Fullmetal Alchemist: 0 [Zero]

Back in July of last year, the final manga chapter of Fullmetal Alchemist was released.
I found out a few months ago, however, the creator Hiromu Arakawa had released an extra chapter titled Fullmetal Alchemist: 0 after the series ended.
Tonight I was on a scanlation website to look up something for yet another fanfiction, saw this extra, and read it.

0 takes place after the final chapter, thus after Ed and Al's return to Risembool. Soon after, a box arrives addressed to Al and is opened to reveal the suit of armor that formerly housed his soul. Mutilated as it is after the final fight against Father, Winry tears up causing a distraction as Den grabs the helmet from the armor and runs off, nowhere to be found. Giving up on their search, the brothers request Winry take them to Rush Valley where they have the armor melted down to make auto-mail rather than "sit and collect dust".
Upon returning to Risembool, Ed gives Pinako a sickle made from the armor's leftovers (because pulling weeds is ad for an old lady's back). Trying it out, she disturbs a nest of bird living in the helmet that Den stole.

I can see it now: Arakawa-sensei being washed away in a sea of fan letters that scream: WHAT HAPPENED TO AL'S ARMOR?!?!?!
Judging by the way the characters talk about it, the armor itself is regarded as a character, no doubt holding emotional ties with the creator and her assistants.
It was also a great gag to see Ed and Al squirm as it gets pounded into scrap metal...
The armor also keeps up with the theme that the brothers hold such little sentimental value to anything - their house, for example - save Ed's pocket watch.

I think more than anything, this was Arakawa's way of saying a final goodbye to her story. This is made very obvious as Ed tells the baby birds that they'll someday soar through the skies - kind of like the artist attempting to tell herself to move on and flourish in her next comic.

I didn't get too attached to this chapter.
I think I finished grieving after the final release on top of the fact this story was excruciatingly short compared to the ending chapters. 0 almost felt like a different story altogether - there was no use of alchemy at all, most likely because Ed no longer has the ability, Al felt the armor should be given a proper transformation, and Winry can make a better product with top-notch metal she supervises.

"Don't Forget Fullmetal Alchemist" is the caption on on of the ads at the end of the short.

Again, this is Arakawa's final goodbye to her series.
However, the caption does say something: Fullmetal is a series much like Inu-Yasha that will live on and nurture otaku for many generations. I think Arakawa knows that, so I believe she can let go without a fear.

- Much luvs, and wishing the best for the future, Hideki

Fanfiction W****

This is what I called myself the other day.

In my continual stalking of Spoonychan and Arxatih (see blog entry #2) I've been reading Arxaith's fanfictions on deviantArt like they are THE PRECIOUS NECTAR THAT KEEPS ME ALIVE.

Now, I have never been a fanfiction kind of girl.

When I was, this was before I even knew it had a name.
When I actually tried to write these mysterious "fanfiction" things, they turned out to be CRAP.
When I tried to access fanfiction.net, my computer froze and crashed.

Thus: I am not a fanfiction girl.

However...

Tonight I passed over to the dark side and posted my VERY FIRST on deviantArt.

GASSSSP!!!

Enjoy -- http://fav.me/d3eqbzl

 - Much luvz, Hideki

RANT: Why I hate fangirls

It's past 2 AM and not being able to sleep, I browse YouTube and watch videos taken of voice actors at conventions. As mentioned earlier, I pursue this career because of Vic Mignogna. For those of you who don't know: Vic and his girlfriend Michelle Specht are now publicly engaged.

I didn't know much about Michelle at first, but I've seen some of her acting online and found her to be hilarious, not to mention capable in her bit-part voice roles. Looking at videos tonight, I didn't think people would have the exact thoughts as I did, but here is where I draw the line.

One of the comments specifically read: "you deserve better" while directed at Vic.
Why on earth would anyone say that?
On the off-chance you have met Michelle in person, is that enough to analyze her entire relationship and decide who is fit for who?
This same person said the some of the Risembool Rangers she knew - members of Vic's fanclub - wished "she would die".
I didn't breathe until I saw the reply: "That's terrible. He deserves to be happy".

YES!! THANK you!!!

I now pose my argument:
I adore Vic as much as any other fan, but I love him as a person. Let's be honest - the guy's the same age as my parents. He's a mentor, my indirect sensei. I won't be out of California for at least two more years, so the best I can do is take what I can learn from him as a fan.
From his roles I try to absorb acting techniques.
From convention videos I can hear his advice, keep trying to get better until I can eventually turn to him as a colleague and explain how he personally helped me find and achieve my dreams, help me through the roughest parts in my life and then thank him for all of this.

I'm sorry - this probably isn't making much sense since I'm so tired.

-Much luvz and apologies, Hideki

WonderCon 2011 [Part 1]

Finally! Some real coverage on - you guessed it - WonderCon 2011.
Today was the first full-family convention experience. Our original plan was to leave the house at ten, but since things rarely go well when five people are forced to function on one schedule, we left after noon and didn't get to the convention center until after two in the afternoon.

Due to traffic and stress over finishing my Medusa cosplay at the last minute, I was about ready to strangle someone and didn't start to breathe until we encountered a viking woman in a nearby bathroom. (Even the cosplayers on the crowded streets hadn't soothed me while we sat in the car.)

Once we had our passes, I was free to frolic among the nerds as long as I met my parents at the appointed time and place. On my way to said location, I came face-to-face with people from my school, and some I wasn't expecting to see either. I started to laugh at seeing the first, and didn't see the taller one until he started talking. We part ways but my sister and I teamed up at the checkpoint to try and hunt them down. We wandered the con floor, which was incredibly busy and hot, stopping at random stalls while craning our necks to look for the surprise peers. Failing, but finding some good stuff along the way, we met our share of cosplayers and snapped a picture of Princess Mononoke and an extremely friendly Ciel.

By the way, Ciel, if you stumble across this blog, I have to say this: I was not stalking you. That second meeting was me seeing you by chance, and I really, really need the traffic on my YouTube channel... I'm just saying, you seemed a little scared of me.

After we met up with Mom, the three of us headed upstairs for the anime screening room. There was some confusion in finding it, but we managed.

The room was dimly-lit and I didn't want to disturb the viewers, so I bolted to the front to get out of the way, feeling my mom was talking extremely loudly. I nabbed a seat next to two guys in the front row who recognized my costume right away. I wasn't feeling up to the sub-only show on-screen, so I happily chatted them up. After realizing we were probably bothering some of the people actually watching the show, we slipped out into the hallway to speak in normal tones.

Sooner or later my family (my dad had shown up somewhere before now) got tired of anime and left, telling me to be at the checkpoint by six. I talked a bit longer with the two before the Fullmetal Alchemist fan and I set off to find the stand selling Ed's watch - one of which I'd gotten earlier. The other stayed behind to wait for the group he was with.

Finding the stall was harder than we thought, seeing that after a few hours on the floor, all the booths start to blend together. Either way, we talked some more on the way there about various shows and here and there pausing to look at something that caught our eye.

I think I scared him a bit when I snapped a picture of a box of yaoi manga to send it to a friend. (Who knows who she is.)

Eventually, I caught a glimpse of some VOCALOID CD's, looking up from my browsing to see we'd found the stall we were looking for. He was ecstatic as he gleefully grabbed his watch and paid for it as I thumbed through posters.

Shortly after that, it was time for me to leave, so he waved and took off into the crowd. I organized myself, stuffing plushies and posters into my bag and (discreetly) applying deodorant before settling down on the concrete floor to listen to my iPod.

My parents and sister picked me up at out set time, and after a quick skim through a few more stalls we left and went home. I was utterly exhausted, so they dropped me off at home promising to bring me back a noodle bowl as they went out for dinner.

Here are my purchases for the first day of my WonderCon experience:

$10 Soul Eater wall scroll

$15 grab bag hat

$9 Alphonse Elric plushie

$15 Edward Elric stopwatch

$10 autographed Firefly poster (split with sister for a friend)

$3 Black Rock Shooter poster

$22 Miku Hachune plushie

Hair ornament (gift from Mom)

Tomorrow is another day - "look forward to it!"

-Much luvz, Hideki