Jump to User: myOtaku.com: Jaguar Welcome to my site archives. 10 posts are listed per page. Pages (12): [ First ][ Previous ] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 [ Next ] [ Last ] Thursday, September 28, 2006    Education is fun! Anime Word of the Day Honorifics Part 2 - Ok this is the second part of last post’s lesson on the usages of honorifics in Japan. So if you missed that jump onto the Archive and study to your hearts content! ^^ This section focuses on the less used honorific in society, though I’m certain you’ve noticed them used in anime fairly often. Dono and tono (both written 殿) is the title that literally means 'Lord' or 'Lady,' and also 'milord' and 'milady'. This title is no longer used in daily conversation, though it is still used in some types of written business correspondence. Fans of anime and manga may notice that the use of this honorific is not uncommon, in particular you’ll notice this title used in shows set in archaic times or revolving around samurais and ninjas. Ue (上) literally means "above" and, appropriately, denotes a high level of respect. While its use is no longer very common, it is still seen in constructions like 父上 (chichi-ue) and 母上 (haha-ue), reverent terms for one's own, or someone else's, father and mother, respectively. Iemoto (家元) is an even more polite version of sensei used for the highest ranking person heading a school or group in traditional art forms such as calligraphy, flower arrangement or tea ceremony. It is not generally used with the martial arts. Heika (陛下) is affixed to the end of a royal title, with a meaning similar to "Majesty". For example, Tennō heika (天皇陛下) means "His Majesty, the Emperor" and Joō heika (女王陛下) means "Her Majesty, the Queen" (e.g. of Denmark). Heika by itself can also be used as a direct term of address, similar to "Your Majesty". Denka (殿下) is affixed to the end of a royal title, with a meaning similar to "Royal Highness" or "Majesty". For example Suwēden Ōkoku Bikutoria Kōtaishi denka (スウェーデン王国　ビクトリア皇太子殿下) "Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of the Kingdom of Sweden". Kakka (閣下) means "Your Excellency" and is used for ambassadors and heads of state. Hime is used as an honorific if one were addressing a princess. For example, the anime Princess Mononoke is called in Japanese Mononoke Hime. Hime may also be used as a euphemism for the Princess, often addressing her as "Hime". In English you would be saying Princess, addressing her by her title. Renshi (連師) often refers to an advanced instructor. Renshi means "teacher" or "one who has mastered himself." In many styles, it is awarded around the 5th degree godan (五段) or 6th degree rokudan (六段?) black belt level. Kyoshi (俠師) refers to a master instructor. It is the second formal teaching rank. This title is usually awarded to one who has achieved a rank of 7th or 8th degree black belt (nanadan (七段) or hachidan (八段). Kyoshi are typically regarded as those who have distinguished themselves as expert teachers or instructors. Hanshi (藩師) or sometimes Shihan (師藩) refers to the senior instructor of instructors. This title is usually conferred at the 9th (kyudan) or 10th dan (jyudan) ranking, usually by the senior leader or leadership of the organization. This title is given to a senior instructor who has distinguished himself as a teacher of teachers. Opening Act: Hello Everyone! As you can see today’s word of the day is pretty long as well, this is actually part two of my little lesson on Honorifics and I hope you find it as interesting as you did the first part! ^^ Plus this answer LS’s question in the comments so that’s a bonus for me! Hehehe Been a fairly busy day for me, I’ve been working on designing a new wallpaper for a contest over at sweetdevil’s place. If you’re into making wallpapers you should definitely run over there and enter the contest. ^^ I like having some fun competition! Also for some reason beyond my understanding even though we’re nicely into fall Seattle has decided to have a heat wave! It’s driving me crazy. I hate hot weather; I mean that’s why I live in Seattle! LoL Spending all day today sweating and having my hair melt just isn’t my idea of fun. New Works: Hmm actually all my time was spent working on that contest piece…so nothing new. I’m sorry! I really need to stop doing screen captures and get to work on some creative stuff. There as so many things I feel the urge to create wallpapers for and I’ve been so distracted lately. Maybe I’ll buckle down and work this weekend on goodies for you guys! Epilogue: Back in high school my fave subject was English. I just loved any class that gave me the excuse to read tons of books. And I had one of the best English teachers ever, he was the only one who actually encouraged my love for the obscure rather than trying to force me to read only classics! I miss him…I should send him a thank you one of these days. ^^ I’m glad you guys enjoyed the list of upcoming animes as well! I know the list is pretty huge but in all honestly that this was only covering this falls premieres. LoL I didn’t even include the ones that are premiering with the new year! Yeah I’m an addict I know! Random Question: Have you ever attended an anime convention? And if so what was your fave part of it? Takahiro Sakurai’s Biography Other Names: Family name (in kanji): 櫻井 - Given name (in kanji): 孝宏 Date of birth: June 13, 1974 in Aichi, Japan Blood Type: A Occupation: Voice Actor Ok if there is a voice actor out there who has done more sexy anime voices I don’t know of one! I just love Takahiro’s voice! His voice alone gives me shivers! I honestly think he’s one of those voice actors who makes me check out series just to hear his voice as a character. Is that a bit crazy or what? Anyway I’m just thrilled to see him confirmed to be Kanda’s voice in the upcoming D. Gray-man! Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Suzaku Kururugi in Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion Bit Cloud in Zoids: New Century Zero • Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, & the Kingdom Hearts series Dragon Shiryu in Saint Seiya Hades: Inferno Endou Kazuki in Gakuen Heaven Fakir in Princess Tutu Jenos Hazard in Black Cat Kagami Kyoji in GetBackers Kira Izuru in Bleach Kishimoto Kaoru & Toshinori Honda in Hikaru no Go Lan Di in Shenmue Leon Oswald in Kaleido Star Loki (the older voice of that character) in Matantei Loki Ragnarok Sasame in Prétear Seiji Midou in Tsukuyomi - Moon Phase Shibuya Yuuri in Kyou Kara Maou! Shun Ukiya in Gate Keepers Suzumu Yamazaki in Peacemaker Kurogane Yu Kanda in D.Gray-man Haseo in .hack//Roots Jirou Mochizuki in Black Blood Brothers Ray Lundgren in Gun x Sword Joe Shimamura/009 in Cyborg 009 Comments (14) | Permalink Tuesday, September 26, 2006    Information Overload! ^^ Anime Word of the Day Honorifics - In Japan, it is common to use honorific titles after a person's name. The most common title is san, which means all of "Mr.", "Mrs.", and "Ms." Hence, in Japanese, Mr. Tanaka is referred to as Tanaka-san. Other common titles include, sama, sensei, kun and chan. These titles are placed after the name. They are not usually used with one's own name. Correct use of titles is considered very important in Japan. In most situations, omitting a title when calling someone, called yobisute (呼び捨て) (literally, "call and leave off [the title]") is considered very bad manners. San (さん) is the most common honorific title, used when addressing most social outsiders, for example, non-family members. San is used unless the addressee's status warrants one of the other terms mentioned below. San is often translated as "Mr.", "Ms.", "Mrs.", and the like. San may also be used in combination with things other than the name of the person being addressed. For example, a bookseller might be addressed as honya-san "Mr. Bookseller", and a butcher as nikuya-san "Ms. Butcher". Kun (君) is an informal and intimate honorific primarily used towards males. It is used by persons of senior status in addressing those of junior status, by males of roughly the same age and status when addressing each other, and by anyone in addressing male children. In business settings women, particularly young women, may also be addressed as kun by older males of senior status. It is sometimes used towards male pets as well. Chan (ちゃん) is a term of endearment suffix, used to refer to children, animals, and people whom one has known since they were children. To use chan for adults whom one has not known since their childhood requires considerable intimacy, less for women than for men. Attaching chan to a modified stem is more intimate than attaching it to the full form of the basic name. Chan may also used for celebrities as a title of affection. Sama (様) is the formal version of san. This honorific is used primarily in addressing persons much higher in rank than oneself and in commercial and business settings to address and refer to customers. It also appears in words used to address or speak of persons or objects for which the speaker wishes to show respect or deference, such as okyaku-sama (customer) or Tateishi-sama (a stone revered as a deity). Additionally, Japanese Christians will refer to God in prayer as Kami-sama. People will also affix sama to the names of personages who have a special talent and are considered particularly attractive, though this usage can also be tongue-in-cheek, exaggerated, or even ironic. Shi (氏) is used in formal writing, and sometimes in very formal speech, for referring to a person who is unfamiliar to the speaker, typically a person known through publications whom the speaker has never met. For example, the shi title is common in the speech of newsreaders. It is preferred in legal documents, academic journals, and certain other formal written styles. Once a person's name has been used with shi, the person can be referred to with shi alone, without the name, as long as there is only one person being referred to. Opening Act: Ok so this week’s word of the day is pretty long, sorry about that. This one was actually a special request by a few friends of mine. However if you don’t watch the Japanese versions of the show you could probably care less about this. LoL However I’ve found that quite a few viewers don’t know which honorifics to add to the end of people’s names. So I went ahead and put this together. With luck it’ll answer some questions. I am keeping this posting short for two reasons, one that word of the day is really long and I’m adding another list down below that will be quite long as well. So I guess this is a more educational post than my usual rambling! LoL Enjoy! New Works: Sorry no new wallpapers, I’m struggling with a certain image I want to turn into a wallpaper and its just not cooperating. Evil graphics. Epilogue: Hmm its occurred to me that I asked a rude question for folks who aren’t like me and look up everything coming over from Japan. I do apologize and well I thought I would make this a little easier for you. The following is a list of animes scheduled to come out this fall, some actually premiered this month but I like them so I thought I’d add them too! Animes with *’s are ones I’m greatly looking forward too. And if you’re interested in any of them, all are linked to a database where you can get more information about the show itself. ^^ Black Blood Brothers Silk Road Shounen Yuuto Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl Black Lagoon 2nd Season Kin`iro no Chord Gin-iro no Olynsis Galaxy Angel II Death Note * D.Gray-man * Tokimeki Memorial Pumpkin Scissors Perfect Girl Evolution (Yamato Nadeshiko Shich Henge) Ghost Hunt * Red Garden * Sasami -Mahou Shoujo Club- 2 Crescent Love (Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na) Busou Renkin * Ginga Tetsudou Monogatari II Fist of the Blue Sky (Souten no Ken) Marginal Prince Super Robot Taisen: OG Divine Wars Kanon * Sumomomo Momomo - The Strongest Bride on Earth 009-1 Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! Asatte no Houkou * Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto * Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion * Kujibiki Unbalance Katekyo Hitman REBORN! Pururun! Shizuku-chan Jigoku Shoujo Ni Kago * Tempouibun Ayakashiayashi * Shounen Onmyouji * History`s Strongest Disciple Kenichi * Jinzou Konchuu Kabutoborg VxV Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru Happiness! Hataraki Man Bartender Happy Lucky Bikkuriman Kekkaishi * Gift Eternal Rainbow Love dol: Lovely Idol Tokyo Tribe 2 Soukou no Strain Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society * BALDR FORCE EXE Resolution Lupin Sansei: Seven Days Rhapsody Taiyo no Mokushiroku - A Spirit of the Sun Kaleido Star: Good da yo! Goood!! G-9 Highway Jenny Mahou Sensei Negima! OVA Haru Ichigo Mashimaro OVA _Summer Afro Samurai Mai-Otome Zwei Freedom Maria-sama ga Miteru 3rd Master of Epic Nodame Cantabile Angelique * Saint October Devil May Cry * Tales of Symphonia *

Ok there’s probably a lot more that I’m forgetting, but this list was getting way long an I was starting to go blind. So that’s all you get for now. ^^ If you know of any more you’re looking forward too you can just toss them in the comments!

Random Question: What was/is your favorite subject in school?

PS: No voice actor this time, I figure you’ve made you learn enough today! LoL

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Sunday, September 24, 2006

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   Perfect Sunday Morning!

Anime Word of the Day

Josei manga (Japanese: 女性, lit. "woman",) is a genre of manga or anime created mostly by women, for late teenage and adult female audiences. The male equivalent to josei is seinen. In Japanese, the word josei means only "female" and is not directly indicative of sexual matter. The stories tend to be about everyday experiences of women living in Japan. Though there are some that cover high school, most cover the lives of adult women. The style also tends to be a more restrained, realistic version of shōjo, keeping some of the wispy features and getting rid of the very large sparkly eyes. (e.g. Gokusen, Blue, Honey & Clover, Kimi wa Petto.)

Opening Act:
Man sorry folks about my little disappearing act there, afraid I haven’t been around much this week so I’ll apologize now for missing out on site updates and visiting your sites. But I plan on doing that right after posting this little rambling piece. So hopefully I can get caught up on all your lives as well! ^^

Sorry to say I wasn’t gone for any fun reason, just picked up a new work assignment and its been one heck of a project to work my way through. I’m still not done actually, but I figure they don’t need me to work on a Sunday. Ok well at least not on a Sunday morning. LoL I’ll probably end up doing another packet tonight since money is a good thing. And there are new mangas out that I seem to be in desperate need for. Hehehe

Fortunately I’m pretty good at arranging my schedule so I’ve kept working out in the pool and doing cardio at the gym working on improve my dear lungs. So far so good, though I honestly started having doubts about my own abilities after the first couple of days. But as my daddy always said, No Pain, No Gain. ^^ And well if pain is an indicator I’m definitely going to reach my goal and be able to go on that dive!

I’m falling a bit behind on my anime viewing unfortunately though I did just get copies of Peace Maker Kurogane, so I’m looking forward to watching that when I get some spare time. ^^ As well as catching up on all the latest stuff.

New Works:
Sorry no new wallpapers though I think I have some new e-cards since when I posted last. I work on them periodically while waiting for search programs to finish their runs so I randomly post them when I get a chance. ^^ Besides I meet some of the most interesting folks making those e-cards. Nice to know there are people as crazy as I am out there. LoL

Epilogue:
Hmm did someone try and post in the last couple of days and have it deleted or something? LoL I see a post in the comment manager but I can’t read it. Making me rather sad actually. So if you posted recently please check and see if it was yours that was deleted. I’d really like to know what the post said. LoL It’s like getting a teaser for a game and not being able to see the vid. ^^

Ok so I’m actually the kind of friend who would lead the rest off the bridge, I’m not really sure I should answer that question. LoL Honestly though bridge jumping is fun, assuming there’s deep water underneath and you’re not feeling suicidal. ^^ Cause that would be bad. Bungee jumping is good too…I enjoy that a lot, but I don’t like the crane jumps…I don’t like cranes. They don’t seem safe. LoL

sakura-star - This guy is an actor for PoT? I haven't seen ze whole thing but who exactly IS Shiratama? - Well if you blinked you probably missed Takashi’s part. LoL Shiratama was the ‘top’ player in the flashback of Akutsu’s childhood. I believe it was episode 34.

lordsesshomaru – oh man darn you for having logic! Ok your right in Japanese the term for affirmative is indeed three syllables. So darn you! I won’t complain about that anymore. Hehehe Ok it still sounds funny though but it makes more sense than I’d given them credit for. ^^ Such a smart guy you are. ^^

bunraku - Can you give any examples of Bishojo? Hmm hard one for me since I don’t tend to watch this genre, but most Harem animes are considered Bishojo. Oh and Elfen Lied is as well. A good sign is a cast of mainly females and one male character. There maybe be other men in the anime but they tend to have a background role and do not tend to interact with the main lead females.

ElvesAteMyRamen - Ever hear of Record of Lodoss Wars? Oh that was actually one of the first animes I ever watched! A rather fun one if I remember right…I remember admiring the elves a lot. LoL Unfortunately it’s been so long I don’t think I remember the plot! ^^

Grifter99 – Aww sorry to hear about your co-worker. But don’t worry too much about me; I’m big on safety first. Yeah I know diving with sharks isn’t the safest thing in the world, but honestly my chances are dying in a car wreck are a lot more than being eaten. ^^ Plus we’re going with a large crew so accidents in the diving itself shouldn’t happen, or at least if they do they’ll be contained.

Yensid – Takashi is such a pretty voice actor isn’t he? I had to really work hard to find the picture I wanted to place there. And usually it’s so easy! LOL Don’t worry I’m not planning on jumping off any bridges in the near future…the question came up when I was talking to my parents about this Africa trip and they did that whole line I love. ‘Just because your friends are doing it doesn’t mean you have to.’ Hehehe I love that phrase. Heck most of the time I’m the one making the crazy plan. ^^ Oh and how to convince a shark you’re not food. ^^ Let him bite you. Simple no? LoL Actually what we do the first few times we’re in the water we carry these metal pipes that can easily slide over our arms and when the sharks approach to see if we’re yummy, we let them bite the pipe rather than us. Sharks have great memories so once they test you out they won’t try to attack you again unless you provoke one. Which of course we don’t want to do. LoL Hmm I didn’t notice the Trinity Blood music/voice overlapping too badly on my TV, but I have a stereo system that filters stuff like that so I probably wouldn’t hear the difference. I’m sorry yours is kinda messed up though, it’s such a good series I’d hoped you get to enjoy it.

Miss Anonymous – Hope you liked the e-cards! And yup I submitted one of the kitty from .hack Sign recently. I just love that kitty. Hehehe

Mamma Vash – Oh yes go read Black Cat, it’s a lovely fun series to read! ^^ Ooh Death Note!! Such a lovely series! I’m so excited to see the anime for it come out this fall. Err...actually in like a month! * happy dances * Oh yes I’ve seen Descendents of Darkness, its actually one of the few animes I prefer to watch in English. Did you catch it on AZN? They reshow it fairly often there. Its only 13 episodes though so it’s a pretty quick run. Hehehe But a great show, as long as you don’t mind some light yaoi.

EternalParadise – Hmm I didn’t really consider Trinity Blood to be a horror type show. I mean it’s a bit darker but more dramatic dark than scary dark. Lots of violence though so if you’re not into that might want to avoid the series. ^^

Elicia-Hughes – Yup Trinity Blood is about vampires, but its not your typical story about vampires. Actually these vampires aren’t even human. Here’s the gist, after a huge war that ripped apart out planet these ‘vampires’ arrived from the darkness of space and made their home here on Earth. They came in and took over nations and countries and the world as split in two between the Vampires and the Vatican. Now not all vampires are bad guys, some actually care for the humans in their nation. Others are completely evil and are hunted. Trinity Blood follows several members of the Vatican’s special forces team. Especially focusing around Abel Nightroad a silly priest who is in fact a Crusnik. Or a vampire who feeds on other vampires. ^^

Random Question: Are you looking forward to any new anime series for the fall run?

Greg Ayres Biography
Other Names: Greg Ayers, Bam-Bam Date of birth: December 7, 1968 in Richmond, Virginia Age: 37 Occupation: Voice Actor/DJ/Fan boy
Ok there has to be very few of you out there how don’t recognize this voice actor. LoL Though he tends to have roles as secondary characters he’s probably one of the most famous voice actors out there. Mostly for the fact I’ve never seen him not attend a convention that has asked him. LoL And he always makes an amazing impression, between his color changing hair to his open and friendly treatment of all the fans. Of course it’s not hard to see where he’s coming from, not that long ago he was just a fan like us. ^^ If you go to his website feel free to drop him an e-mail or annoy him on AIM. LoL ^^ Once again if you’re interested in knowing more about Greg just click on his photo above and you can visit his official website. Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Mahou Sensei Negima - Negi Springfield Samurai 7 - Heihachi Hayashida Gunslinger Girl - Emilio Full Metal Panic - Shinji Kazama Fullmetal Alchemist - Bido Chrono Crusade - Chrono DNAngel - Satoshi Hiwatari Saiyuki - Son Goku Spiral - Kousuke Asazuki Neon Genesis Evangelion (Directors Cut) - Kaworu Nagisa Peace Maker Kurogane - Shinpachi Nagakura Saint Seiya - Tatsyua, Daichi Pretear - Mannen Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok - Heimdall/Kazumi Higashiyama Burst Angel - Kyohei Tachibana

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Monday, September 18, 2006

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   Dance like there's no one watching!

Anime Word of the Day

Bishōjo (美少女; びしょうじょ; literally, "beautiful young girl"), also spelled bishoujo, is a Japanese term used to refer to young and pretty girls, usually below college age. It is sometimes considered the mildest form of fanservice, particularly if older women would be more appropriate characters. A "bishōjo series" is a series directed towards a male audience predominantly featuring such characters, and usually a single token male character, if any. It is distinguished from the similar sounding shōjo demographic by referring to the gender of the characters, not the intended audience. Shōjo is manga/anime for girls; bishōjo is manga/anime about pretty girls, usually targeted towards a male audience.

Opening Act:
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I’ve spent most of it working out in my gym’s pool. And I do mean most of it. LOL Though honestly today I slept for 12 hours…O.o I guess I must have been a little bit tired.

Oh some of you were a bit confused about why I need medical approval to go on the trip, well I don’t need it to travel there and play around. But in order to do the research work I have to be medically certified for the deep dives. And well going there without being able to dive would most likely drive me to insanity! ^^ Oh and don’t worry about my accident, it was a long time ago and I’m well over it. I do appreciate the concern however, its very sweet of you guys. ^^

I watched an older anime this weekend the Violinist of Hameln…it’s rather interesting. My roomies can’t seem to watch it with me; I guess stop motion animation isn’t there thing. LoL I can’t help trying to explain to them that animation is expensive and back in the 90’s you used lots of techniques to save money when making odd animes. LoL Anyway it’s a fantasy story that’s fairly predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m rather intrigued by Hameln who places a magical music using a violin. (Which oddly enough looks like a cello to me. LoL). Still I’m quite fond of classical music so it’s interesting to see which pieces he plays each episode. They’ve got a rather nice bit of variety and play some of my fave pieces too! Hmm maybe that’s why I’m biased. LoL

I was a little disappointed in Trinity Blood this weekend, but not for any voice actor errors. I just disliked the fact they had Tres saying “Positive” all the time. LoL Hmm I believe the term you want is “Affirmative.” It’s a military reply…hence an answer to orders. Oh well I’ll deal. Its still one of the prettiest shows out there…and I do so love Tres and Abel!

I also spent way too much time surfing the net this week looking for new icons and goodies to play with! LoL

New Works:
Created several new wallpapers this weekend. 4 Prince of Tennis wps and 2 Black Cat wallpapers. The Black Cat is actually the same image with a lighting variation…I couldn’t decide which version I liked best so I posted both.

And well this leads right into my new theme! I honor of the new Black Cat hub I’ve decided to change themes for a bit. So this time my theme revolves around the lovely Train Heartnet. I chose to go with the manga version over the anime one, simply because I really like this shot of Train. LoL I rather enjoyed both the anime and the manga though they tended to have quite different storylines around the same plot. Hehehe Anyway enjoy the new theme!

Oh and probably some new e-cards as well. ^^

Epilogue:
Hmm I guess my bedroom would be my fave room and it’s covered in a variety of things. I have a bunch of paintings and anime posters. I also have a huge fan with a black jaguar painted on it on my largest wall. ^^ I also have lots of little shelves with collectibles spread out around it. I love dust collectors. Hehehe

Bunraku - What do you consider "Notable status"? How many islands are on your list? Usually notable for me means I don’t have to travel there by boat, which means an airport. I tend to go by having a city of more than 10000 people as a good island to visit. ^^ Hmm there are about 100 islands left on my list. I’ve been to about 130 so far. ^^
How deep would you have to dive for this trip? It varies a bit however the deepest I would be diving is 50 meters. Which honestly is about double what I normally end up doing on dives…we usually stop around 20 meters.

Vestque – Dangerous? Oh don’t worry I don’t plan on messing with the sharks in anyway. Most of what we do is observation and tracking of the big beauties. I have no aspirations to suddenly risk my life. We’re extremely careful not only for our own safety but because we want the sharks to act as normally as possible with us in the water with them. Having them around us is not natural behavior after all. ^^ Thankfully sharks have great memories and once they identify you as ‘not food’ they pretty much ignore your existence. Hehehe

Yensid – Oh yes touching the noses of sharks is a great way to communicate with them. ^^ They have extremely sensitive noses so if you can touch them there they are less likely to continue the attack. It use to be thought that you had to hit the shark on the nose to distract them, but honestly a simple touch is enough. Sharks are very curious but their thoughts are pretty simple. Food or not food. ^^ Unfortunately sharks don’t exactly have hands to examine things with so they test objects with their mouths. It’s why sharks will come bite buoys, surfboards, cages, etc. They’re just checking to see if it’s edible. Once they determine it they pretty much ignore that object. Now here’s the fun question for you…how do you think I prove to a shark I’m not food, when they have to bite to make that determination? ^^

Mamma Vash - You were in the Marines? How long? I was in the Marines for a 4 year term. However I was injured in my second year and finished the run on medical leave. Before being medically discharged from the Corp.
And traveled to Antarctica ! Did you see penguins? You know oddly enough I’ve seen more penguins in Australia and Africa than I did in Antarctica! LoL I love penguins too, they’re just too cute!
I wonder how you have all the energy you do to put in all your varied interests? Oh you didn’t know? I run on caffeine! Hehehe Lots and lots of Mountain Dew!

Random Question: If your friends jumped off a bridge would you do it too?

Takashi Kondo’s Biography
Other Names: Family name (in kanji): 近藤 - Given name (in kanji): 隆 Date of birth: 1979-05-12 Hometown: Aichi, Japan Blood type: A Occupation: Voice Actor/Actor
Well in honor of the new layout I decided to place the voice actor for Train on the site. Though he hasn’t done a lot of lead roles he did a great job as Train. For those who know the series know that Train tends to change personality occasionally from a darker character to a rather silly one. Takashi did a great job bringing this across in his acting style. Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Beyblade as Miguel Black Cat as Train Heartnett Glass Mask as Hasegawa (ep 19-22) Himawari! as Yonezawa-kun Ichigo 100% as Ookusa Initial D: Fourth Stage as Saiyu Inu Yasha as Kisuke (ep.129) Katekyo Hitman Reborn! as Kyouya Hibari Red Garden as JC Scrapped Princess as Leopolde Scorpse Soukou no Strain as Ralph Willeck Spider Riders as Shadow The Prince of Tennis as Shiratama

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Friday, September 15, 2006

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   Good Morning!

Anime Word of the Day
Bijin (美人) is a Japanese term literally meaning a "beautiful person" (often translated as "a beauty"). Bijin are generally symmetrical, adorned, or even cute. The word bijin is sometimes used to refer to both Bishōnen (male) and Bishōjo (female).

Opening Act:
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week so far! Things are going…hmm ok for me. Unfortunately my South Africa trip may be a bust. My annoying doctor (actually he’s great but I’m annoyed at him right now) is refusing to certify my health for deep dives. And considering that’s what I’d be doing while over there its not the best news. I mean you get your chest crushed once a few years back and these evil doctors just hold it over you forever. ^^ Yeah it’s a long story and the reason I’m no longer in the Marines. Oddly enough body parts break pretty easily from high impacts; I’ll leave it at that for now. Anyway I’m working on convincing him that I’m good to go for the dives. I have been diving recently but not the depths that I’ll need to go this time. Bah, it’s kinda annoying. I mean my lung capacity maybe a bit reduced but I can still as my little achievement boasts I can hold my breath for nine minutes. And this would even be easier I mean I get dive tanks!

Anyway so for now I’m at a dead end on my trip but I’m not giving up. My doc is willing to let me prove my point so I’m going to be doing a bit of working out at his offices to prove that my body can handle the strain. So cross your fingers for me, alright? ^^ Oh for those of you who missed out I’m attempting to make a trip to South Africa to help a friend of mine do research on Great White Sharks. This is mostly done by deep water diving (outside of the dive cage) with the local seals. Hmm sorry folks who like seals but seals = lots of great whites. ^^ Anyway it’s a great opportunity and I’ve gotten all the local approval and those lovely South African government folks have even willing given me the work permit. So if I can get my doctor (or another doctor, Hehehe) to approve I will be going around November 15th.

This is a really great opportunity, but honestly its not the first time I’ve done work like this. Before my little accident I use to work a lot with him on my summer vacations and normal vacations. ^^ Though I’ve never dove with Great Whites outside of the cage I have with other sharks, like tigers and hammerheads. I have a great love for sharks, there’s just something really mesmerizing about their eyes. I’m usually all nervous and twitching when I first get there and when I get in the water…but the moment they start approaching I just get all calm and its like my brain kinda shifts modes. All I can think is I want to stay there forever.

Oh and this is going to be a really long post by the way, I feel like rambling. So skip around if you want I like to chat in the early morning. It’s a weird habit. But I don’t post that often so I don’t feel like I’m torturing you guys too much. LoL

Hmm so many folks having problems with the latest English dubbing of Bleach and Trinity Blood. Well actually most folks are complaining about Bleach, I don’t think most of them had even heard of TB before. Which is sad…I do so love Abel and Tres! ^^ I don’t know I don’t try and judge stuff like this. I mean if I don’t like it, I simply don’t watch it and I let other folks enjoy it if they do. ^^ Makes sense doesn’t it? I mean why should my opinion of a voice actor show you what to watch! Oh well I’ll happily tell you if I enjoyed an anime but if you judge it just on that, well I’m sorry! I’ll run and hide behind my couch or under my desk. It’s pretty comfy under there actually. There’s a blanket and sometime a puppy dog. He’s not there now though…he’s actually asleep shedding all over my bed! O.o Anyway I’ll just say that Bleach and Trinity Blood are great animes in their own rights and I enjoy watching both of them. Though for Bleach I do recommend folks who didn’t like the pilot watch a few more episodes, the pilot doesn’t really sell the show as well as it could have. ^^ I think they tried to push too much together and left out some soul from the piece.

Hmm so I’ve been real busy watching new goodies this week, so many fan subbers working overtime putting out the latest goodies! I’m so happy to see episode 24 of Ouran HS Host Club! So funny and sweet at the same time! I really wish this series was having a longer run than just 26 episodes. *cries* I want more!

Watched the latest episode of The Third and Kiba, all really good. Though Kiba 24 felt too much like and odd filler. Very oddly placed in the series too…I don’t generally hate fillers but it really makes my brain hurt when they just toss them in. Or like Naruto…last for over 100 episodes. Lmao!

Oh and I have to blame Liquid Silver for this…I keep seeing mentions of Fushigi Yuugi in her posts so I had to check out the series. So…I blame you! Now I’m in love with another series! LoL Though it really reminds me of another series I’ve seen Harukanaru no Toki. The whole girl gets pulled into another world with really cute bishies theme is always a fun one!

Manga love! Ok finished a bunch of D Gray-man and such a good series. I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn’t read the series yet and well likes manga! ^^ Also read a bit of two new series, Switch and 07 Ghost. I’m really intrigued by both of them though so far I’ve only managed to locate one volume of both! So tricky finding good copies of manga. Anyway Switch is about a rookie cop who investigates drug dealers and such, he’s a really sweet caring guy…until something pushes him over the edge. And he’s just switches…hmm psycho is a good term for what he becomes. LoL 07 Ghosts is a bit harder to explain it’s a fantasy piece revolving around a boy named Teito whose forgotten his past but is believed to have been a former slave. Hmm he’s actually royalty and highly wanted. LoL Its funny and sad all at the same time!

See I told you this was going to be a long one…and here you thought I was kidding. ^^

New Works:
Yay for Adam adding a Black Cat hub! Finally all the my kitty goodies have a home! So in honor of the new hub I’ve added a new Black Cat wallpaper. A rather interesting work I’m proud of between Train and Creed. I’ve also placed 3 new wallpapers from the manga D Gray-man so enjoy those if you’d like. ^^ I did a group one and one of Rabi and one of Kanda. ^^ All my faves so enjoy!

Lots of new e-cards too! Especially from Ouran and Bleach this time around. I’m still in an e-card mood so expect to see more and more of those coming around.

30,000!!!
And a completely wow moment…my wallpaper downloads has reached 30000. Wow! Thank you everyone so much! I really really appreciate not only the visits and the friends I’ve made here but the endless encouragement these downloads give me! I find it completely amazing some days to look at my past works and see how many folks have taken the time to download them. I really do luv you guys! ^^ Aww and of course I get a smile on my face when I see that my e-cards have been sent out over 800 times as well! Such a lovely thing!

Epilogue:
Aww my ideal vacation is Cairns, Australia. I just love it there so much! I get to play in the rain forest, go diving, go sailing, go desert hiking. And well go shopping! LoL

Mamma Vash - What other places have you been to? Oh you want the easy answer or the long answer? LoL I’ve been just about everywhere. I’ve visited every continent, even Antarctica! It’s pretty but kinda cold. Hehehe I use to make it a point to spend every vacation I had some place new. Thankfully my family moved a ton as well so letting me run off to foreign countries really wasn’t a big deal for them either. My goal right now actually is to make it to every island of notable status. ^^ I’m about half way there actually, I have a huge map in my room where I keep track of my trips so I don’t double up. Well some places have really similar names! I get confused easily when I get time off! Traveling is just about my fave thing so I’ve been a lot of similar minded friends over the years and we tend to just disappear and go play together. ^^

Elves – Oh you picked one of the main reasons I download anime! LoL I just can’t handle waiting for new goodies! I get so annoyed when I catch up a series in real time as my friends call it! LOL I was so happy when I started watching Naruto and it was already 60 eps or so in. I could get chunks at a time! I hate being caught up! Lmao!

Random Question: What decorates the walls of your favorite room?

Rikiya Koyama’s Biography
Other Names:小山 力也 Born: December 13, 1963 in Kyoto Japan Blood Type: O Occupation: Voice Actor/Actor
Oh one of my new favorite voice actors. I first heard him as the troubled voice of Hakuoro in Utawarerumono. Such a wonderful series and such a stunning character! Rikiya truly brought this character to life for me and made me eager to check out more about him. I was truly surprised to see he’d voiced some other fave characters of mine and I hadn’t noticed! Oh the things we learn with age! LoL Rikiya is actually a well known theater actor in Japan and has some a variety of main lead roles. He’s currently a member of the Haiyuza Theatre Company and has portrayed various roles in various countries on tours. He also did the dubbing for the voice of Dr Doug Ross from the US drama ER in Japan. This dubbing actually caused a huge leap in his fame in Japan and brought him a recurring theme of dubbing roles by George Clooney. ^^ He’s currently the voice dubber for Jack Bauer on the Japanese version of the hit series 24 as well. Ok and a happy note for me he also dubbed the voice of Crush from Finding Nemo for the Japanese version! Sorry I wasn’t able to locate an official web site for Rikiya. ^^ Next time perhaps. Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Case Closed as Saku Norifumi (ep 199) D.N.Angel as Police Chief Hiwatari Eureka 7 as Norb (ep 34-40) Sokyu No Fafner as Seiichirou Kaname Fate/stay night as Kiritsugu Emiya Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid as Belfangan Grouseaux Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex as Hideo Kuze Honey and Clover II as Mac Carlos Hajime no Ippo as Mamoru Takamura Ninja Scroll: The Series as Jubei Kibagami Noein - Mou Hitori no Kimi e as Kuina Pataliro Saiyuki! as Sa Gojou Soul Taker as Zabo (ep 6) Utawarerumono as Hakuoro Witchblade as Reiji Takayama Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shambala as Rudolf Hess Fushigi Yugi Eikoden (OAV) as Shu Tendo

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Monday, September 11, 2006

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   Monday Madness!

Anime Word of the Day

Yaoi is a controversial term for a publishing genre which originated in Japan and often encompasses manga, doujinshi (self-published comics), anime, or fan art. It focuses on sexual homosexual relationships between male characters. The English letters form an acronym derived from the Japanese phrase 「ヤマなし、オチなし、意味なし」 (yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi), that is often translated into English as, "no climax, no punch line, no meaning." A variant English translation, "No peak, no point, no problem," is often preferred as a translation that "works."

Opening Act:
A brief moment of silence in remembrance for the victims of 9/11. It’s been five years but we have not forgotten.



Thanks a lot for all your support guys I really do appreciate it! And well I’m going to give it a try! Tomorrow I’m going in to submit my forms for the visa and health checks. With luck I’ll know in a week if I’ll be able to go! Thankfully they’ll be providing most of my gear so I don’t have to go on a big shopping spree to get prepped! I’ll be staying at a smaller town just southeast of Cape Town called Kleinbaai.

I hope those of you who enjoy English dubs managed to catch Bleach and Trinity Blood premieres last night on Adult Swim. While I prefer Japanese voice acting I did catch them. I was pleasantly surprised that they did a pretty good job. Most of the voices matched personalities quite well and I was amused to see which version of terms they chose. ^^ Soul Reaper over Death God and Zanbatou over Soul Slayer. ^^ I like seeing that kind of thing, actually.

Read two new mangas yesterday, well new for me. LoL One was Busou Renkin, which is a rather simple but fun manga. It reminded me a great deal of Bleach actually. With a mix of alchemy rather than pure spirit power. Still a fun read, I look forward to picking up the rest of the series. I also found a good copy of Yamato Gensouki, which is a short manga by the creator of Black Cat. This manga has a great beginning…unfortunately that’s all it really is. A two volume manga that succeeds at introducing the characters and then just ends. I wanted to cry. LoL I’m use to being stuck with animes like that but usually mangas at least have a full and complete storyline!

New Works:
A couple of new wallpapers from the great series Chrno Crusade. And a rather nice group of e-cards should be added tonight. I just love playing around with quotes and all the screen captures I collect over the years! Enjoy!

Epilogue
Much thanks for the suggestion of terms! I managed to come up with a few great ones so I’ll have some more goodies for you to learn about! ^^

Yensid – Ah you read my mind! Actually today’s voice actor of the hour is Chris Patton so you can happily check to see if they share any similarities.

Sweetdevil – Oh you came up with a tough one…though I’ve always read kyuuketsuki as a blood sucking demon, rather than just vampire. But yeah I’ve heard it defined that way as well. ^^ Hmm I guess the closest I can come to a translation of kyuuke would be old type or old fashioned.

Random Question: Where would your ideal vacation take you?

Christopher Patton’s Biography
Other Names: Chris Patton Born: March 15, 1971 in Houston, Texas Age: 35 Occupation: Voice Actor/Musician/Writer Religion: Buddhist
Honestly I’m not a huge fan of Chris Patton’s work though he’s done some unique and interesting voices. He is however the English voice for Sousuke Sagara so I couldn’t help but show him off in here since my theme does feature the mercenary. For many years, Chris was known as the "go-to" voice actor for the "angsty pretty boy" roles, but has since had a chance to branch out into voicing all form of psychotic villains, and in some cases some... well, normal boys as well, such as the lead character in "The Place Promised in our Early Days". Chris is also co-front man of an electropop/ebm band that is just starting to make some waves in the US and the UK underground, called PLID. Sorry to say Chris doesn’t have his own voice actor site anymore. So you’re just with just an anime news posting of his if you wanna read more. LoL Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Daley Wong in Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 Yushiro Gowa in Gasaraki Saburota Takasugi in Martian Successor Nadesico Seishiro Natsume in Princess Nine Yu Ominae in Spriggan Ayato Kamina in RahXephon Koumyou in Saiyuki Sousuke Sagara in Full Metal Panic! Rei Otohata in Super GALS! Andromeda Shun in Saint Seiya Ohjiro Mihara in Angelic Layer Sasame in Pretear Eutus in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi Kyouta Kamikurata in Aquarian Age: Sign for Evolution Shin Kazama in Area 88 Joshua Christopher in Chrono Crusade Susumu Yamazaki in Peacemaker Kurogane Fakir in Princess Tutu Greed in Fullmetal Alchemist Eiji Shigure in Gravion Narugami/Thor in Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok

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Saturday, September 9, 2006

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   Tough Choices

Anime Word of the Day

Shōnen (少年) (sometimes transliterated as shounen or shonen, literally "few years") is a Japanese word used in English to refer to anime and manga primarily intended for boys, although there can be crossover appeal to men and females as well (e.g., Mobile Suit Gundam, DragonBall, One Piece, Naruto and Bleach). Shōnen anime and manga is characterized by high-action, often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. The camaraderie between boys or men on sports teams, fighting squads, etc. is often emphasized. Unrealistically attractive female characters are also common (i.e. fanservice), but are not a requirement.

Opening Act:
Sorry I kind of disappeared this week post wise, but I did try to keep up with everyone’s posts at least. ^^ Gives you a clue that I’m still alive, right? LoL You see something has come up in my life and I’m trying to decide if it’s a good idea or not. It’s as my friends have told me…completely insane but I’m still rather interested in doing it. An old friend of mine has invited me to come to South Africa in order to dive with great white sharks. He’s a renowned shark researcher and has done this for years and well I’ve been diving since I was a little kid. But this wouldn’t be the type of diving I normally think of with great whites, you know a big cage between me and them. LoL This would be diving outside of the cage in shark bite suits. Again is this is the point where my friends tend to stop listening and just tell me I’m insane. LoL Honestly though this is while not completely risk free isn’t as dangerous as it sounds. He’s been doing this for years in order to truly study the sharks in their own environment and we don’t do the normal baiting you see. We don’t exactly want to see the sharks in a feeding attitude while being in the water with them.

Anyway in order for me to go I have to come up with a bunch of cash so that I can keep my rent and bills paid while gone. That is actually proving more difficult than getting up the courage to say yes. LoL I have another week to decide though so I’m rather at a loose end. Oh well I guess in the end I’ll end up flipping a coin and deciding. LoL

Along the anime note though I’ve finally managed to get my hands on a good copy of Loveless and Weiß Kreuz so I’m happily ready to enjoy a weekend of anime goodies! Oh and yay for manga shopping sprees! I’m so happy I just picked up berserk 12, Black Cat 1-4 and D-Grayman 1-2. So many goodies! Thank you B&N for finally expanding your manga collection to meet my needs! Now I can run between them and Borders and get my goodies! Shopping sprees!

New Works:
No new wallpapers though in the past couple of days I’ve put out about ten new ecards. I’m rather in the mood for simple this week so I’ve been playing with them while doing vector tutorials. ^^ Anyway the ecards are from a variety of series including Ouran, Black Cat, Full Metal Panic, Hellsing…and hmm probably some other ones too. LoL

Epilogue
Hmm I have a thing for red or golden eyes…whenever I see a character with those colors I tend to have an instinctive liking for them! Hehehe Even when they prove to be really bad guys or just bit characters. I can’t help it I’m such an eye addict!

destinyssweetman – We’re not crazy, it’s the rest of the people who are. No wait…actually we’re both pretty nuts.

Yensid – Thanks for the tip! I’ve starting going through some of the sites listed on your artluvr site! So many goodies on there by the way! Awesome work! Oh and I highly recommend a trip to the San Juan’s if you can. Friday Harbor is a great little tourist town but once you leave it its amazing how untouched most of the island still is! And there’s some great whale watching points if you don’t want to attempt kayaking! Hehehe!

Elves – Yeah I know what you mean about folks uploading vectors into fan art, sure they take a ton of time and skill but it’s still not a drawing. Too bad we don’t have a section for coloring or vectoring like DA does. After all vectoring and coloring does give some lovely images but they don’t always fall in the range of wallpaper or fan art! Hehehe you know I actually thought about posting a pic of Yuki next to the Bishie description! ^^

Mamma Vash – Well I pretty much gave you the hint of what vectoring was earlier but I found another site with a really cute vectoring tutorial so I thought I’d add it here too! ^^ This is a from a forum but you don’t have to be a member to view the tutorial.
http://www.ferricorp.com/public/forum/viewtopic.php?t=202

And I’m glad everyone enjoyed my little killer whale story! LoL I still bounce every time I think about it! Hehehe It was pretty funny actually we were actually thinking about going on one of the whale watching trips later that same day! Apparently the whales heard us talking and decided to save us some cash! Hehehe

Random Question: Are there any anime terms you’ve heard but never understood? ^^ If you don’t want to say it in your comment you’re welcome to PM me. I’m starting to have to search for terms to define. Hehehe Pretty soon I’ll be doing differences in Japanese and US customs. LoL

Tomokazu Seki’s Biography
Other Names: 関智一 Born: September 8, 1972 in Tokyo Occupation: Voice Actor/Radio Personality/Video Game VA/Singer Blood Type: AB
Oh one of my truly favorite Japanese voice actors! He’s done so many of my fave characters just trying to list them here was tough! The list was going to be huge! LoL And plus since my current theme is Sousuke from Full Metal Panic I couldn’t not list the fantastic voice actor who brings him alive! ^^ Seki has done such a wide variety of roles its actually pretty easy for me not to recognize him in certain parts. LoL He’s cost me many a game of name the voice actor! Hehehe Doing everything from comedy to drama really gives him a great variation of vocals to portray! On a fun note he also sang the theme songs for several animes including Weiß Kreuz and Psychic Force. He is sometimes mistaken for Toshihiko Seki (They have the same surname but are unrelated.). Hmm I’m not sure if anyone here listens to the Japanese Drama CD’s but Seki’s done some of my fave voices for those as well. Including Satoshi from DNAngel! Alas he doesn’t do the voice in the anime though. Hmm his official website has disappeared on me, however if you click on the photo above you can find a cute listing of various anime he’s done along with photos of the characters he’s voiced! ^^ Just a short listing of his voice acting career. Bart Garsus in Vandread Ethan in Last Exile Miroku Natsuhiko in Get Backers Gilgamesh in Fate/stay night Toya Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura Toji Suzuhara in Neon Genesis Evangelion Hiromu Shimbo in Chobits Yuuichi Tate in Mai-HiME Kyo Sohma in Fruits Basket Van Fanel in Vision of Escaflowne and Escaflowne Movie Keisuke Takahashi in Initial D Shuichi Shindou in Gravitation Yzak Joule in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny Jiro/Kikaider in Kikaider the Animation Sousuke Sagara in Full Metal Panic!, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu and Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid Masataka Takayanagi in Tenjho Tenge Sagi (ep 163) in Naruto Ken Hidaka in Weiß Kreuz Miyata Ichirou in Hajime no Ippo Beyond the Grave/Brandon Heat in GunGrave

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Tuesday, September 5, 2006

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   The Return!

Anime Word of the Day

Bishōnen (美少年? also transliterated bishounen), is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful boy." It describes an aesthetic widely shared in Asia—a young man whose beauty (and sexual appeal) transcends the boundary of sex. The prefix bi (美) specifically refers to feminine beauty, and bijin, literally "beautiful person", is used to refer to a beautiful woman. The bishōnen is typically slender, with a tapered chin, stylish hair, and a facial structure likened to that of a woman, while retaining a male body. Some western anime and manga fans use the term to refer to any handsome male character regardless of age, or any homosexual character. In the original Japanese, however, "bishōnen" applies only to boys under 18. For those older, the word "biseinen" is used. In the place of bishōnen, some fans prefer to use the slightly more sexually neutral bishie.

Opening Act:
Hiya folks! I hope everyone had as wonderful a weekend as I did! As the temps around here decided they should be uncomfortably warm again for once I got to be in the perfect place for it! I was staying down at this small cabin resort on the San Juan Islands. It’s a lovely tree shaded area with a stunningly little cove that just caught the breeze and made even the hottest parts of the day enjoyable! I happily spent my time hiking through the woods and kayaking around the islands. I’ve once again forgotten how big a killer whale is until it surfaces next to you in a kayak. LoL Thankfully the whales are so use to kayakers I don’t think they even noticed us, but needless to say for me it was highlight. They were just stunning to behold! Sorry to say we didn’t have a camera with us, but I found this online and figured I’d at least give you an idea of what it was like! Hehehe

Hmm lets see we also bbq’d and had campfires at night while we sat around and told stories and just kinda enjoyed a bit of time in with nature. Ok not a whole lot of nature this time our version of camping ended with us a sleep in a luxury cabin. LoL Its been a while since I had a chance to get back to nature like I enjoy so much so this was a great trip.

Aww appears that a few guestbook sigs and PM’s to me where lost during this weekends fun as well so please if I haven’t answered you yet drop me another one! ^^ I’d hate to think I missed out on chatting to someone!

New Works:
Hmm no real new stuff, but it looks like the O had some problems while I was gone so I had to update the last three wallpapers I’d done earlier again. So well if you commented on them I’d appreciate if you’d do it again! ^^ I’m actually working on a few more goodies attempting to improve my vectoring skills with some interesting scenes so wish me luck! If anyone knows any good tutorials on vectoring please send them my way. The one I’ve been using is great for beginners but alas makes me experiment a lot to try to get the figure I want. Oh for those of you who don’t know what vectoring is, it’s basically using tons of layers and color fills to clean up images. It takes a long time to complete but usually the results are worth the effort. You can see my first vectoring attempt in the KIBA wallpaper I have up. I’m proud of the layer work, but I really need to work on my outline skills it looks kinda nappy.

Oh and todays little Honey avator is one of my own creations! ^^

Epilogue
Hmm well I already told you what I did over my weekend so I won’t put you through that again! LoL

And you’re right a lot of male characters are portrayed by female voice actresses, but alas I can never seem to stop being surprised when it occurs. Especially when I’m pretty certain the voice actor is a guy. LoL Oh well I like being surprised and surprising others, I guess that’s why I do this section. ^^

Bunraku – Oh my kinda of moe? Hmm I guess I kinda go for the quiet ones…the military types too. Not really a glasses girl, or loli-shota, etc…I fall back into that old style love. Tall, dark and silent. Hehehe Guess that’s why I like Sousuke so much, tough, quiet and loyal. I also tend to go for the bad guys…but they have to be good bad guys, I hate those one who just get lucky or are just nuts. LoL

Mmm I once watched an Inside the Actors episode where the voice actors of Simpsons appears…I found myself completely shocked not that some voices were women and such, but that each of them voiced 5-6 characters in the series! So many voices from one person! I wanna be able to do that! ^^

Jangalian – Shiro in Ouran HS Host Club was the boy they helped in I believe the third episode who played piano and wanted to learn how to be a host! ^^

Lost_puppy – Yup the English voice actor for Naruto is also a girl! LoL A fact that shocked a whole bunch of fans when she made her first appearance at a con last year! ^^

Yensid – Oh I forgot to bring this up last time! I love Nip Tuck!!! Especially Christian! *happy dances* I’m so glad to see them renewed again!

Random Question: What's your favorite color of anime eyes?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn’s Biography
Other Names: Mary McGlynn, Anna Top, Sheri Peppars, Melissa Williamson Born:Sorry never ask a woman her age. ^^ Occupation: Voice Actor/Director/Writer/Singer Status: Marred to voice actor Daran Norris
One of the best English voice actresses I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. I’ve known her in so many animes I’m not even sure which the first one is any more. Though I suspect Ghost in the Shell was probably at the top of the list. She brought an amazing personality filled voice to the Major that I still adore. I was also shocked to learn not only is she a well known ADR Director but she’s also a dialogue coach and has written the English dubs of several series including Wolf’s Rain, Metropolis, Digimon, and Megaman NT. She’s also been known to do some TV acting as well making appearances on several shows like Star Trek Voyager, Silk Stalkings, Xena and Quantum Leap. A quote from the lovely lady: Active Anime: Here is a general question, what do you like about being a voice actress? Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: I get paid to talk to the television and I can look like a slob while I do it. What more could you want? Seriously though, being a voice over actor is the most liberating kind of acting. I don’t have to worry if my hair’s the right color or if my thighs are too big. The only limitation I have is my voice and my ability to use it. I can play the strong heroine and the giant woman she rode in on all in the same scene. It’s getting paid to play. I’d do it for free if they asked. Wait, was that out loud?! Wanna read more of the interview? Check it out here from Active Anime. Sorry to say she doesn’t have her own website but I did go ahead and link her fan listing site under her photo. ^^ Just a short listing of her voice acting career. Major Motoko Kusanagi — Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and S.A.C. 2nd GIG series, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence movie and the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex video game. Mischa — Eureka Seven Ophanimon — Digimon Frontier Jura — Vandread Helba — .hack//SIGN Kanoe — X Julia — Cowboy Bebop Kurenai Yuhi — Naruto Lady Jagura — Wolf's Rain Jean (doll) — Witch Hunter Robin Rosso — Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Tsuchigumo — Karas

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Saturday, September 2, 2006

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   Long Weekend Fun!

Anime Word of the Day

Moé or Moe (萌え, literally 'budding', as with a plant) is a Japanese slang word originally referring to fetish for or love for characters in video games or anime and manga. For example, 眼鏡っ娘萌え, meganekko-moe, "glasses-girl moe", describes a person who is attracted to fictional characters with glasses. "Moe!" is also used within anime fandom, and even in some anime itself, as an interjection referring to a character the speaker considers moe. Since there's an upraising of female otaku (or fujyoshi) this term can also go both ways. Basically it's the nice warm feeling that otaku get when they see something they like. The actual opinion on what is moe varies from person to person. What is usually attractive to many fujyoshi would be yaoi innocent characters, really bishi characters, even some cross-dressing, and shota in some cases. Guys with glasses are also interesting examples of moe.

Opening Act:
Hi all! Just a quick note tonight, I’m afraid I won’t be around for a while. In fact I’m not really around right now! LoL Thank goodness for internet on vacations! Anyway with the long weekend I’m spending my time in the lovely islands. No not the tropics. I wish! Nah I’m visiting the beautiful San Juan Islands and working on having a long weekend of rest and relaxation!

I hope everyone has a great long weekend and that no one has to work anytime during it! ^^

Oh and I'll be a bit behind but I'll visit everyone's sites when I get back on Tuesday!

New Works:
Only one new wallpaper this time. This is Zedd from KIBA. Actually this is the first time I’ve ever done a real vector, so I would really love opinions on that. Feel free to drop me a PM and yes please criticize! I need to figure out how to improve these! ^^ Later!

Epilogue
I’m looking forward to a few new shows, two of which premiered already. Vanished and Justice both came out this week and both are proving to be quite interesting! Bones one of my fave shows also had their season premiere. It wasn’t half as interesting as I’d hoped after last year’s finale, but oh well I’ll be watching next week as well! And soon I get more new shows and more season premieres…I so can’t wait for NCIS. Hehehe Last year’s finale just hurt! I need resolution! LoL

Random Question:
What are you doing over the long weekend? ^^ Or what did you do?

Junko Takeuchi’s Biography
Birth Name: Family name: 竹内 - Given name : 順子 Born: April 5, 1972 in Saitama, Japan Blood Type B Occupation: Voice actress/Musician/Character Designer
Another of my fave Japanese voice actresses. I first heard her as most of us probably did as the voice of Naruto! I was a bit surprised to find one of my fave voices to be done by a women. I’m a bit too used to having boys either done by young girls or young guys. I was even more thrilled when I realized she’d done the voice of Gon in Hunter x Hunter, an anime series that is still one of my absolute favorites out there! Over the years now I’ve happily caught her acting in a variety of small and large roles so its always a pleasure to keep and eye out for her latest. As usual if you want to know more and you understand Japanese please click on the photo above to find her official website! Just a short listing of her voice acting career. Naruto as Uzumaki Naruto Hunter x Hunter as Gon Freecs Onegai my Melody as Kuromi Ouran High School Host Club as Shiro Takaoji Rurouni Kenshin as Kamatari Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters as Mokuba Kaiba Digimon Adventure as Gomamon Hi no Tori as Nagi Read or Die as Fabre Monster as Dieter

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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

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   Tuesday Fun!

Anime Word of the Day

Dōjinshi (同人誌; usually romanized as doujinshi) are self-published Japanese works, usually referring to manga and novels only. They are often drawn by amateurs, but some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular publishing industry. The term is derived from dōjin (同人), meaning "literary group", "coterie", or "clique", and shi (誌) which means "magazine" or "distribution". In Western cultures, dōjinshi is often perceived to be derivative of existing work, analogous to fanfiction. To an extent, this is true: some dōjinshi are parodies or alternative storylines involving the worlds of popular manga or anime series. However, many dōjinshi with completely original characters and storylines also exist.

Opening Act:
Hello! Well I hope everyone has had a good Monday and has made it safely to Tuesday. So far I’m doing pretty well actually. I’ve been rather enveloped playing a few new video games so I can’t say I’ve done anything creative! Hehehe I’m playing FF Dirge of Cerberus which has to be one of the prettiest and funniest games I’ve played in a while. Of course I might be biased, Vincent has always been one of my absolutely fave characters in FFVII! The game is a first person shooter, which was a bit of a surprise after all the FF role playing games. But I have to admit I just love playing it…or maybe I’m just mesmerized by the cloak and Gackt playing the theme music. LoL

I’ve also been playing N3 (Ninety Nine Nights). Which I just love playing, it’s sets itself up as rather pretty hack and slash type game. But there’s actually a very involved linear storyline that rather drags you in. And some very unique and fun to play characters! And well you get to hack and slash and blow up hundreds and thousands of baddies in one spree. ^^ My personal favorite scene is one of the very first ones as you approach the Goblin fortress and thousands of goblins rush down the hill at your small group of allies. Of course I happily had my major power move available…and I cleared most of the hill of goblins before they even reached me. Hehehe Big booms are fun!

Otherwise not much else happening…watched some more KIBA and caught up on the Lunar subs of Ouran HS Host Club! ^^

Oh and I added my AIM address to my site here. So if you wanna chat with me just drop me a note. I’m usually on nights or afternoons so feel free to say hello. ^^

New Works:
Two new works for people to look at today. Sorry ignoring my muses to play video game is a bit of badness I can’t seem to get away from until I beat the games! LoL First one is a rather fun piece of Black Cat. This one is an experiment in colors…I decided I wanted to see Train playing in purple. So there you go. ^^

Second one has a much simpler reason behind it…I just really wanted to do a close up of Karura from Utawarerumono! ^^ Enjoy!

Epilogue
Hmm last movie I saw in the theater was X-Men 3, which I rather enjoyed. Even though most of my friends like to disagree with me on that opinion. LoL Too bad I liked it! ^^ I keep meaning to go see some of the newer movies, but I can’t seem to get motivated. Its so much easier to just rent them and watch them on the big screen in my living room. LoL

Glad everyone is enjoying the new sections and learning new tidbits from them as well! And yup Reno, I’m sure about the Broly work in the DBZ movies! Actually I have three of them on my computer right now! ^^ I’m not a huge DBZ fans, though I like the fight scenes though and Broly’s battle is one of my faves! Hehehe I even checked the credits just to be sure!

Jangalion – Darn it I knew I forgot to mention one of them! And I really like Peacemaker Kurogane too. I guess it skipped my mind since I watched it in Japanese. Sorry! Ah and the new background for my site is from Full Metal Panic. ^^

Random Question:
Are you looking forward to any new shows in the fall line up? Or any returning shows?

Saito Ayaka’s Biography
Birth Name: Family name: 斎藤 - Given name: 彩夏 Born: June 2, 1988 in Tokyo> Blood Type O Occupation: Voice actress/Musician/Radio Talent
Well I did two English voice actors in a row so time for one of my absolutely fave Japanese voice actresses! Ayaka is actually a relatively new voice actress but I just fell in love with her technique. As you can see she voices not only my adorable Momiji from Fruits Basket, but also the lovely Honey from Ouran HS Host Club! ^^ I love the fact that she has this adorable habit of saying 'Nyeh' after most of her sentences! It just makes me wanna cuddle the characters! LoL If you feel up to looking a rather cute site, in Japanese you can click on her photo above to see her official web site! ^^ Just a short listing of her voice acting career. Fruits Basket as Momiji Soma Honey and Clover as Hasegawa Megumi Inu Yasha as Mayu Ouran High School Host Club as Mitsukuni Haninozuka You're Under Arrest Second Season as Megumi Honda Grrl Power as Sora Azumanga Web Daioh as Chiyo Mihama Girls Bravo as Tomoka Rana Judo

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