Friday, May 5, 2006

   Broke but happy!!
How do? Lol, I'm finding less and less things to post about these days, but here goes for another update!

Cheers to all those who gave their anime recommendations in my last post, you've given me alot to ponder over and I should have plenty of time, as I just blew my anime budget for the next few months!! On this....



This is the recently released Dragon Box Movie Set. Basically it's all 17 Dragonball and Dragonball Z movies in one set with remastered audio and video.

While it cost too much really, I haven't seen these movies yet and I was going to buy them anyway (Plus this way I get the Model Scouters!! Hurray for Walkie Talkies!!). The only problem is no English Language option or subtitles, but thats only a minor set back!! Lol. It also has one of the coolest pics of Goku I've seen.



So I'm gonna be busy watching those movies, smiling and nodding like I understand what they're saying!!

Apart from that I've been enjoying more of the various Tenchi Muyo series, great fun, can recommend it to anyone who likes a show that doesn't take itself too seriously.

I haven't posted any work on the site for a while, the last thing I posted was an ecard a few days ago (I wasn't sure if anyone would get the reference but it was the best idea I had in a while so, meh!).
However, I have been working on a piece of fan art, not a new one, more of a renewal project! My pic of Shinji and Asuka from Evangelion had always bugged me, the basis a decent pic was there, but the colouring and some details (Asukas eye!! what happened there I have no idea! Lol) were naff to say the least! So now that I have a little better knowledge of Photoshop, I'm going back to try and fix it up. So hopefully expect to see that posted up soon!

Well, that's another post, I'll draw it to a close here before I go a' rambling on!!

Cheers for stopping by!
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Sunday, March 26, 2006

   How Do?
I just noticed that I haven't posted anything at all up on my site for quite a while, so I thought I'd better update with something to prove that I'm still around! Lol.

I spose the reason I haven't posted anything is that there hasn't been much going on! I haven't bought, or watched, much new anime.
The last DVD I bought was the Tenchi Muyo OVA box set, very good, highly recommendend.
Anyway I have just started my new job last week, so whereas my free has suddenly vanished, I now have money coming in, so I can afford to buy new anime (amongst other things, but we'll see how much actually ends up on anime!!! Lol).

With the month or so I did have free before last week, I spent a fair chunk of it trying to finish a project that I've been working on, on and off for the last 7-8 months!! My little animation, a 2 or 3 minute piece, a follow up to a 10 second one I did about a year ago. Erm, this latest one is still not finished, even though it's up to about 550 drawings.

Working on this project, I have gained a great deal of respect and admiration for those artists out there who can draw Original Art and characters, because I can't, especially in an anime style.
My characters are pretty cartoony and odd looking. Recently I think I may have found the influence for the way I draw expressions on my characters.



Yes, there you see on the left (hopefully, knowing my HTML skills there won't be anything there!) an example of my crappy drawings and on the right, 'Percy' from Thomas the Tank Engine!

You may notice a slight similarity, and I'd like to point out that I drew my character before I'd seen that pic from Thomas, well that's not entirely true, I had seen the Thomas pic before, but not since something like 1991! I watched this show and read the books constantly up until about the age of 5 or 6, and is infact the subject of the first fan art I ever drew...A Loooooong time ago, where my love of drawing began!
I'm sure it's had a lasting effect on the way I draw things today, especially people and their expressions, whether thats a good thing or bad thing I don't know, they tend to be quite extreme! Lol.

The point of this post, erm, I'm not quite sure where I was going with it! I spose just to say what I've been up to, and to mention Thomas the Tank Engine. (An all time classic series I might add, narrated by Ringo Starr of 'Beatles' fame! Well, from the episodes that were showing when I were a youngster anyways!) Lol.
Erm, something anime related to finish on! I will finish my animated short soon, when I've recovered from the first couple of weeks at work (I'm knackered!). Maybe I'll post it up here, but it promises to be craptacular, and I fear ridicule! Lol. After that, I can start on some long awaited fan art and purchase some new anime. Any recommendations?

Well, later everyone, cheers for stopping by!
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Monday, February 6, 2006

   Quick Recommendation.
Recently I finished watching a series which I felt I should make a nod to, not that it really needs a recommendation.



'Cowboy Bebop', the name pops up on many anime related sites and is regarded quite highly. After watching it I can easily see why.

The first thing I would say is that this is a show I can recommend to anybody, it covers so many genres. Primarily it's a sci-fi show, two bounty hunters pilot an old space ship called the 'Bebop' travelling around the galaxy tracking down whoever has the highest bounty on their heads. Within that you have a good mix of action, comedy and romance (There are probably many more that I've missed!!). There's something in there for almost any anime fan to enjoy.

Also of note is the way the episodes are structured. It's a standard 26 episode job, except for the most part, each episode has a stand alone story with an underlying plot which wraps everything up at the end. In my opinion, this lends itself well to the amount of variation there is in the story.

Add to this a cast of genuinely likeable characters and a great, upbeat soundtrack from the well known composer Yoko Kanno and you have a winning combination.

Well, that wasn't quite as quick as I'd hoped it would be, took alot longer to write than I'd expected (Esspecially longer than it takes to read)!! It's a show that now ranks quite highly on my favourite anime list, incase you couldn't guess!! Lol.
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Thursday, January 26, 2006

   Tired Ramblings!!
Again with the random!! Well I hadn't posted anything in a while and as I actually have a topic this time I thought I'd have a go!! This may turn into a long ramble, but we'll see how we go!! Lol.

The otherday I noticed just how strongly I felt about anime and how my opinions about it have changed.

When I first got into anime, about 3 and a half years ago, one of the first things I did was to go on the net and find out what shows were available and which ones to look out for. What I found were countless review pages and hundreds of posts in forums with people bitching about how they thought the english dub of a show ruined the original intent, or how the credits theme had been changed or cut on certain DVD releases etc. This really irritated me, why couldn't people just sit back and enjoy the show? Why was a closing credit sequence that important?

Then the other day, I was just looking through a number of anime forums, I think it was on IMDB.com and I saw a number of comments that really annoyed me. This is specifically relating to the Dragonball series, where somebody had asked a question about the Japanese themes to one of the series, and was then mocked by another member for liking the original Japanese music. This was followed by alot of other comments agreeing the Japanese music sucked compared the English Dub themes. For those who don't know, when DBZ and DBGT were dubbed into English, they re-recorded all the background music as well as the opening and closing themes!! Lol, this is where I noticed the change in my opinion, I had become one of those fans from the forums.
I got so annoyed, these kids were adamant that the dull generic rock type music used in the dub was better than the music which was originally intended because it was 'ROCK' and anyone who prefered the Japanese version could go to Hell and was a moron etc!! Well you get the point, their narrow mindedness irrtated me.

Finally, I get to the point!! I now see what people were getting at when they were complaining about dubbing etc. It's all about individual preferences. For example, Dragonball Z. I enjoyed that series, the version I borrowed only had Japanese audio with subtitles which didn't worry me at all. However when I got the chance to watch some episodes in English, I realised just how much I prefered the Japanese dub....Alot!! But then on the flip side of the coin, there are shows such as Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi where I think the English dub conveys the humour so much better than reading the subtitles.
So, as I'm starting to ramble again, the final point I'm trying to make is that there is no right or wrong in the dub/sub debate, it's up to the individuals preference, there's no point in watching someething you don't enjoy!!

Apologies to anyone who sat and read all that, I'm pretty sure you're sat there wishing you could get the last 2-3 minutes of your life back that you just wasted!! Lol. Thank you for humoring me!!


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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

   Thats never happened before!
Apparently, I'd like to emphasise the fact that the post is random, as it has appeared twice for whatever reason!! Well they both say the same thing anyway!! Lol
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   Random
Just over a year and finally got round to updating my intro section!! It's more of a downgrade really, the original one was too random, I may have been drunk when I wrote it!! lol.
I hope the pic I took isn't taken as me trying to show off or anything. I just wanted something anime related that was personal to put there. The main reason I was able to set it up is because my temp contract at work has ended, so I have a bit of time on my hands...too much time!! Lol.

Hopefully, this means the next time I post something I'll actually have something interesting to say, like I've had the chance to do a new piece of fan art!! Fingers crossed!!


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   Random
Just over a year and finally got round to updating my intro section!! It's more of a downgrade really, the original one was too random, I may have been drunk when I wrote it!! lol.
I hope the pic I took isn't taken as me trying to show off or anything. I just wanted something anime related that was personal to put there. The main reason I was able to set it up is because my temp contract at work has ended, so I have a bit of time on my hands...too much time!! Lol.

Hopefully, this means the next time I post something I'll actually have something interesting to say, like I've had the chance to do a new piece of fan art!! Fingers crossed!!


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Saturday, December 24, 2005

   Seasons Greetings!!!
Well, a little while ago I said I was planning to do a Christmas pic, and leaving it right until the last minute (prepared as always!!) have finally finished it!
Dragonball is the inspiration yet again. Last year it was a disgruntled Kuririn, and whilst watching dragonball through again recently I saw a Goku scene which I thought would fit perfectly in with last years theme! So that's what I attempted.
It's a little rushed, and I would have probably gone back and redrawn it had I not been trying to get it done for Christmas!!
Anywho, please go and vote/comment if you have some spare time over this busy period!!

Well, that's it for this post. All that's left to say is have a Happy Christmas; eat, drink (especially drink!! Lol) and be merry!!!

Later all!! ^_^
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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

   20!! 20 YEARS!!!
Yup it's my birthday, 20 years old!! That can't be, I'm not old enough to be 20!! Or is that mature enough? True I do act more like a 50 year old anyway, but a young and quite active 50 year old!!
Anyway, had a pretty good day, skived off work early, sat down watched lots of TV, had a beer(s!!) and stuffed myself with Chinese food!! Fully packed day!!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say Happy Birthday to Mari15, as it's her birthday as well, hope you have a great day!!!

In other news, a new pic is almost in production, so very nearly!! It's a Christmas pic to follow the theme of my effort last Christmas. It's in its earlier stages, i.e. I had the idea, and sort of know what I want it to look like!! More news as it develops, or not as the case may be!!!

Later everyone!!!

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Monday, November 14, 2005

   It's been a while!!!
It certainly has, since I posted anything that is!!

Well honestly thats because I've had nothing that interesting to say really!! I have a couple of ecards to post soon. They're quite fun to do, I can pretend I'm funny!! Not drawn anything recently, well not anything worth posting. It's part of a project I'm working on, a short animation...It's taking forever, so many drawings!! I dunno why I'm doing it, cos hardly anyone's gonna get to see it, but I started, so I'm gonna finish it.

Apart from that, I've got a backlog of anime to watch. 4-5 sagas of the Dragonball series (I've seen them, but that was quite a while ago!!) and the equally lengthy Inuyasha, I'm only a few episodes in. Wasn't too sure about it at first, but looks like it's shaping up to be a pretty good series!!

Also, special mention to one of my more unusal purchases of recent. Volume one of Dragonball Z on DVD from Japan. The episodes have been digitally remastered and cleaned up, taken from the recently released (and already out of print!!) 'DragonBox' DVD sets. Fully uncut, 7 episodes per disk..original Japanese dub only...no subtitles.....£25 per disk (that does include shipping though, and it's fast!!). The scary thing was after watchng the episodes, I wanted the next disk. If I go on like that, 291 episodes, 7 per disk, £25 a time..It's gonna end up costing the best part of a grand!! Ah well, hopefully I'll be able to stop myself before I'm broke!!

Well, that was a very rare event, the lesser spotted posting. Hopefully they'll become less endangered in times to come!! In other words I'll post stuff more often, hopefully...I'll shut up now!!!
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