Sunday, November 12, 2006

   Wear sunscreen...

Anime Word of the Day

Sensei (先生) is a Japanese title used to refer to or address teachers, professionals such as doctors and lawyers, politicians, clergymen, and other authority figures. It is also used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill: accomplished novelists, musicians, and artists are addressed with the title in this way. Sensei is also one of the common Japanese martial arts titles.

Opening Act:
Hiya folks! Sorry I’ve been gone for a few days…however for me this is a bit of an emotional time. As I hope most of the US residents known last Friday was Veteran’s Day. A day given to honor those who serve and have served in the military. I know there are a few new folks on here who don’t know but I’m a former Marine Corp member. My term in the military ended oh nearly 10 years ago now but I still remember it clearly. And I still keep in touch with my military friends and family. It’d be hard not to after all my Dad is still fairly active in the Navy. ^^ Anyway my father and I have a tradition for Veteran’s day which was rather stalled this year. Mostly because he’s out of the country and I’m a bit stuck do to this broken leg. Blah! Anyway this tradition is a trip to Arlington to visit our fallen comrades at the Arlington National Cemetery. Hmm I’m fairly certain most of you are familiar with this cemetery, it tends to be shown in a lot of military movies and TV shows. I guess endless lines of white grave markings are a good visual for television. It’s not quite as nice to see in person…particularly when you know way too many of the names on those markings.

Unfortunately my Father was reactivated recently to offer his particular brand of expertise to the activities going on in Asia so he’s not home to go. And Arlington is a long ways away when I’m stuck traveling more than five feet from my bed in a wheel chair. However that doesn’t mean I’m going to stay at home and stare at the ceiling feeling annoyed with myself all day. ^^ I’m way too stubborn for that…instead I convinced some friends of mine to take me down to the VA, (Veteran Affairs) where I was able to meet up with a group of Seattle veterans who’d gathered to share stories and experiences. It was actually a great deal of fun. Honestly most soldiers who serve during war time have a hard time sharing their experiences, mostly because the things you experience can’t be explained in a few sentences. However all that goes away when you’re with other soldiers…because they’ve been where you are. And ok I took a great deal of pleasure being coddled by veterans because of my leg and such. They kept explaining to me that when you leave the military you’re not supposed to go beat up cars instead. Hehehe

This was honestly a first time for me…though I do spend a lot of my time with military personal, they tend to be my father’s friends and staff and people I served with. It was a bit nice to be just an anonymous soldier in a group. So I spent most of the weekend staying there with the guys and just goofing around. Since a lot of the veterans are disabled a few of them have nurses; they were kind enough to lend me a hand around the place with my leg. One of the physical therapist even gave me some good advice for exercises I can do in bed without causing more damage to my already messed up body. LoL

So anyway that’s why I haven’t been on this weekend! So I apologize for missing out on posts and such! I’m working my way through sites after I get this silly thing posted! ^^

Oh and for those of you wondering, yes I was living in one of the flooded regions of Washington. However thankfully we didn’t suffer too much damage. I have the misfortune of living with a salmon stream in my backyard. ^^ They’re fairly deep and quick normally but with this flooding my stream became a river! Eeps! So most of my backyard is pretty much just muddy water. Thankfully its slowing going down and the house doesn’t appear to be showing any damage from the water exposure, so I’m one of the lucky ones! My heart goes out to everyone who had dams and levies break!

New Works:
Hmm I put together a silly wallpaper on a whim…this one is of Mori from Ouran High School Host Club. But I used the image of him in the samurai outfit and placed him deep in the forest. ^^ It didn’t turn out quite as well as I wanted it too…but I worked long enough on it. I was starting to go crazy trying to get the shading to look right. LoL

I also whipped up a small simple wallpaper staring Mokkun from the new series Shounen Onmyouji. I love this new series, by the way and Mokkun is just adorable! He’s kind of this mix between a cat and a rabbit. LoL I love how anime designs various demons and related characters!

Epilogue:
First off thanks to everyone who checked out the charity event I posted about last week. And please help out if you can! ^^ And let other folks know about it if you can as well; the more people out there donating the better for all those kids in hospitals around the world. Oh and this time a smaller banner up on top of my screen for anyone who misplaced the link or missed my last post. ^^ It’ll stay up there until the drive is done at Christmas.

And a comic, just because it made me laugh and related to our conversation about the charity event. Hehehe

Hmm I didn’t answer my random question from a two posts ago so I’ll do that now. It had to do with rewatching or rereading series! I actually do this a lot for mangas. I love to sit down and read a whole series over again, especially if it’s a long series that’s still ongoing. Berserk and Hajime No Ippo are two I’ve read several dozen times while waiting eagerly for new stuff to be posted. Hehehe Actually that’s why I posted that question…I was rereading Hajime No Ippo again. LoL Oh that’s a boxing related manga for those not familiar with it. There’s also a great anime that follows the manga beautifully though it ends better the manga does. ^^

But I don’t tend to watch a whole anime series again, unless I’m watching it with someone whose never seen it. However I do rewatch my fave episodes or fave fights etc. ^^ Probably part of the reason I love anime music videos, they put all my faves scenes together with music! LoL

Random Question: Do you like my new theme? LoL Sorry the poor Berserk theme was annoying me since it wasn't easy to read against. ^^

Kirby Morrow’s Biography
Date of birth: August 28, 1973, Jasper, Alberta Age:33 Occupation: Voice Actor/ Comedian/ Actor How did you get into voice acting? “I’ve never really separated these two genres of acting. To me, it’s all acting. Playing a character on screen and voicing a character both require a lot of emotional and physical commitment. Animated characters often require an even larger physical commitment due to the over exuberant nature of cartoons. Having a theatrical background and experience as a comedian both played important parts in the development of my voice career. I trained my voice extensively then I made a Cartoon and Commercial demo CD and started getting auditions for voice gigs.”
Special Request Voice Actor! Wow I am quite familiar with this gentleman’s voice but I’ve never seen a picture of him before. But wow…look at that chest! O.o Hehehe Ok yes I’m easily distracted. But wow…that’s just amazing for a guy who does most of his work behind the scenes. ^^ I knew I recognized him too, he made a short appearance on Stargate Atlantis! I’m still kind of amused at the fact I had to hunt around for a mini-photo of last time’s voice actor but I came across literally hundreds of pictures of Kirby. Apparently the draw of those pecs isn’t unique to just me. Hehehe The site linked to the above photo by the way is a fan based site at the time of my searching is official site wasn’t working. *cries* So very sad! *coughs and looks serious and starts singing the theme to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Dragon Ball Z as Goku Escaflowne: The Movie as Van of Adom Vision of Escaflowne as Van Fanel Hikaru no Go as Ito Inu Yasha as Miroku Mobile Suit Gundam as Lt. Woody Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny as Rey Za Burrel Mobile Suit Gundam Wing as Trowa Barton Project ARMS as Ryo Takatsuki Star Ocean EX as Allen Tokyo Underground as Sui Infinite Ryvius as Yuki Aiba X-Men: Evolution as Cyclops/Scott Summers Kong: The Animated Series as Jason Jenkins Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Michelangelo

Comments (12) | Permalink

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

   Tis the Season for Charity!

Anime Word of the Day

OVA Original Video Animation (オリジナル・ビデオ・アニメーション orijinaru bideo animēshon), abbreviated OVA (オーブイエー Ōbuiē), is a term used in Japan for anime titles that are released directly to retail sale, without prior showings on TV or in theaters. OVA titles were originally available on VHS, though they later became available on other media such as Laserdisc and DVD. OVA is sometimes used, perhaps inappropriately, to refer to any extremely short anime series or special regardless of its release format. OAV or original animated video is sometimes used in place of OVA, and the meaning is generally accepted to be the same. However the abbreviation OAV was too similar to AV ("Adult Video"), causing OAV to be misinterpreted as original adult video, resulting in a shift towards the OVA abbreviation.

Opening Act:
Hello Everyone! Well this will be a pretty short post. Well at least for me that is! I’m posting for one reason! I want to let everyone know about Child’s Play! A fantastic charity event started by some Seattle gamers. ^^ And to quote Gabe, “For three years now, we’ve set up and organized a charity called Child’s Play. We set it up because we were angry the media decided to blame all the world’s problems on games and gamers. Basically they said that gamers were bad people, and we thought that wasn’t right. Apparently, you guys agreed: through Child’s Play you sent over a million dollars in toys, games, and cash to the sick kids in children’s hospitals around the world.”

This is actually one of the best and most heart felt charities I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. 100% of the profits go to the kids. Nothing is held back. In fact if you chose to send toys/games instead of cash it actually goes straight to the hospital you choose rather to the organizers. Please if you can spare a few minutes to check out the site and read the About page and check out the wish lists from the hospitals involved.

Even the tiniest donation can help and as a kid who spent way too much time in hospitals growing up I know all too well how much joy something as simple as a video game can bring!

Ok enough lecturing…I just hope you can help out and if nothing else please grab a banner to place on your sites and help spread the word!

New Works:
A couple of new works from me. Wallpapers; 1 from D.Gray-man, 1 from DeathNote, 2 from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and 1 from Shounen Onmyouji. ^^ I think they’re rather pretty so admire them, ignore them. Whichever makes you happy!

Sorry no question or voice actor this post! I’ll post more of my meaningless chatter next time!
Comments (12) | Permalink

Monday, November 6, 2006

   Sing as though you don't know you're tone deaf!

Anime Word of the Day

Otaku(お宅) is a Japanese pejorative term used to refer to a variety of geek, fanboy or fangirl, particularly one obsessed with such hobbies as anime and manga. When applied to a person, the word generally has negative connotations which it has yet to completely shake, though it can have either positive or negative connotations depending on the situation and the person using the term. In modern Japanese slang, an otaku refers to an overtly obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby. Common uses are anime otaku (one who sometimes enjoys many days of excessive anime watching with no rest) and manga otaku (a fan of Japanese graphic novels), pāsokon otaku (personal computer geeks), gēmu otaku (playing video games), and otaku that are extreme fans of idols, heavily promoted singing girls. There are also tetsudō otaku (metrophiles) or gunji otaku (military geeks). While these are the most common uses of otaku, the word can be applied to anything (music otaku, martial arts otaku, cooking otaku, etc).

Opening Act:
Hi everyone! Sorry I was a bit delayed in getting to people’s site this weekend. I had a couple of really good reasons! Hmm well one good reason at least…the other was me playing video games pretty much non-stop! LoL See not really the best reason. LoL The good reason was my roomie bought a new router for our house network so he spent some time getting that set up. This meant no playing on the internet while he played with that. See that’s a much better reason than me being stuck playing video games. I’m still playing pretty much the same games as I mentioned last time Final Fantasy XII and Okami. Yes I’m completely addicted!

I’m a bit shocked to discover today that I won 3rd place in the e-card contest. ^^ I was a bit surprised since I didn’t expect anything from this contest. Especially since I avoided the rules with the whole spooky theme and just went for a silly theme. Oh well I’m happy and I’m glad folks enjoyed the card. And well for anyone who hadn’t seen it you can see it now. LoL

It was quite a lot of fun to visit sites this week, I loved seeing folks switching out of the Halloween themes into new ones as well as hearing about how they spent their Halloween. I loved seeing photos too! It always gives me new ideas about what to dress up as in the future! Something I appreciate since I lack the ability to dress myself. ^^

Is anyone playing Neverwinter Nights II? I know it just came out but I had to choose between FFXII and that. But I haven’t heard any reviews yet and I’m curious how it all looks! I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed with FFXII quality of animation. After waiting so long the cut scenes and game play seem pretty much the same quality as FFXI which came out…hmm what five years ago? O.o Why exactly was this one delayed so long? LoL Oh well I know they’re working on XIII right now for the PS3 so maybe that one will make me smile again.

Oh time for my recommendations of new anime series to watch or at least watch out for!! I’ve got a couple of them this time through. And I will say again…Death Note and D.Gray-man just keep getting better and better! Both are on their fifth episode now and are just as amazing as the first four! Lovely work!

Also a new series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion – This anime had me intrigued simply by its animation style. It’s from Clamp so if you’re familiar with XXXholic or Tsubasa Chronicles you know what style I’m talking about. But not only is it beautiful but the storyline is amazingly thought out and more unique than I gave it credit for at first! The story starts out with Japan being conquered by the Brittania nation. A nation which as pretty much taken over most of the world, including North and South America. ^^ In our first image we see two young boys staring out from a beautiful forest as bombs and explosions fill the horizon. We later see these same two boys standing solemnly next to a pile of burning bodies. One looks sad and lost the other angry…he swears he will crush Brittania. Not that new right? Now he’s the fun…Lelouch the angry boy…is Brittanian. He was visiting the country with his friend when his nation invaded. Odd timing no? Considering Lelouch is also a member of the royal family. The storyline just gets more twisted from there, adding new enemies, hidden pasts, lost friends and twisted betrayals along with godlike powers. ^^I don’t think it’s a far stretch to compare Lelouch to Raito from Death Note. Both characters have decided to use their minds and powers to create a better world…in their image. ^^ So far only four episodes have aired and I have to admit I’ve enjoyed every moment of them. Unfortunately so far only one fan sub team has picked up this series and they’re not one I care much for. The codec and subbing detail run a bit flat and misspellings are common. Nonetheless its still a great series and I have hopes of another subbing team picking it up! ^^

Hmm I was going to talk about another series but this post is already running long so I’ll make you wait for next time. LoL

New Works:
A couple of new goodies this week. I made up a few more Prince of Tennis wallpapers with a few of the lesser known members of the rival teams. For some reason I have such a fondness for every character in this series! It’s beyond weird. Normally I forgot the rivals before they’ve finished a match and yet with this show I can remember names, schools, grades and power moves even after them disappearing from the screen a 100 episodes ago. LoL Maybe that’s just a sign of my true addiction to this anime series and manga…and OVA’s… Yeah I’m addicted I’ll just go with that! ^^

I also posted a D.Gray-man wallpaper that I’ve been fooling around with for a while now. It’s from the manga this time not the anime. But it’s a shot that has always made me smile. Or maybe it’s just the fact I like Allen for playing poker and cheating. Hehehe

That’s all for the wallpapers this time and I have a few e-cards that I should be submitting later today if my internet decides to behave. It’s feeling a bit temperamental this evening. I’m guessing it’s working out the kinks with the new router … either that or it just wants to kick me offline. Hehehe

Epilogue:
Hmm I asked about the first anime that got you into the otaku spirit…mostly because I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I mean I’ve watched various animes all my life but never really fall into an otaku mindset. But deciding which one pushed me over the end has always been a bit of a debate for me. I mean…Rurouni Kenshin made me spend several hundred dollars to order illegal copies online. LoL Ok at the time I didn’t know they were illegal...honestly. I still have them actually and they still look like a professional box set. But anyway…does that make me otaku? Or does draining my bandwidth for weeks while I scrambled for Naruto episodes push me over into the otaku view point. Hmm or could it be berserk…no other series has ever made me do as much online research and spend so much on manga as that series. LoL Darn expensive mature audience mangas…Perhaps Wolf’s Rain…I ended up buying that whole DVD set too since Adult Swim wasn’t going to show the full thing. Bah…of course then they showed the full thing. LoL So yeah...I don’t know…but I’m happy to be one. ^^

Hmm no questions again this week…I must be making more sense in my posts lately. Either that or you guys gave up on me. ^^

Random Question: Is there any anime series or mangas that you’ve read/watched more than once? Just because you wanted too. ^^ Not because you were showing it to someone new.

John Burgmeier’s Biography
Date of birth: September 24, 1974 in Mesquite, Texas Age:32 Occupation: Voice Actor/Script Coordinator/Script Writer/Producer/Director Fave Ice Cream: Mint chocolate chip
Special Request Voice Actor! Ok trying to find a picture of John has driven me completely insane. I have never been to so many websites in a row. Unfortunately not a single one has a decent photo of him! Most have this tiny little shot of him that just drives me to distraction! Oh well I guess I’ll have to settle for that unless I get lucky some how and one pops up. But man I had no idea there were that many conventions out there. LoL Anyway I’m an old time fan of John ever since I heard him voice the lovely Kurama from Yu Yu Hakushu I’ve been a loyal listener to his voice acting! Hehehe Yes I’m easily won over by people who voice fox demons. ^^ Honestly though he’s a very talented voice actor who brings a great deal of personality to all of the character he’s portrayed. I was honestly surprised to see he’d done so little voice acting. But I’m guessing his other career choices keep him pretty busy as well. He is the son of Linda Chambers-Young, who also voices characters for FUNimation. Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Basilisk as Chikuma Koshiro BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad as Eiji Blue Gender as Joey Heald Dragon Ball as Tien Fruits Basket as Shigure Sohma Fullmetal Alchemist as Dorochet/Dorchet Gunslinger Girl as Jose Kiddy Grade as Smith Samurai 7 as Kanzo Spiral as Eyes Rutherford Trinity Blood as Father Hugue de Watteau Yu Yu Hakusho as Kurama Kodocha as Rei Sagami

Comments (10) | Permalink

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

   New themes are fun!!

Anime Word of the Day

Chibi (ちび) as an English word is slang used in some circles (for example otaku). It has its origins in the Japanese language. In the context of anime or manga, is used to describe a style of drawing a character in a highly stylized way, with stubby bodies that are about the same size as the head. A chibi rendition of a character is usually done for comedic purposes. Recreational anime artists sometimes use the term super deformed interchangeably with chibi and some use it to describe a child or baby version of an anime or manga character. In Japanese, chibi is used to describe a short person or child. It may also connote a derogatory meaning when addressing a minor. It is comparable to the English terms runt, dwarf, or shrimp.

Opening Act:
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Halloween. Or if not at least a pretty good Tuesday. ^^ Mine went really well I was actually pretty surprised. A small group of friends came over and hung out with me. Since with this stupid accident I couldn’t go out the parties like I wanted too. Though I did discover that several of my friends get scared really easily! Hehehe So that was an added bonus. I quite enjoyed watching them jump and cringe away from the horror movies we watched. The Grunge proved to be quite the thriller to most of them. LoL It’s just not as freaky when you’ve already seen it once though. ^^ It was great though we kept the lights turned out and my windows covered and lit a few candles. Kept the place feeling nice and spooky for the movies.

And of course I did my fave Halloween tease later that evening…my friend Dan came in and read tarot by candlelight. He’s really good at it too…freaky good at it. ^^ And I pulled out the Ouiji Board! I’ve got a great board, it’s this huge wooden carved one with black lacquered letterings. It really pulls you into the game. Always a great time with a receptive crowd. Hehehe Oh for those of you not familiar with this basically, a ouija board is the term given to a sheet of wood with the letters of the alphabet printed or written across it, along with the numbers 0-9, and the words YES, NO, and GOODBYE. A pointing implement - a planchette is placed onto the board and the people present each place one finger each on it. One person generally speaks aloud and calls for anybody in the spirit world to respond. This sometimes yields a response, more often than not nothing happens - although this can vary depending on who is present, some people are better 'conductors' than others. People can get a bit freaked out about using them, but honestly I quite enjoy the experience. And I’ve never not had the planchette move. ^^

Yes I believe in spirits and the spirit world…I also believe in magic! No I don’t think saying Hocus Pocus is going to grant me wishes. Though I wish it would…^^ But I do believe in the unexplainable out there. Otherwise life would be really boring!

Ok yay for new video games! I also have to blame LordSesshomaru for bringing up the game Okami. I was resisting buying this game but after he talked about it I changed my mind! Darn it! It’s such a fun game! And unique not only in animation but in game play style itself. Plus there’s just something great about running around as a god in wolf form.

Also this week brings the release of Final Fantasy XII and Neverwinter Nights II. I had to choose between these too. And I couldn’t resist FFXII, I’ve been waiting so very long for this game to come out! I’ve played pretty much every single FF game and I have yet to find one I didn’t enjoy on some level. And this one looks a bit darker than the earlier ones so I’m pretty impressed so far. Unfortunately I’ve been fighting my roomies for game time…they’re mean they hide the game downstairs where I can’t reach it!! Darn it all! Oh well at least I still have this closed beta game I’m testing and Okami to play with!

New Works:
Well a new theme for after the holiday season! I’m now featuring my fave characters from Berserk! Berserk was actually one of the first anime series I watched and it frustrated me to no end! LoL Anyone who’s seen it knows why. I’ve never met another series that introduced so many amazing themes and then just stopped with no plans for a 2nd season! So I also have Berserk to thank for introducing me to the wonderful world of manga. Since the series continues on after the anime series ends. ^^ Even better the manga story adds more characters and more details and is still an ongoing series! Yay for new manga stories every month! LoL Folks generally call this the never-ending series. ^^

I’ve also posted a few new wallpapers. The first two are from Prince of Tennis. One of my always favorite captain Atobe and one of two of Fudomine’s greats Shinji and Kamio. I had a bit of fun creatively with these wallpapers and I hope others like the effect. I think they turned out quite well and well if I like them. I’m happy with that. LoL

Epilogue:
My fave Halloween costume wasn’t really one that I put together. I had some friends who worked on monster make up for movies and such and for Halloween a couple of years ago they agreed to turn us all into creatures of darkness! ^^ So I got stuck in a chair for five hours and turned into this reptilian alien thingie. It was amazingly realistic and we scared a lot of people at the downtown festival. ^^ I’ve never had so many photo ops with complete strangers…lol Now I know how cosplayers feel when they attend conventions.

Aww no conversations this week…my post is pretty much long enough right now isn’t it? Besides I think I answered most of your questions in this post or at your sites. Hehehe

Random Question: What was the first anime that really got you into the otaku attitude?

Monica Rial’s Biography
Date of birth: October 5, 1975 in Houston, Texas Age: 31 Occupation: Voice Actress; Script work; Dancer
Special Request Voice Actress! I admit I haven’t heard this voice actress in very many shows, most of the shows she’s worked on are ones I watched in Japanese. ^^ But I did enjoy her performance in Yu Yu Hakusho and in Full Metal Alchemist! Just a short listing of her voice acting career. Angelic Layer as Tamayo Kizaki Azumanga Daioh as Minamo "Nyamo" Kurosawa Bakuretsu Tenshi as Jo Basilisk as Okoi Case Closed as Amy Chrono Crusade as Florette "Fiore" Harvenheit D.N.Angel as Towa Elfen Lied as Kanae Full Metal Panic! as Kyouko Tokiwa Fullmetal Alchemist as Lyra Gravion as Marinia Gunslinger Girl as Angelica Jinki:Extend as Shizuka Tsuzaki Neon Genesis Evangelion as Maya Ibuki Noir as Kirika Yumura Peacemaker as Saya; Saizo Pretear as Tipi; Yayoi RahXephon as Haruka Shitow Saiyuki as Howei; Kouran; Rin Rei Samurai 7 as Shino Spiral as Rio Takeuchi Tactics as Muuchan Utawarerumono as Yuzuha Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files as Gamemaster Yugo the Negotiator as Laila Yumeria as Mizuki Agatsuma

Comments (19) | Permalink

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

   Ka-BOOM!!

Anime Word of the Day

Kemono (獣 or けもの "beast") is a genre of Japanese art and character design that prominently features animal-like fictional characters in human-like settings and situations. It is used widely in drawing, painting, manga, anime, and video game designs, many of which are popular in the rest of the world.Human-like animal characters in the kemono genre are frequently called Jūjin (獣人 or じゅうじん "therianthrope"; alternatively, these characters are also sometimes read as kemonobito "beast-human"). Their unique design differs from artist to artist, but in general they combine popular character design with animal traits deemed cute and endearing. However, most kemono character designs retain a fundamentally human character and personality, seldom acting like the real animals after which they are designed. As such, kemono are usually shown living the way normal humans live in the same setting: speaking normal language, wearing normal clothes, eating normal food, living in normal homes, in ways that blur their distinction from ordinary humans.

Opening Act:
Hello everyone! Well I’ve had probably one of the worst weekends… *cries* Unfortunately about mid-last week. Wednesday I think it was my computer CPU apparently burnt out! And as my roomies desperately ran around town trying to find a replacement we found out that stores no longer carry the type of CPU my computer used. Augh! So as they panicked and ran around doing stuff to try and fix it…I stare blankly at the ceiling. Hehehe Ok not quite that bad…I mean I read books and watched TV. But I really never noticed how much time I spent on this silly computer. It really is my key to freedom since I can’t do anything else right now. ^^ Thankfully last night my roomies managed to dig up a CPU that is working in my computer right now. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a temporary fix and I’m not sure what I’ll do if the same thing happens again.

Anyway I’m sorry I haven’t been to anyone’s sites!! Hmm needless to say the subject above was pretty much the only reason why I didn’t visit. I certainly had enough time on my hands! Hehehe After I finish up this little post here I plan on visiting everyone! So if you’ve updated your sites in the past week expect to see me stopping by!

New Works:
Hm no computer means no goodies. Sorry! With luck I can make up some this week. I’m thinking about doing a few Prince of Tennis ones with some scans I’ve had saved up. ^^

Epilogue:
Hmm I love all kinds of candy, but I think my favorites hang between Twizzlers and 3 Musketeer bars! I really don’t know what nougat is…and I never want to know. But I love that gooey stuff! LoL

destinyssweetman - ^^ No worries about my friends being mean on Halloween, they’re a silly group of pals and way to chicken to do anything scary on Halloween. LoL That’s why they’re coming over here. They figure they can avoid the evil stuff their other friends have planned for the night. LoL Such as sweet lil’bro! *huggles* And yup I want you to check out Death Note lots and lots. ^^ I actually convinced two of my roommates to watch the episodes I had saved and they’re completely addicted. ^^They ask me a couple times a week now if I’ve gotten anything more on that ‘twisted series.’ LoL

JungWoo – Oh I’m happy to feature English voice actors as well if that’s what you like. So feel free to suggest any of those. Just make sure you tell me English if you’re looking for a certain character’s voice. ^^ Lately suggestions have been before Japanese actors but I have done a few English ones in the past. I tend to watch both so I’m happy to explore and do research.

ElvesAteMyRamen – And yup I’m downloading the latest DeathNote animes and you’ll have a lot of variety in choosing which one you’d like. LoL I happen to prefer the TW subbing. But LiveEvil is pretty good too. Just a matter of tastes at this point really. ^^ And yup Tamaki and Light are the same voice actor… and just for you he’s this weeks biography!

DarkFaerie88 – Hmm well I’ve done a biography on Greg Ayres already so you’ll have to check my archives for that one. ^^ However I can definitely do biographies on Monica Rial and John Burgmeier.

tomieharley – Ah the DeathNote movie was completely amazing! The effects, the acting, all top notch! However so far I’ve only managed to get a hold of a Japanese version. So I don’t think any fansubs are available yet. And the copy I got wasn’t very good. LoL The joy of trying to work with video pirates!

Random Question: What was your favorite Halloween costume from your childhood? Assuming you celebrated Halloween. ^^ Or at least dressed up!

Mamoru Miyano’s Biography
Other Names: Family name (in kanji): 宮野 Given name (in kanji): 真守 Date of birth: June 8, 1983 in Saitama, Japan. Blood Type: B Occupation:Voice Actor, Singer, Musician
Special request voice actor! Well I first heard Mamoru as the voice of Tamaki so he’s a fairly new voice actor for me. But I was thrilled to see him doing the voice of Light on DeathNote. He does an amazing job switching between Light’s various personalities. I was quite surprised though I guess I shouldn’t have been Tamaki after all was more than just a comedic character even if he was played that way most of the series. ^^ Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Death Note as Light Yagami Eureka 7 as Moondoggie Eyeshield 21 as Haruto Sakuraba Ouran High School Host Club as Tamaki Suou The Prince of Tennis (live-action movie) as Yanagi Renji Wolf's Rain as Kiba Love Love? as Naoto Ooizumi Gakuen Alice as Noda-sensei Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~ as Riku Aoba Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monster GX as Abidos the Third Zipang as Katsutoshi Hayashibara Kingdom Hearts (video game) as Riku

Comments (15) | Permalink

Sunday, October 15, 2006

   Sunday Morning Delights!

Anime Word of the Day

Kemonomimi (獣耳 animal ears) is an anime and manga terminology that describes humanoid characters that possess animal like features. The characters will be predominately human and any real animal characteristics are minimal, unlike kemono characters who possess a large percentage of animal parts in ratio with their human parts. Generally kemonomimi characters have ears and a tail which is animal like. Often this is just part of their attire and can be removed at will. Cat, typically called catgirls or nekomimi. Rabbit, typically called bunnygirls or usagimimi. Dog, sometimes known as inumimi Fox, sometimes known as kitsunemimi

Opening Act:
Hello everyone! I hope everyone has had a very enjoyable weekend with all kinds of weekend goodness. ^^ So glad that everyone is enjoying my little Halloween theme, I have to admit it’s the darkest (visual) wise I’ve done so far. So I’m a bit at odds at whether I like the dark side or not. LoL

Hmm fairly slow weekend for me actually. I finished watching the Utawarerumono anime series. And I have to admit this is still one of my faves. Not for a complex plot but because I’m just so terribly fond of all of the characters. It’s rare for me to see such a large casting and not dislike at least half of the players. LoL And the ending was very sweet and sad all by itself…I know this series can’t continue…but that doesn’t mean I wish I could see more of it. Now if only the manga wasn’t such a horrible bit of fluff. LoL

I’ve happily gotten even more of my friends addicted to Death Note. LoL I’m constantly amazed how just letting someone watch one episode of anime can completely change their mindsets. I know most of you don’t watch things until they come to the US, but I have to say if you have the opportunity to check out this series. Then please do! I’ve yet to meet anyone who can sit down and watch this series or read the manga that hasn’t become obsessed with it. Hehehe

Oh…I’ve learned something about myself. I’m really fickle. LoL This occurred me as I was talking to a friend and admitting I was so sad to see everyone subbing Death Note was following the official manga spellings. Then not five minutes later I was complaining that no one for D.Gray-man was following the official manga spellings. So I’ve learned…official spellings are only good for me if I like the way they spell them. Lmao! See…fickle. Hehehe Oh well at least I can admit I and get on with my life. I was starting to annoy my friends with this rant. See aren’t you happy, now you don’t have to hear the whole thing. ^^

Oh happy note the annoying strapping tape and sling thingie on my collarbone/shoulder came off yesterday. I still can’t really move my arm around a lot but it feels so much better with that itchy stuff off! LoL And I finally got to take a real shower!! Ok so my legs all wrapped in plastic but still I was able to get all wet! Hehehe Yeah I know I’m weird but you have no idea what its like to try and get clean with half baths and towels. Yuckers! Anyway the doctor says my collarbone is still broken, but its mended enough that as long as I don’t do a lot of lifting and shifting around it shouldn’t need to be bound again. Thank the gods! Now I just need to get this thing off my leg. LoL I know patience…only a few more hmm weeks to go right? LoL Also got most of my stitches taken out, there’s a few that have to remain a bit longer but nothing that really affects my appearance so I don’t mind. ^^ See a good weekend! LoL

New Works:
Hmm sorry to say no new wallpapers…though I have a couple I’m working on they’re not ready to be posted at this time. With luck later this week. Assuming I can convince photoshop to do the manipulations I want it too. LoL

Oh I did post my Halloween e-card for Adam’s contest. LoL I don’t think it will win, since its not exactly scary. Twisted maybe, but not scary. ^^ Check it out if you’re interested. It’s a Death Note based card.

Epilogue:
Hmm I plan on sitting in bed and staring out my window making freaky faces at kids trick or treating. LoL Just kidding…actually a group of friend are coming over and we’re watching horror type movies until the wee hours of the morning. ^^ Should be a lot of silliness involved so I’m excited for that. This will be the first year I don’t get to dress up and go out so I’m a bit bummed on that side, but still time with friends is always a good thing. Plus I get to massacre a pumpkin later this week and that’s always a great thing! ^^

Yensid – Sweet, you’re learning so much good stuff from your class! I’m so jealous! Hehehe maybe I should do some online classes since I’m stuck here anyway. Aww you reminded me about atrophy…man now I have to make my roomie go dig out the ankle weights so I can at least do some exercises on my good leg while I’m lying here watching TV. LoL Ah the bg image is actually an extraction of three different images layered together and then I used a canvas texturing tool to give it a painting type feel. At least that was the hope. ^^ I like to add texturing it seems to add a certain sharpness when dealing with screen captures. ^^

sweetdevil – Yup I’m struggling to learn to vector. I thought it would be a lot easier than it’s turning out to be. For some reason I just can’t seem the grasp the logic behind outlines and complex areas like eyes just leave me baffled! Oh well all I can do is practice right? ^^

Jangalian – Oh voice actor suggestions are always welcome. Much thx! I’ll have to include yours as this week’s selection! And of course I adore Jirou so how could I resist! Hehehe

princess ookumae – Hmm well if you still want to check out Smith you’ll be stuck finding it online. *cries* They totally removed it, not even a word of warning either. Grr…now they’re playing repeats of CSI and Criminal Minds like every day. No fair at all. Hmm Kidnapped has filmed 13 episodes and I guess they get to air all of them, but most US season last about 24. So I don’t even know if 13 episodes will even finish the current storyline! O.o And it was such an interesting piece of writing too. I liked the idea of a kidnap investigator who was more interested in recovery than in catching the bad guys. Oh well…so much for my TV watching this season. ^^

Dark Phoenix - ^^ No worries about being out of the loop, it happens to us all once in a while. And yup I’m getting all healed up…now I just need to remember never play tag with cars. Hehehe Not that I’m likely to forget any time soon. Hmm well at least not until I can walk again. LoL

ElvesAteMyRamen – Oh Tamaki’s voice actor is a good choice. I’ll do him next post…Hehehe Sorry Jangalion’s suggestion beat yours into my inbox. ^^ Besides I was actually thinking of doing him as well…considering he’s now voicing Raito/Light for Death Note! ^^ Shocking for me considering Raito isn’t really the nicest character for a comedic voice actor to portray! ^^ And you know it’s funny for an English major I’m just horrible at grammar unless I have an editor check all my work. So feel free to smack me for doing stuff like that. ^^ I probably won’t change it but still it at least makes me hesitate before doing it again!

Reno The Turk – Banner thief!!!! ^^ Good luck on your game! I wish you many touchdowns and no injuries! ^^

Random Question: What's your favorite candy?

Yuji Ueda’s Biography
Other Names: Family name (in kanji): うえだ - Given name (in kanji): ゆうじ Birth name: Yuuji (祐司) Ueda (上田) Date of birth: June 15, 1957 in Fukuoka, Japan Blood Type: A Occupation:Voice Actor, Singer
Special request voice actor! Although this voice actor has probably done about double what I’ve listed below I tried to pick some of his more popular roles to give you a good idea of what he’s up too. ^^ As Jangalian mentioned in her comment last week he’s one of the great ones! I first heard him in Kenshin and his voice is still the one I hear whenever I think of Sano! ^^ But did you know this gentleman also plays the violin, adores photography and practices apanese Sword Battle (Tate). And he’s currently married to talented voice actress Omi Minami. Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Angel Sanctuary (OAV) as Yue Katou ARIA The ANIMATION (TV) as Woody Ayakashi Ayashi (TV) as Kumoshichi Bleach (TV) as Orihime's brother Blue Seed (TV) as Yoshiki Yaegashi Burst Angel (TV) as Kyohei Tachibana Chobits (TV) as Hiroyuki Ueda Cowboy Bebop: The Movie as Lee Samson Di Gi Charat (TV) as Abarenbou Eden's Bowy (TV) as Mikaera; Spike Randit Escaflowne: The Movie as Reeden Fruits Basket (TV) as Makoto Takei Fullmetal Alchemist (TV) as Zolof Kimblee Fushigi Yuugi (TV) as Amiboshi; Suboshi Honey and Clover (TV) as Shinobu Morita Ichigo 100% (TV) as Hiroshi Sotomura Inu Yasha (TV) as Akitoki Hojo Jigoku Shoujo (TV) as Hajime Shibata Love Hina (TV) as Keitarou Urashima Mushishi (TV) as Adashino-sensei One Piece (TV) as Sarquiss Ouran High School Host Club (TV) as Tonji (ep 13); Umehito Nekozawa Peacemaker (TV) as Tatsunosuke Ichimura Pretear (TV) as Kaoru Awayuki Rurouni Kenshin (TV) as Sanosuke Sagara The Prince of Tennis (TV) as Akutagawa Jirou The Third (TV) as Joey Toy The Twelve Kingdoms (TV) as Ikuya Asano Violinist of Hamelin (TV) as Hamel/Chestra Vision of Escaflowne (TV) as Reeden

Comments (7) | Permalink

Thursday, October 12, 2006

   Holiday Theme Alert!

Anime Word of the Day

Omake (お負け but often written オマケ) means extra or bonus in Japanese. Among other things, the term is used to describe what in English are called 'Special Features' on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the actors, "the making of" documentary clips, outtakes, amusing bloopers, and so forth. However, this use of the term actually predates the DVD medium by several years. For at least the past 50 years in Japan, omake of small character figurines and toys have been giveaways that come with soft drinks and candy and often the omake is more desired than the product being sold.

Opening Act:
Happy Halloween everyone! Ok I know the actually holiday is a few weeks away yet but I finished up the wallpaper I wanted to use as the theme for it so I couldn’t resist putting it up a little bit early. Besides I’m going with a whole new theme after the holiday so I might as well let this one spend a little time on the site. Actually that one is done too, I’ve been in a bit of a creative mood tonight. Next theme is Berserk…and don’t worry even if the manga isn’t I’m keeping the theme PG-13. ^^

Things have been going pretty good for me lately, I’ve been mostly just hanging out with friends and such as they visit me and make fun of me. LoL Good friends huh? ^^ Nah they keep coming over to sign my casts, but the casts are not sign friendly. ^^ They’re this weird porous material thing with holes in various places for the pins to secure my leg through. Its weird, I guess more stable though for the type of breaks I had. But still…its hard to sign those things! ^^

I’m kinda sad though…a few of the new shows I was watching this season have already been cancelled. I mean sure they may not have been amazing shows…but still cancelled after 3 episodes? Doesn’t that seem a little quick off the mark? Hmm lets see Smith was cancelled flat. Kidnapped is being allowed to finish its run and then its gone. Sad…I really liked Kidnapped. And I’ve noticed a couple other shows are off an hiatus right now…I wonder if they’ll make it back. So sad. I like a little originality and this season seemed to have a great deal of variety mixed into it. I’m getting so sick of CSI and its remakes…and I use to actually love those shows. O.o Maybe I’m the weird one huh?

Let’s see…anime wise I just started watching Flame of Recca. Anyone seen that? It’s a rather interesting show…I bit older I think. The anime style feels that way at least and it’s a complete series so I tend to think that way. But still it’s a funny show. Basically it’s about a boy sent from his home in the warring age to the present as a baby. He’s been fascinated by the idea of ninjas and has spent all his life training to be one. ^^ Needless to say to his other high school friends he’s a bit of an odd ball. ^^ Now the series pretty much revolves around him learning about his families past and what he really is. Interesting, I really like the random humor inserted. Makes even the darkest plot points amusing.

New Works:
Hmm let’s see since I posted last I think I’ve created one Prince of Tennis wallpaper of Atobe and oh I posted my contest winning Black Cat wallpaper. So you can check those out if you’re interested. And of course this new theme background is all mine as well. Hehehe Hope you like it too.

Bunch of e-cards as well…I’ve got another set to post…probably get those set up tomorrow though. I’m too tired to go through the process of uploading them. And well I’m still trying to decide if I wanna enter my Halloween ones into Adam’s contest. ^^ So many choices in life! LoL

Epilogue:
Hmm the last good book I read was by Glen Cook and not just one. I’ve just started reading his Black Company series and it’s really good! Not the most original storyline but the use of sarcasm and dry humor is just superb! I’m a big fan of that in books I read, I can’t deal with boring characters. LoL Oh and I’m also reading Phantom by Terry Goodkind which is the latest in his Sword of Truth series, so far so good. But I didn’t enjoy the last one very much so I’m hoping this one redeems the series for me. ^^ I just love reading new books so trust me when I say I’m going through your answers as well and seeing if there’s anything I haven’t read and can check out! ^^

Oh side note! I hope all the Canadians had a lovely Thanksgiving!!! ^^

DivineWind – Ah D.Gray-man is a story about a young man named Allen Walker. Allen is normal enough…ok no he’s not. LoL He’s actually a bit of an oddball. One of his arms is a anti-Akuma (demon weapon) weapon. And one of his eyes is cursed with the site that allows him to tell normal humans from Akumas. Basically the story is of him becoming and exorcist and traveling around with friends and other exorcists to destroy Akuma and save the world. Hmm that’s pretty basic…it’s a pretty in-depth story and such a great one. ^^ It makes a great deal of humor along with some pretty dark storylines. ^^

Yensid – Jensen Ackles! LoL Yay I looked something up! *giggles* Ok couldn’t resist that. And yup I was talking about an online rpg. Hmm whats the thing…Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game? Something like that anyway. LoL I actually quite enjoy them, I guess in a good way it allows me to take out my daily stresses by going out and setting fire to mystical bunnies rather than doing it to real ones. ^^ Hehehe Actually though I find a great deal of satisfaction in cutting through baddies on my computer screen after a long day of work or a frustrating situation. So this was really good timing…as anyone can tell you staying in bed sounds like fun until you can’t get out of the bed. LoL Hm so I’ve played the online games like Everquest II, Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft and now this latest one I’m testing. I tend to reach the highest lvl I can get and then I’m just bored with the game. Easily distracted I guess!

Jangalian – LoL Yes Death Note is big with the changing names. But well there’s a bit of logic to the changes in Raito’s name. The first subbers read the kanji as Raito…however Light is also written with that same kanji. So they went with the logical choice for a subber and choose the Japanese name. ^^ Probably why I prefer that spelling. However when the manga came to the US, they chose to translate Raito into Light. So a lot of subbers changed over. Makes me so sad. Oh Yagami is his family name and since he’s the oldest he’s often called by just that unless his father is around. ^^ And he’s also know as Kira. But really Kira was just the broad name given to the serial killer by folks online. ^^ Apparently a Kira is a demon/god ? that passes judgment over accused? Something like that, I don’t remember. LoL So he gets called by that name a lot too, though never to his face, since no one knows who he really is. Hmm that was a bit complicated huh? Still I just love the manga and the anime is looking so great too! I’ve watched the first episode like four times now. LoL

sweetdevil – Ah the wallpaper was lovely and the banner too! Though I’m glad you learned some new tricks to create with! I just love it when that happens! I’m trying to practice my vectoring and painting skills. I just can’t seem to get the hang of it though. I think I might be a bit too obsessive about it. I might have to just it for a bit and come back and try later. ^^ Learning is fun!

destinyssweetman – Silly boy quit dragging your feet, you’d get a kick out of DeathNote! Go read it now! Hehehe It’ll make the political side of you twitch! ^^ *huggles you tight* And you know if you’re feeling depressed or sad you just need to come pounce on me and I’ll help cheer you up. Or at least lend a shoulder for some tears. I also have a great punching back in the basement you can beat the crap out of it if you want too. ^^ That always makes me feel better. *huggles close* Take care of yourself ok? You make me worry about you lil’bro!

Random Question: What are your plans for Halloween?

Daisuke Namikawa’s Biography
Other Names: Family name (in kanji): 浪川 - Given name (in kanji): 大輔 Date of birth: April 2, 1976 in Tokyo, Japan Blood Type: B Occupation: Voice Actor
Special request voice actor! ^^ I’m actually a lot more familiar with this voice actor than I was the last request. And he is one of my favorites from the first time I heard him in Prince of Tennis to his more recent work on Utawarerumono and The Third! He has a great voice that tends to be a softer more calming beat than a great many voice actors can manage. I love the fact he’s worked a variety of characters and honestly I’ve never thought of the former character when hearing the voice. ^^ A bit of a bonus for me…I really don’t care to hear the exact same thing when meeting a new character. Interesting point of note..this voice actor not only loves playing handball but he’s an avid studier of Aikido. ^^ Just a short listing of her voice acting career. .hack//Roots as Iyoten Black Lagoon as Rock Dokkoida?! as Suzuo Sakurazaki/Dokkoider Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid as Leonard Testarossa Gantz as Kei Kurono Genma Wars as Jin Honey and Clover as Rokutarou Kyou Kara Maoh! as Antoine Jean Pierre; Ryan Madlax as Pete Musashi as Musashi Miyamoto Ouran High School Host Club as Tetsuya Sendou Please Twins! as Maiku Kamishiro Saiyuki Reload as Kami-sama The Prince of Tennis as Choutarou Otori The Third as Iks Tsubasa Chronicle as Fye Utawarerumono as Benawi

Comments (16) | Permalink

Sunday, October 8, 2006

   Adventures in Reading!

Anime Word of the Day

Glomping is a form of greeting used by anime fans in the West. A typical "glomp" involves bear hugging someone and latching on tightly, though not enough to intentionally hurt the recipient. It has since expanded into slang amongst otaku, primarily on IRC, chat rooms, and Internet forums as an extended form of greeting. It is important to note that glomping is consensual; that is, that it is usually done in settings and situations where permission is implied, otherwise it could be termed a form of assault. Even then, others may see it as an overzealous and embarrassing form of behavior; those people aren’t generally the ones who go to anime cons though. ^^

Opening Act:
Hello! Well I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far! This weekend has actually been a really good one for me! Even though I’m still stuck in bed after that stupid accident I’ve got a new addiction to distract me so it’s all good! ^^ As most of you know I’m quite addicted to MMORPG’s and just this weekend I was invited into a Closed Beta for an upcoming game. Sorry rules state I can’t tell anyone what game but needless to say I’m a bit distracted from everything playing the game. LoL Besides I like any job that asks me to try and break the game to the best of my abilities! *giggles* I’ll talk more about this though once it reaches the Open Beta stage. ^^

I’ve also happy been downloading some of the new animes to premiere this month. Most memorably D.Gray-man and Death Note!!

D.Gray-man was just as good as I had hoped! And I’m terribly pleased with the voice talents they have signed up for this series. I was a bit concerned about the voice of Allen but honestly after listening for the episodes I’m quite convinced she’ll do a great job with him. ^^ Not to mention the fact the animation itself is done quite beautifully and I’m quite in love with the amount of detail the series has placed in. Happy note for purists it does follow the manga quite well, only a few changes to the first episode. ^^

Oh the joy of Death Note. I only have one sad complaint…not a single fan subber so far as veered away from the English spelling of the main characters name. I just hate seeing his name spelled as Light, rather than Raito. Oh well I’ll deal, it’s such a great story I don’t think anything could ruin it for me! LoL Honestly though the voices are great, the animation is superb, and the story of course is one of the best I have ever seen in anime or manga. For folks who are looking for an action anime this of course isn’t one to check out, but if you love a good detective story or a psychological thriller this is the one to check out! As far as I’ve seen they’ve only agreed to do 37 episodes of this series. Which makes me suspect we’re only going as far as Chapter 50 in the manga. In my opinion this is a good choice, I’m not very fond of the series after that Chapter. And it does make a great ending for a series, if not the most people friendly one. LoL Sorry L fans. ^^

Oh and for those of you with Showtime; if you’re into freaky shows like Death Note, I highly recommend checking out the series Dexter. It’s about a Miami Blood Spatter investigator for the local police who is actually a serial killer. ^^ He focuses his urge to kill people though into a desire to do good so he only kills bad guys. LoL It’s a twisted story and some of the best writing I’ve seen in a TV story. I mean everyone knows its wrong to kill people…but at the same time you can’t help agreeing with some of his choices. Freaky, I love that kind of stuff! It just premiered fairly recently, but if you don’t get Showtime…I’m certain you can download it. Hehehe Yes I’m evil but I enjoy it so much it can’t be that wrong! ^^

New Works:
In honor of the new series D.Gray-man I’ve happily made up a few wallpapers from various scenes. I’m just so fond of the look of this anime that I know I’ll be making quite of these types of wallpapers. ^^ Sorry folks once I’m addicted I’m good and addicted! LoL

Hmm I’ve got a group of new e-cards ready to go up, but probably won’t post them until tomorrow or later this week. I like to try and spread them out a little bit. LoL I’m strange I know. But with so many folks in school right now submissions tend to be small during the week. I like to bump up the numbers a bit when I can. ^^

Epilogue:
Oh my! I actually won sweetdevil's wallpaper contest! Yay me!! Thank you everyone for your support and if you’re curious about what my wallpaper looked like, this was the one I submitted. Its one I haven’t posted here at the O before. I’ll probably post in a few days though. Now that the contest is over, I’d like to share it with more folks. I thought it turned out quite well and was a bit of an experiment for me. ^^ My prize was a lovely wallpaper of sweetdevils creation as well as this lovely banner!



Ok so like many of you my favorite character type tends to vary quite a bit. But honestly I tend to go for the quiet, dark, yet noble sort. A little good and a little evil is always a good mix. I also have a fondness for military types, but I guess you can’t blame me there! Who doesn’t love a cutie in uniform? LoL

destinyssweetman - *huggles tight* Extra luv to my bestest little brother online. ^^ The only one who can make me smile and laugh no matter how much I want go crazy.

Yensid – Lmao!! Oh you got it so right! My roomie actually came in and sat down with me and… “I know this is horrible and everything but I’m really glad you got all f’d up. Now you can’t go get eaten by a shark.” LoL I just about another rib laughing…only I would get out of risking my life doing something dangerous by getting hurt doing some normal! I guess it’s a lesson right? Do more dangerous stuff cause real life is gonna take you out! *giggles* Ooh and I loved that actor for Dean on Smallville! He was so delightfully dark!! Hmm I really should figure out his real name sometime. LoL But it never seems to occur to me when I spot those biceps of his…ok and was I the only one cracking up about evil clowns in last weeks episode? LoL

sakura-star – By special request this weeks voice actor is for you…and I hope I picked the right ones. LoL You said you were looking for sakura and fye. I’m guessing from Tsubasa Chronicles? Those are the ones I chose anyway. This weeks is Sakura and I’ll do Fye for you next time. I hope that’s right…considering the original Sakura voice actress from CCS and Tsubasa are actually different! ^^ Let me know if you’re looking for someone else!

lordsesshomaru – LOL Ok well technically today’s X-Men have been around for like 30 years and everyone already knows about them and what they can do. Heroes is a bit like discovering that mutant exist in the first place. Hmm I’m not really making this a great argument am I? LoL Oh well I have much luv for all Mutants! Even freaky ones that live in the sewers. ^^

ElvesAteMyRamen – Oh CourtTV! Yes I definitely get that channel…and I probably spend way too much time watching it. LOL I always think the day I truly snap and decide to kill everyone at least I’ll know all about Forensics and court trials. Hehehe I use to love watching some of the Court trials they had on their too…mostly because I find lawyer talk highly amusing. Sometimes I wonder if even they know what they’re arguing about sometimes. ^^

Shishou – *huggles tightly back* I’m so glad to see you back on the O! I’ve missed chatting with you so much!!!! Especially since I’m beyond horrible at responding to e-mails! LoL But then you know that all too well…^^ At least I’m better about writing PM’s. And you know me any place I can get more goodies online I’m happy to hear about! I’m running out of stuff to read too…I ended up reading through summaries of mangas on Amazon earlier to see if I could come up with anything new to read!

And thanks again to everyone for your well wishes! I really do appreciate all the kind thoughts! I’m doing much better and am pretty much off the annoying meds now. It means I feel more pain but it also means I can think and concentrate for longer too! A trade off I’m more than willing to make. I was starting to feel kinda crazy falling asleep while talking to folks. *blush*

And wow this is long…but then when are my posts ever short? Lmao!

Random Question: What was the last good book you read? And yes I’ll accept manga as an answer only if you haven’t read any books lately. ^^

Makino Yui’s Biography
Other Names: 牧野 由依 Date of birth: January 19, 1986 in Tokyo, Japan Blood Type: O Occupation: Voice Actor/Singer
Special request voice actress here! I’m actually not that familiar with her work. Though I did think she did a fantastic job as Sakura in Tsubasa Chronicles. But honestly that’s the only role I’ve heard her in so far. She actually hasn’t had much of a voice acting career at this point, it appears she prefers to focus on her music than on voice acting. She’s currently a member of the Sun Music Group. Click on her photo if you’re interested in learning more and well you read Japanese. She’s actually the singer of one of my favorite ED’s for Sousei No Aquarion. ^^ Just a short listing of her voice acting career. ARIA The NATURAL as Akane NHK ni Youkoso! as Misaki Nakahara Tsubasa Chronicle as Sakura Tsubasa Chronicle - Torikago no Kuni no Himegimi (movie) as Sakura Zegapain as May-Yu

Comments (15) | Permalink

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

   Another lovely day in the neighborhood!

Anime Word of the Day

Gakuran(学ラン) (学ラン?) or the tsume-eri (詰め襟) are the uniforms for many middle school and high school boys in Japan. The color is normally black but some schools have navy and dark blue as well. The top has a standing collar and it button downs from the top to bottom. Buttons are usually decorated with the school emblem. The pants are straight leg and are one color, and a black or dark colored belt is worn with them. Boys usually wear penny loafers or sneakers with this uniform. Some schools may have the students wear on the collar pins representing the school and/or class rank. In manga and anime, the gakuran of protagonists or tough-guy("yankee") characters may be notably different, with a distinctly lengthened or shortened jacket length, or a distinctive color. The second button of the top of a male's uniform is often given away to the girl who likes him, and is considered a way of confession. Other buttons may be given away if more than one girl asked for it. The Gakuran is derived from Prussian army uniforms. Such clothing was also worn by school children in South Korea and pre-1949 China.

Opening Act:
Hello everyone! First off I want to say thank you to everyone for their kind words and thoughts! I really do appreciate them! I just feel so loved! ^^ Accidents are never fun but you guys definitely made me feel better! Group hug!!! *huggles everyone*

Well I’m still doing pretty good…other than rediscovering that casts are really really itchy!! How do they make these things? I swear their must be itching powder in the mix! So very very itchy! LoL Any way painkillers are my friend, though they do make me really sleepy. But I move onto a lesser dosage next week so that should make life a little more vivid. ^^

Well let’s see while sitting here in my bed I’m mostly been watching TV. Lots of good shows out this season by the way. I’m really getting into NBC’s Heroes. It’s kinda like watching a present day X-Men. And of course the Japanese Trekkie Hiro just cracks me up to no end! Anyone else watching it? Hmm Supernatural season premiere was most excellent! Almost as good as last season’s finale! I’m quite fond of this show…or at least I’m quite fond of the actor who plays Dean. Hehehe If there was another actor that comes as close as he does to my type I’d be stalking him. LoL

Oh thank god for downloadable manga or I’d be going completely insane already! ^^ I’m currently reading through Fruits Basket. Which I’m really glad to see has more detail than that anime. I adored the anime, but still more detail is always a good thing! I want to know what this damn curse is all about! LoL

I just finished reading a series called Devil and Devil. Its very interesting actually, it’s about a rival devil and angel who end up falling to earth while fighting. They’re both gravely injured in crossing into our realm and end up having to possess a couple of humans. Well the humans turn out to be twin brothers so they end up having to live together and deal with living in the real world. All the while of course while attempting to get back to the way they were before. Well ok the Devil Sword really wants to get back his body, the Angel Ios is pretty ok with being a human. He mostly doesn’t want to damage the person whose body he’s borrowing. It’s a funny and fairly dramatic series. And after a while you find yourself wondering just who is evil as you watch Sword adjust to his life on earth. Anyway it’s only 15 volumes long so a nice read with lots of pretty characters to enjoy as well.

Ouran HS Host Club has ended…and though I loved the ending, it was just very sweet and beautiful and of course at the same time funny, I can’t help wishing that the show has a second season. 26 episodes are just too short of a run for such a great comedic show. I guess I’ll have to find the manga for this too. I hear it’s just as great and funny!

New Works:
Well in honor of Halloween and well because they’re pretty I put together four new wallpapers from Ouran. All of which are the boys as vampires. Hehehe I just loved those shots from episode 21! So enjoy those if you haven’t seen them by now.

EDIT: LoL Uploaded a bunch of new E-Cards tonight as well. Hmm from Bleach, Black Cat, Fruits Basket, PoT...and hmm probably some others.

Epilogue:
Well as you probably guessed I was hungry when I thought of my last random question. Oh but I just adore sandwiches! Especially with all kinda of toppings on them! Lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, peppers, onions, hmm and whatever else I can come up with along the way!

Again I’ll say thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts! And lordsesshomaru! I was shocked to see you posting during the weekend. ^^ Thank you for the well wishes! I promise to stay positive at least as long as the pain killers last. LoL Just kidding!! Nah honestly I was pretty down when the accident happened but I’ve learned in life you gotta look at the positive side. And the crew I was going to South Africa with have already told me they’ll more than welcome me next year when they go again. So at least that’s a positive! Oh and no it wasn’t a hit and run, the driver was actually a fairly young kid. Who is pretty shocked about this whole situation, he calls me every day…or a couple of times a day asking if I need anything or if I want him to visit. Poor guy, apparently this is his first ever accident, not a great way to start. I feel pretty bad for him…but you know happy for his insurance which is paying for my med bills. ^^

Bunraku – Hmm I’ve looked around to see if I could find some more stuff on Senpai and kohai relationships. But mostly I just came up with comparisons between the east and west mentoring systems. Probably not as details as what you were hoping for. But I’ll keep my eyes out, I do a ton of net searching so who knows what I may come across next! And sorry I beat you to the posting! Hehehe

Yensid – I think I PM’d you most of the answers to your questions…right? Man I really should learn to save msgs I write when I’m all loopy. LoL Oh well poke me if I forgot something or if you’re bored and wanna know more anyway. ^^

ElvesAteMyRamen – LoL You know its funny but I’m usually so good about looking for traffic before I wander into the street. Ok sometimes I just expect folks to stop for me but at least I know they’re there! ^^ Oh and just for you this weeks voice actress is the voice of Haruhi! ^^

Oh this was one I forgot to answer a few posts back. I got distracted and forgot. Anyway all the banners , e-cards and wallpapers I make are done on Photoshop CS2. A program I completely adore! Hmm most of the layers, textures, and brushes I use are from a lovely Photoshop website called BioRust.com. Some great tutorials there as well, if you’re interested in experimenting with Photoshop. ^^

Have fun and enter! Oh and deadline is Oct 5th. So do it soon! LoL

Random Question: What is your favorite character type? Prince type? Wild type? Glasses? Etc…

Sakamoto Maaya’s Biography
Other Names: 坂本真綾 Date of birth: March 31, 1980 a Tokyo, Japan Blood Type: A Occupation: Voice Actress/Singer Status: Single
Since her debut as Hitomi in Escaflowne, Maaya has diversified into different fields of the performing arts. Although she started as a voice actor, she is now best known as a singer/songwriter, no small thanks to her partner in crime, Yoko Kanno. She still does some voice acting for games and anime, but few have been leading roles. As such, she has been spending more time making music and performing in plays, which seems to have paid off since she has been singer for many anime which she has little or no roles in; and snagged the coveted role of Eponine in the acclaimed musical, Les Miserables. Still…I love her best as Haruhi. LoL Just a short listing of her voice acting career. .hack//SIGN as Aura Cowboy Bebop as Stella Escaflowne as Hitomi Kanzaki Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children as Aerith Gainsborough Fullmetal Alchemist as Sophie Belkman Ghost in the Shell (movie) as Motoko Kusanagi (young) Kanon as Mishio Amano Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny as Lunamaria Hawke/Mayu Asuka Nightwalker as Riho Yamazaki Ouran High School Host Club as Haruhi Fujioka RahXephon as Reika Mishima Tsubasa Chronicle as Tomoyo Wolf's Rain as Hamona xxxHOLiC (movie) as Tomoyo

Comments (18) | Permalink

Saturday, September 30, 2006

   Car 1 - Erin 0

Anime Word of the Day

Senpai (先輩) is a Japanese term (sometimes an honorific) for a person in a club or other organization, including a school or college, who is a senior (in other words, a member for longer or of a higher year) and mutually recognized as such. The junior counterpart is called kōhai (後輩). Senpai and kōhai are an essential element of Japanese age-based status relationships, similar to the way that family and other relationships are decided based on age, with even twins being divided into older and younger sibling. A person may even be considered the senpai of an older person at times if the older person entered an organization, such as a company, at a later time. In a Japanese school sports club, such as a baseball team, the kōhai are usually expected to perform various menial tasks for the senpai including washing clothes and cleaning. The kōhai may not be allowed to play the sport at all or have only limited opportunities to do so until they become senpai. More than simple seniority, senpai implies a relationship with reciprocal obligations, somewhat similar to a mentoring relationship. A kōhai is expected to respect and obey their senpai, and the senpai in turn must guide, protect, and teach their kōhai as best they can. Senpai/kōhai relationships generally last for as long as the two people concerned stay in contact, even if the original context in which the senpai was senior is no longer relevant.

Opening Act:
Hello Everyone! Well…I’ve had better weeks. No I shouldn’t say that, the beginning of this week was actually quite normal and organized. A pretty good start to a week I’d have to say. But I learned something new yesterday. Don’t attempt to play tag with a car. They always win. LoL

Hmm so I left the gym yesterday and was walking across the parking lot to the side street where I was parked and I admit…I wasn’t really paying attention to the world around me. So…there I am completely thinking about what I’m going to make for supper later and I glance up to see a car turn down the side street I’m in the middle of crossing. And wow…it was a great turn…I think two wheels actually left the ground. ^^ Needless to say neither of us had time to react and I ended up getting hit. Bummer huh? So know I have these lovely casts and bruises to entertain myself with. My collar bone is nicely shattered and my right leg is broken in two places. And of course thanks to the foul demons who planned this breaks in those places means I can’t even use crutches! Not fair at all. On a funny note my roomies tell me that if I planned on being a raccoon for Halloween I won’t have to buy face paint. I’m nicely all bruised up and looking pretty scary all on my own. Don’t worry about me though I’m ok, I’ve been in worse scraps. Unfortunately this does send my plans for South Africa down the drain…I’ll be in a cast for my leg for at least the next five months. Stupid dual breaks. My collar bone should be good after a few months though so that’s all good.

My roomies are pretty nice though, they know I’m going crazy with boredom so they moved my desk over to my bed so I can play online while I’m recuping! ^^ So actually this is probably a good thing for you guys, I’ll be spending a lot more time creating new goodies and visiting peoples sites. LoL So hmm, how was your week? ^^

New Works:
One new wallpaper so far, but expect some more in the next few days. This one stars Allen Walker from the manga and soon to be anime D.Gray-man. I’m trying a new technique on these so some feedback would be nice. I’m exploring the wonderful world of brushes! LoL Painkillers make creating new stuff fun! ^^

Epilogue:
I’ve never attended an anime convention before. Though I have attended quite a few different conventions. In particular comic conventions. I was quite a collector until getting easy spending money in college became a real dead end. But I still go to the cons around Seattle occasionally to look for the best deals! I probably spend most of my time at the dealers tables. I’m a sucker for shopping! I do hope to attend Sakura-Con this next time it comes around though. So here’s crossing my fingers for that!

I’m glad you guys liked the last couple of word of the day posts. Today could actually be have been included in them, but I wanted to give these two there own space. ^^ Especially since they can be honorifics or stand all by themselves!

Have fun and enter! Oh and deadline is Oct 5th. So do it soon! LoL

Random Question: What’s your favorite sandwich toppings?

Aya Hisakawa’s Biography
Other Names: Family name (in kanji): 久川 - Given name (in kanji): 綾 Date of birth: November 12, 1968 in Kaizuka, Osaka Blood Type: A Occupation: Voice Actor/Singer/Drama Artist
Although I’ve heard this voice actress do quite a few parts I’ve never actually looked up any information on her before. LoL I guess I tend to look up the cute boy voices faster than I do girl voices. ^^ Though she did do a remarkable job with the voice of Yuki from Fruits Basket. Still…I guess I’m a Momiji and Kyo girl at heart! ^^ Just a short listing of her voice acting career. Ah! My Goddess as Skuld Air as Haruko Kamio Beet the Vandel Buster as Kiss Beyblade as Rei Bleach as Unohana Retsu Cardcaptor Sakura as Kerberos Eureka 7 as Ray Excel Saga as Anne Anzai Fruits Basket as Yuki Soma Haibane Renmei as Kuramori Kaleido Star as Sarah Dupont Karin as Fumio Usui Love Hina as Amalla Suu Loveless as Goddess Madlax as Rimelda RahXephon as Haruka Shitow Sailor Moon as Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury Tenjho Tenge as Maya Natsume The Twelve Kingdoms as Yoko Nakajima Trigun as Rem Saverem

Comments (14) | Permalink