NUU, MARLY!! T^T

I've been spending a lot of money on cosplay lately. One such investment, was a very cheap pink wig to serve as Marluxia from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Claiming to be the "Zexion" of our group, I have a love-hate relationship with this character, much like Medusa from Soul Eater who I played for WonderCon.

Anyhow - this is my first real cosplay wig, and it's pretty exciting for myself and my friends. However: imagine my DISGUST when I pick my Marly wig off my bed to find a DEAD EARWIG IN IT.

Yep.

Ah, yes - these lovely cosplayers are part of Parle Productions, which is run by the girl responsible for Demyx Time. I found these great pics on "Marly's" DeviantArt page, AKA stripeydani. Dani is this grogeous Marluxia, and plays him in a few episode of the web series as well as the music video "Consign to Oblivion". She's also seen as Xaldin in episode 14 of Demyx Time and is playing Sirius Black in their newest show The Marauders.
The Larxene in the second picture is One-Sky-One-Destiny who has always been there when Demyx time needed her. She's also played Kairi and Sora's mom in The Sora Show, Elena in The Shinra Files, and is now playing Lily Evans in The Marauders.

Check out Dani and the rest of the Parle crew in the links below!!
- Much luvz, Hideki

Parle Productions' YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/JenxtheJinx
Jenn's (director) DeviantArt:
 http://tealpirate.deviantart.com/

Dani's DeviantArt:

http://stripeydani.deviantart.com/ 

The Sora Show's account:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TouchMyKeyblade 

One-Sky-One-Destiny's DeviantArt:

http://one-sky-one-destiny.deviantart.com/ 

Blacker than a Cat

When I hear the name "Gonzo", I think of the super-artistic animation styles found in shows like Samurai 7 and Afro Samurai. When borrowing the first Black Cat DVD from a friend, I was surprised to find the smiling bishi on the front cover from this studio. Further was my surprise when the opening showed off a cartoony style akin to Soul Eater. The shocks didn't stop there, however - as in the typical shonen style, the super-fast superhuman protagonist rips through the pilot at a break-neck speed. However, this grinning sweetie I'd seen on the case was nothing like the near-silent emo boy that broke into the series as a stone-cold killer. Furthermore, there was almost zero exposition on who the boy was, leading the spotlight to an unlikely down-on-his-luck bounty hunter with a do-everything briefcase.
Black Cat was clearly a force to be reckoned with from square one.

This FUNimation show fell into a friend's hands with the excellent bargains from the closing-down Borders. Hanging out last Saturday, we doodled our yaoi OC's and chatted about her finds. She offered to let my take Black Cat home with me without ever touching the disc inside, so I agreed without thinking.
The show begins with our not-really-a-hero hero, Sven Volfield, looking for his would-be gangster target, Tyrant, who's just been elected governor. Sneaking into the guy's ritzy election/engagement party, it's revealed that the eye Sven covers with a patch has the ability to see five minutes into the future. He realizes that Tyrant is about to be assassinated, but epic fails to save him as a mysterious boy with XIII tattooed on his chest shoots the governor through the heart. From his information guy, it's revealed that this boy is KuroNeko, or Black Cat who works for the Chronos company. The intriguing Black Cat's name is revealed to be Train Heartnet who isn't done getting in Sven's way just yet.

The more you watch, the more twists this show has. Supposedly a girl in distress turns out to be thief. Her "baby sister" isn't a hostage at all, but the world's most advanced bio-weapon that Sven as a "gentleman" takes upon himself to teach about the world. Train has friends in high places, but what exactly are his ties to Chronos? And then there's our hero's eye - his so-called vision eye. What powers does it have exactly?

The style of Black Cat is close to indescribable. What appeared to be a "cartoony" anime is constantly throwing dramatic background effects behind its characters with odd, slashed layers of color. The story itself has a realistic way of keeping you in the dark but the anime flavor of giving you just enough a taste of what's to come to keep you interested.

The dub isn't the best I've heard, but it's far above average. Brandon Potter is a name I'm unfamiliar with, but he brings Sven to life. Jason Liebrecht is an actor I usually see in secondary roles, but his sultry Train shows off his talent when compared to characters like adorable Finny from Black Butler or Principal Ench from Shin Chan. Brina Palencia, however, will always steal the stage. She whips out an itty-bitty voice for the cutesy bio-weapon Eve that speaks in a monotone, but still manages to scream with horrific pain during fight scenes.

This show is definitely a mold-breaker for both Gonzo and a stereotypical Shonen Jump series. Only five episodes have left me wanting more. I'll definitely be trying to get a hold of more of this show, and I hope you'll find a [legal] way to enjoy Black Cat as much as I already have.

-Much luvz, Hideki.

Spice and Wolf

Spice and Wolf caught my attention on the FUNimation website which was advertising the fact that they'd bought the license and released the English-speaking cast. Since that time, I've watched maybe three or four episodes in English, read various chapters of the manga and bought the first three novels from Yen Press.

The story is by Isuna Hasekura in supposedly his debut work. It centers around mid-twenties Kraft Lawrence, the traveling merchant in a Europe-like country. Upon passing through a town the day of its harvest festival, the harvest goddess Holo the wisewolf manifests herself in the wheat Lawrence is carrying. Tired of the neglect she's been through due to advances in farming, Holo is convinced that the town no longer needs their goddess. She talks Lawrence into taking her to her homeland in the north, and thus begin their journeys together.

Spice and Wolf defies all my expectations, simply because I had none. I didn't know what to make of the original description on the FUNimation website, and the pilot episode left me with an entirely different impression than the rest of the show. Upon exploring the three mediums of the series, my conclusion is this: Spice and Wolf was NOT written for manga or television. In each town Lawrence finds some sort of mishap - usually pertainign to other merchants - but his trouble never climaxes until the end of the book. Filling up the spaces are explanations of how the story's society functions and going into detail about the exchanges between merchants. While this helps the reader follow along in the book, it makes for chatty manga crowded with speech bubbles. This is why I stopped reading the manga before Lawrence and Holo reach their first bump in the road - it's the same thing that causes me to shy away from American comics. Taking a page out of a How to Draw book, manga is meant to be read fluidly and quickly - to be a page-turner by definition. American comics tend to expose back story in detail through written narration, whereas a typical manga reveals important information through dialog and the excess is left for later on in the story when it's relevant. The Spice and Wolf manga had the same characters from the book and charming illustrations, but long conversations between Lawrence and Holo about different currencies in the country doesn't make for a good read. The same goes for the show - the animation was beautiful, Brina Palencia played Holo with deadly accuracy, and I can't imagine anyone else rather than J. Michael Tatum as Lawrence, but it still came off as dull. In truth, the novel can't translate into good TV or comics.

Don't get me wrong - Spice and Wolf is a GREAT read. It pulled me in and kept me there with an enticing translation describing Lawrence's strategies and Holo's unpredictable, playful attitude. If you're up for sitting down to read an actual BOOK rather than a comic, I highly recommend Spice and Wolf.

- Much luvz, Hideki.

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