interesting.

The other day, on a grocery run, I mentioned Ramenbox to mom, and today I pulled up the site so she could check it out. I'd planned to go for a regular 20 slot box, but mom decided we should go for the large 40 slot box! I put one together and we ordered it this afternoon!

They ship via FedEx ground (Which I like, because we're a FedEx loyal family, due to my dad being a courier!) so it'll be here on Monday or Tuesday most likely and we are looking forward to the super cool ramen that we've ordered.

Ramenbox also has the friendliest people in the world on staff. They keep in touch with their customers via their twitter account, and from what I've seen if you have any kind of problem regarding your order they will do what they can to help you out.

Once my box gets here I'll be sure to do another post on all of the great things I packed it with, but in the meantime take a browse around the Ramenbox site. Setting up a box is easy, and is actually a whole lot of fun. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

So as it turns out, I'm madly in love with a sword.

I'm here today, continuing my coverage of the Zanpakuto filler arc of the Bleach anime. I'm gonna kick this off with yet another comparison shot because I forgot to cover this last week.

We already learned in Magic Knight Rayearth that Debonair is a GREAT mommy.

Am I the only one who thinks Muramasa is the bastard son of Debonair from "Magic Knight Rayearth"? The white skin, the color scheme, the obscenely long fingernails? How the hell does this guy even hold a sword?! and so far he's done next to nothing except for blathering on and on about how Shinigami suck. He is either the worst, or the greatest villain ever. I think it's too early to tell.

This week was mostly a "Let's recap what we know and remind you all that this shit is bad news." episode. Also there were a lot of things in this episode that really didn't make sense to me.

But the first five minutes of this episode were just a dream~ to watch. As it turns out, I am apparently madly in love with Sode no Shirayuki. Rukia pretty much falls out of the sky in Karakura and Ichigo finds her, trying to figure out why she's hurt. and then Sode no Shirayuki turns up.

Don't be fooled by the pretty face. She will wreck your shit.

Ichigo quickly decides she's not a hollow, but still has no idea who she is. This was the first thing that made no sense to me. Sode no Shirayuki should, in theory, have the exact same reiatsu as Rukia. I know Ichigo isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, but he should be able to at least be able to figure out she has the same Reiatsu as Rukia. And once she starts using Rukia's abilities, maybe you'd think something would click?

Sode no Shirayuki using her second ability, Hakuren.

Another thing that bothered me was the opposite. Sode no Shirayuki not recognizing Ichigo. After all, Rukia's power was transfered too Ichigo via Shirayuki. But when they fought, she was curious to who he was, and then figured out as they fought that he was "the substitute shinigami". She did some adorable blowing snow in his face thing, and then just sort of got bored and left.

Again, because of her connection to Ichigo, you'd think Sode no Shirayuki (who I assume is far more intelligent than Ichigo), would recognize him immediately and, due to context, probably react like "OH. YOU'RER THAT GUY WHO TOOK ALL MY POWER THAT ONE TIME. 8D HAVE SOME STABBINGS!". I also feel this might have made a little bit more sense, than her just randomly fighting. But the fact that Shirayuki is even acting against Rukia at all has me a bit perplexed.

There's a reason she's got the title of the "Most Beautiful Zanpakuto In Soul Society".

Ichigo then took her back to Urahara's and got everyone together to fix up Rukia and figure out the situation. Rukia wakes up and explains what's going on and we flash back to some more of the fighting between the zanpkauto and their masters. This whole segment just made me want to slap the shinigami.

You have all just lost your main source of power. But go right ahead and attack said source of power with your useless swords and no plan at all. That truly is the most brilliant of ideas.

No wonder you are getting your asses kicked. Geez. And these are supposed to be Captains and Lieutenants. You would think after everything that they have dealt with they would not make such stupid mistakes. Though Iw as really hoping to see Hianeko attack Rangiku so there could be some more sassy banter.

I think she was hoping it would be more of a challenge.

The worst off, supposedly, is Byakuya, who disappeared while fighting off Senbonzakura so that Rukia and Renji could escape. By all logic, he should be dead, but we all know that's not true because this is Bleach and the only one who ever really dies is Ulquiorra.

When Rukia finds out that Byakuya is the only one who wasn't found and taken care of, she apparently runs off when no one is looking to go back to Soul Society and find him. Everyone gets concerned and Ichigo and Yoruichi decide to head to Soul Society to find her.

All I'm really sure of is that I am heavily anticipating next week so I can find out the context behind Sode no Shirayuki making this face that she made in the preview:

Oh shit. We are all going to die.

So when 232 is fansubbed and available, I suppose I'll be continuing my coverage. Until then!

Otakon 2009

Last weekend Suri and I, along with several other friends, made the long trip down from central New Jersey to Balimore, Maryland for Otakon 2009. It's our one big convention of the year and we're usually pretty psyched to rock it out. It was great this year, as always.

General reports for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday can be found via their respective entries in my LiveJournal.

But overall, it was a great con. This was my second year cosplaying Simon form Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and this year I got to be accompanied by Suri and my best friend Cass as my Kamina and Nia. We all hit up the Saturday photoshoot which was a lot of fun. Cosplay is about 50% of the reason I do Otakon, and it was really great to get to see other cosplayers and join in on photos and things.

We are the bitch-sassiest pair of Simons ever.

In an amusing twist, a friend of mine form high school who writes for Japanator ended up writing a short entry about when the Gurren Lagann shoot and the Super Smash Bros. shoot decided to wage war against each other. I ended up in a few of the photos he posted and we had a laugh a little later about what a small internet it is.

The better part of the weekend was spent in the Artist's Alley and the Dealer's Room, which is the other 50% I do Otakon. I got to see a lot of good friends in the Alley. These are people that I only really get to see once or twice a year at Otakon and NYAF, so it was really great to see them and catch up for a while. I also bought a few posters and prints, and a comic from the amazingly talented Hilary Florido, who is maybe one of the coolest people I know.

The Dealer's Room was fantastic this year. I bought two figures (Urahara Kisuke and Kuchikir Rukia) and an old Magic Knight Rayearth doll (Hikaru. I already have Fuu. Now I'm on the hunt for Umi.), and a really fantastic Sailor Moon pencil case.

I also got myself a few doujinshi, though I was only really satisfied with one of them -- an Ukitake/Unohana bleach doujinshi that looks like it's really cute. I may have to eventually try to translate it. I somehow ended up with another Ukitake/Kyoraku doujinshi, but while sitting outside of one of the panels we were waiting to go to, I decided to narrate it with hilarious dialog for my friend Jess and it turned out to be the best purchase ever.

"Blah blah blah I have cancer."

"No you don't. You have lupus."

"Well shit..."

I really don't have the slightest idea what was going on through the whole thing other than that Ukitake and Kyoraku kept fighting and bitch-slapping each other, but it made for an amusing little tale. I also got another Bleach doujin about Kon and some members of the female cast, and a FullMetal Alchemist Roy/Havoc doujin that also includes Riza somehow. Again, I need to learn to read Japanese so I can know what the hell is going on.

But the real prize for the weekend was buying a replica of Sode no Shirayuki, Kuchiki Rukia's sword, for $25. Anyone who knows me as a member of the Bleach fandom knows the crush I have on Shirayuki. So when I found it, I was sure it was really expensive and made Suri lead me away. But then he kept suggesting going back to ask how much it was, so we went and found out it was cheap enough for me to buy!

The unfortunate part is that she'll probably remain in her box until the spring when I either move back down to central NJ for good, or move in with my good friend Boomer over at Downtown Otaku. Then she will be proudly displayed on my wall where I can admire her.

So over all, it was a great con. I may switch up my cosplay next year, or I may not, but either way I'm looking forward to it.

Suri's Intro & King of Bandit Jing

Well. I'm not quite sure how to start this off properly, so I'm just going to talk until something coherent comes out. I'll be posting for this as often as I feel the need to (Read: Whenever Sono threatens me bodily harm for not posting) and will likely discuss many different things.

I am very tempted to simply give angry reviews of things, like my other blog. But honestly, I'd rather not. I try to think of things in a positive light and thus, will likely be more cheerful. So, I really doubt I'll talk about stuff I don't like... that is, unless I dislike it so much that I NEED to vent the rage. But I don't normally watch anything that makes me rage like that long enough to really care. So, let's talk about something. What, you ask? One of the first anime I saw after I had really started to get into it, King of Bandit Jing.

When I say "really started to get into it," I mean actively seeking it out as opposed to just what was on Toonami at the time. Don't get me wrong, Toonami had tons of great stuff. Dragonball Z was mindblowing for me when I first started watching, Yuyu Hakusho is still one of my favorite series ever and I LOVED Outlaw Star, even if the ending confused the hell out of me. I probably would've watched Sailor Moon when it was on, but I usually watched Dragonball Z with friends and therefore we could not watch Sailor Moon because they were MEN and anything even remotely girly was GAY. Truly, they were enlightened beings far beyond the scope of anything humankind could ever- they were idiots. But they were also the only people within walking distance who would spend time with me.

But anyway, when I first started to seek out anime, the best I could usually manage was a DVD every month or so. And then, I tended to go with Yuyu Hakusho because Cartoon Network had stopped airing it immediately before the final round of the Dark Tournament, which had been going on for something like 30 episodes already. I didn't really start to get a broader view of anime until we got a digital cable box. The On Demand service had... Anime Network on Demand! I was intrigued and thus, started watching. I watched episodes daily on it daily, even if I had already seen them. I checked again and again for new episodes, since each series usually had no more than 2-3 episodes available at at time. There are a number of series I was introduced to like this that still stick with me. Sure, I didn't like everything I watched (Gravitation still haunts me. ;___; ) but it did help me learn what exactly to look for. GetBackers is still one of my favorite series ever, for example. And another example, which I have taken so long to get to, is King of Bandit Jing.



King of Bandit Jing (or the less Engrishy title, Jing: King of Bandits), is short. 13 episodes (with a 3-episode OVA, but I'll get to that another time) and that made it somewhat ideal for me and the Anime Network on Demand. Because it was short, it didn't take very long for me to see all 13 episodes. Longer series, like GetBackers, had 3-4 episodes up at a time, but would frequently revert back to episode 1 and 2 after getting far enough into the series, ranging anywhere from episode 12 to 28. And some series only went a few episodes before they were replaced with another show. Usually something I didn't care about, like Mezzo.

Jing is great though. If I had to pick a word to describe it, it would be "Breezy". It's lighthearted, colorful, whimsical and weird. It also has the single greatest opening scene in anything ever. It's a slow panning shot of a rising sun. A skeletal figure in a carriage drawn by a skeletal dinosaur. It slowly zooms on his face. "I..." you hear. It zooms closer. "I..." again. It zooms right to his glowing red eye. "I...". You get a shot from the side as he loudly shouts "I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS STORY!" he then laughs as he is knocked aside by a GIANT DESERT WHALE BOAT, while screaming "FAREWELL". And he is never seen again.



This is when I knew I had found something great. In fact, I recently showed the first episode to a friend of mine. After this, his jaw dropped. He grabbed the remote, paused it and demanded I give him every DVD of this series I own immediately. This is also the best possible way to frame how odd the world Jing takes place in is.

So, what is the series about? It's about Jing and his bird, Gilbert Go... I mean Kir. Jing, as one can surmise from the title, is the Bandit King. He can steal anything and everything, from the stars in the sky to the heart of a woman. And he does that a lot. Every story has a Jing girl, that he usually wins the affection of. Think of them as Bond Girls, except Jing is like 15 so he's not screwing them left and right. He's too classy for that, anyway.

Every Jing story is self-contained and usually revolves around the theft of a single object. There are only 3 recurring characters. Jing, Kir and Postino. Postino shows up once per story on a Motorcycle for about 20 seconds, says something cryptic to Jing that will inevitably help Jing with the theft and then rides off. He's awesome and is never explained, like most things in this weird, weird world.

Oh, there is one more recurring thing in Jing. The Porvora. That pink thing on the first image up there is a Porvora. They're adorable. Also, highly volatile. If jarred too much, they will explode like a cluster of mines held together with C4 around a jellied napalm center. They appear in two of the stories, if I recall correctly.

I could go into detail of the plot, but... like I said, the show is episodic. Each story (each of which spans 1-3 episodes) has its own plot. It's not intensive watching, but it's enjoyable to watch and quite memorable. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

*phew* I'll try and make my posts shorter from now on. Anyone reading this, I hope you continue to do so.

-Suri