Coming Back (And Naka Kon 2013)

Well kids, I'm back. I know I've been away but a lot has happened. Loves have come and gone. I've been through more uhauls than any one person should. And a lot of my dvds have been stolen or sold to keep me alive. HOWEVER, hope is not lost. My manga collection survives intact and has actually grown. I've also exposed myself to a lot more series that I can't wait to talk your screens off with.

As for now I'm preparing for Naka Kon 2013 at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, KS. Sadly we were kicked out of the Hyatt-Regency Crown Center because merchants and "normal" people staying at the hotel were complaining that our group was "ruining their stay" and "making them uncomfortable". It's sad and infuriating (I loved going to my regular shops and showing them my costume, along with bringing in more people) but que sera sera.

This year we're doing a group cosplay of Kuroshitsuji. I am going as Grell Sutcliff. We also have a Sebastian (played by my brilliant fiance #1 Sean), Undertaker (played by cosplay fiend and friend Aaron), William T. Spears (played by my dearest friend Kaleb) and a great Tanaka (played by awesome fiance #2 Jason). We will be entering the cosplay contest and hoping for a shot at victory in the costuming division as all costumes will be done by hand. I'm also trying to figure out what to make/wear to the Formal Ball. (God help me if there's a Lolita Tea or White Day Party because that'll be ANOTHER outfit to sew in less than two weeks. My hands are already in bandages from overwork!) Anyway, signing out for now. Hope to see some of you there and thank you as always for your support.

Ouran High School Host Club

Ok, just saw the finale of OHSHC and I CRIED! Being that it was a shoujo manga, the cinderella-esque ending was fantastic. I also love the final waltz. I could go on for volumes but you're better of just reading/watching it. I'll be uploading a "best of" screen shots gallery soon and trust me, the one of Kyoya as a vampire is one of the first ones going up so stay tuned Kyoya fangirls! As a tribute, I've included a HOT doujin (Ka x Hi, Tama x Kyo) as well as a hilarious parody video. I own neither but I figured this would give us all something to do:

The Doujin
(THIS IS ADULT CONTENT! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU CLICK THIS LINK AND ANYTHING BAD OCCURS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

The Video
(Not at all adult, but funny! Love the baby Tamaki.)

Chibi Vampire *SPOILER ALERT*

Ok, so I'm still crying over the conclusion of the Chibi Vampire manga. It was beautiful, but SO SAD and definitely unexpected. I think I feel worst of all for Anju since she and her sister were so close and now she will live hundreds of years while her sister gets old and dies. However, I feel terrible for Ren too and now I think I know why he was always so mean to her: he knew what was coming and was trying to hide his pain behind his cruelty. (This may also partly explain his long absences from home.)
I have read the first of the light novels and watched about half the anime. I'm curios to finish both to see what kind of other shenanigans our little vampire gets into. I'm also curious about this whole "vampire hunter" thing in the anime since it wasn't mentioned in the manga. (I already know the backstory about Elda and the hunter's grandpa.) Well, now I'm out of steam and ready to go buy the anime. This is a wonderful series and I highly recommend it!

Furuba Forever!

***WARNING, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS***
So, in the final weeks of 2009, I was able to finish the wonderful Fruits Basket series. This series is wonderful for many different reasons. First of all, it's original. Second, it's some truly beautiful artwork without being line heavy (read: the original Vampire Hunter D). Third, the characters are both familiar and yet beyond our reach.

Some Favorite Scenes:
*Yuki and Machi: Didn't see that one coming, but it's wonderful. Especially when he breaks the chalk for her.
*The Last Scene With Kyoko and Kazuma: The second most wonderful love scene in the whole
book. If only we could all find that at the end of our journey.
*Akito's Revelation: She looked so beautiful in that kimono and she had the decency to know that she could not just use "I'm sorry" to make things better.
*Momiji Talking About His Mom: Made me cry, but it was still beautiful.

And in the end, the final volume was the most beautiful with all it's flash backs and the revelation that everyone has someone (except Kagura, but at least she's happy). Also found it adorable that Kyo and Tohru's granddaughter was carry cat and rat dolls. If you've read the series, you already know what I'm talking about. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments section.

Blood is not PURPLE!

***THIS IS A RANTING OTAKU PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT/EXPLOSION***
Please, for the love of God, stop turning the blood purple on dubbed anime. Especially not when the scene as a whole is already violent. You'll show Naraku exploding from the skull of a bird demon and slicing off her head, you'll show the neck hole (which looks awfully genital to me) and the blood pouring out into a river, but god forbid it be red. Little Johnny's mother might just claim you traumitized him...
This makes no sense, really. At least not as a fan. Yes, I know, they're trying to sell as many copies as they can and ignorant suburban housewives will buy the kid anything in style, but PLEASE. Anime is not now, nor has it ever been, for little kids. At least not all of it. You want kid anime? Try things like Magical Meow Meow Taruto and Hamtaro, not freaking InuYasha and Naruto! Even Pokemon was not that childish in the original! And don't even start me on what they did to Sailor Moon. (Gender bending, relationship altering and general "dumbing down" just to name a few). What's worse are these mother's that show up at CONVENTIONS (for God's sake) and just drop the little terrors off. Lady, we are NOT babysitting. There aren't going to be streams of other moms to watch him, there are just going to be a lot of pissed off teens and adults who want to send your kid to Chuck E. Cheese so they can enjoy the event they spent all that money on.
Worse, however, are the mother's who come in and want to run the show. No, the Chii cosplayer is not going to put more clothes on and NO the blood covered guy is not going to go wash it off. If your kid is not mature enough to handle this, take him home! And quit with this ignorant notion that anime is just "weird Japanese cartoons" and that we need to "grow up". You have no clue, you've never truly watched or read one, and you lead to trouble for real fans. It's people like you that cause some places to ban crossplaying. You also force us to hold panels of any mature subjects late at night and at the far end of the hotel with the doors barred so your kids don't overhear that "filthy" stuff. Costumes get restricted, not because of common decency but because your "angel" saw a "breast" and now he's going to be a "deviant".
And one last thing, I will NOT leave Barnes & Noble because of what I'm reading. You have no business glaring at what I'm reading and asking me to put it away because your child is present. I DON'T GIVE A S%*#! If your kid wasn't bothering me (because he saw the cover of a manga and being a whatever-is-hip-now-fan ran over to interrogate and pester me), he wouldn't have seen those two gorgeous men kissing or seen me drawing the decapitation scene in my next chapter. So be a parent, learn what your kid is interested in and stop pushing for this castrated garbage. Air-brushed out guns and cigarettes look stupid, ninja women do not wear nun's habits, Zoicite is not a woman, Haruka and Michiru are not "cousins" and blood is not purple, black, green or whatever other stupid color they thought would trick you into calling these shows "kid-safe".
***THIS HAS BEEN AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MANY ANGRY OTAKU! THANK YOU!***

My Anime Pedigree

Like most kids with basic cable, my first two animes were Speed Racer and Sailor Moon respectively. At the time, I had no idea what I was getting in to, I just knew Sailor Moon was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I was far less satisfied with regular cartoons. I of course became a lover of Pokemon and Digimon, but I realized my feelings were well beyond a "fad". This love grew to obsession when in my tomboy teens I discovered Dragonball Z and Outlaw Star. This stuff (at the time) was so raw and fascinating. My mother, shockingly, understood my passion and would alot the TV time for me, no matter how much my little sister complained. I was, of course, treated strangely by schoolmates, especially girls, but that never bothered me.
In high school, however, all my anime perceptions changed. First came the manga: More Starlight To Your Heart and Chobits to be exact. Then there followed my first look at REAL anime, not the neutered garbage Viz had been feeding me. The first time I saw not-purple blood and heard the dialog as intended, I was floored. It was exactly like the first time I had real chocolate and knew I could never eat another hershey bar...
My passion thereafter has spiraled out of control. There almost 100 volumes of manga on my shelf right now, but I've read closer to 300 (yes, I camp out at Barnes & Noble). I have begun the long process of acquiring box sets instead of buying individual DVDs because my obsession is tainted with practicality and bills still have to be paid.
I began drawing manga at 14 and am starting up again, as well as resuming Japanese lessons. I am a Japanophile and surround myself with the culture. I have recently developed a true love of the Lolita lifestyle, realizing there has been a WaLoli inside me this whole time. Even though I get some glares for being plus-sized, I still love it. (BTW, I'm working on the plus-sized part ladies, but a thyroid disease does not make it easy.) Well, that's enough rambling. Now begins the reason you came here: FANDOM!