I bought the DVD just last Saturday but I haven’t had the time to post it yet ^^;;
I’m not sure if the English companies plan on releasing the covers the exact same way as the Japanese ones, so I’m going to scan the little gifts anyway… Plus, the calender is for January and February, I doubt they’d release it now
(Remember to click on it for the FULL size)
Please do not re-post anywhere else without crediting me, thanks!
There was a special disc with the cast talking and role-playing and all, but I won’t be uploading that because I’d rather promote the buying of the DVD for it … >>;;
And I won’t be on time for the second DVD’s calender (March and April) or maybe I will if I order it now…
P.S. I’m finally up to typesetting chapter 1 of “Yashio and Mikumo”…
Well, it’s that time of the season again, where I sort out and judge my top 10 anime OP/EDs of a particular season that nobody even cares about. This time around, it’s Winter season of 2009/10, and being truthful here there wasn’t much significant songs that I “like-liked” compared to previous times. Sure in my earlier post I said that I really liked Sora no Woto’s OP, but a few weeks past the song seems to have deteriorated for me… But here you go, Nyarth’s Top 10 Winter Anime Songs of 2009/10.
Of course Durarara!! takes the No. 1 spot for its innovative rap styled ending sequence, quite inevitable to say at least.
1. Durarara!! ED – “Trust Me” by Yuya Matsushita
TRUST ME TRUST ME TRUST ME YEAH!
2. Baka Test OP – “Perfect-area Complete!” by Natsuko Aso
3. Ladies vs Butlers ED – “my starry boy” by Mai Nakahara
4. Seikon no Qwaser OP – “Errand” sung by Faylan
5. Sora no Woto OP – “Hikari no Senritsu” by Kalafina
6. Ookami Kakushi OP – “Toki no Mukō Maboroshi no Sora” by FictionJunction
7. “Shy Girls” by Chihara, Kotobuki, Yahagi and Hikasa
8. “LOVE x HEAVEN” by Ayako Kawasumi, Mai Nakahara, Rie Kugimiya and Ami Koshimizu
9. Dance in the Vampire Bund OP – “Friends” by Aiko Nakano
10. Omamori Himari ED – “BEAM my BEAM” by Himarinko L. Shizukuesu
The new episode of Shugo Chara! is officially on the internet!
In the new episode of Shugo Chara! the guardians arrive just in time to see the X eggs that escaped from Rikka’s house transform into a giant X character! I really don’t want to give it all away but in the end Rikka actually character transforms with Hotaru to make an awesome new person! Also, there’s another person who comes back from his long trip to see Amu again.
Here’s a hint:
He has blue hair, acts like a cat, and can totally make Amu blush!
Do you know who it is?
Tune in next week’s new episode to find out if you’re right!
Image has no relavance whatsoever to this post, really.
I just felt like posting this, since I am bored.
Also, these are just my personal opinions.
Favorite openings:
5. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – “Perfect-area complete!” by Asou Natsuko
Nothing really special and not really infectious, but I like it.
4. Katanagatari – “Meiya Kadenrou” by Minami Kuribayashi
^ Same as above.
3. Sora no Woto – “Hikari no Senritsu” by Kalafina
Peaceful and calming song.
I also love the way they used the instruments in this one.
2. To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – “LEVEL5-Judgelight-” by fripside
fripSide <3 (YES, I AM BIASED.)
Not as good as only my railgun, but still cool.
(Just in case you’re wondering, this OP still counts since it aired during the Winter 2009-2010 season.)
1. Durarara!! – “Uragiri no Yuuyake” by Theatre Brook
I…I have no idea how to describe it’s awesomeness.
Favorite endings:
5. Okamikakushi – “Tsukishirube” by Nanri Yuuka
Nice ballad. I know that there’re probably better EDs out there than this one, but…
4. Dance in the Vampire Bund – “Tsumeato” by hibiku
I don’t even watch Dance in the Vampire Butts Bund, but heck, a few seconds into the song and somehow I had this feeling it would be my type of song. (And it did not let me down on that.)
3. Sora no Woto – “Girls, Be Ambitious” by Tomatsu Haruka
A cutesy, catchy, hopping pop track (which can cause an earworm after listening to it after a few times.)
What’s there not to like?
2. Durarara!! – “Trust Me” by Matsushita Yuya
Laid-back, carefree J-POP with a bit of Engrish and it’s easy listening.
I also like the animation in it.
1. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – “Baka Go Home” by milktub
This was placed first, just because. I mean really, you don’t see songs often that have funny manly lyrics , like “If we stay idiots, we’ll be manly men! Is that our common sense and the lack thereof!”…or something like that.
Aside from the random implied BL, (…why are so many guys? Not that I mind though.) it is infectious and a lot of fun to listen to.
Obligatory mentions(?):
Okamikakushi – “Toki no Mukou, Maboroshi no Sora” by FictionJunction – I prefer the game’s opening better. Gyagu Manga Biyori + – “Kibou no Uchuu no…” by Ueda Yuuji – lol epic lol
Really enjoying watching Eden Of The East recently, great story and great animation.
The series is only eleven episodes but still manages to draw you into the story, there’s meant to be two movies coming out later on, which is a pity because I want to see what happens next now! The other side affect is that I really want a flip phone, I’m not sure if that happens to everybody or just me.
The anime subcontractor Studio Wanpack Reports that it produced the key drawings for the 12th installment of the Heroman anime from American comic pioneer Stan Lee and the BONES anime studio last month. Wanpack’s report is the first indication that the long-gestating project is in actual production.
An American kid named Joey lives in an urban city & has always wanted to become a hero. Unfortunately he’s just an orphan working part time to support his grandma and himself. After he watched a toy commercial on a new robot action figure, Joey believe he’ll gain strength if he obtains one. The only robot toy he can get his hands on is a broken one that was abandon by a rich school bully. Feeling pity for the trashed action figure, Joey took it home to repair it. Little did he know, that once he repairs the toy, it’ll make his hero dream become a reality.
SOOO Stan Lees tryna get into the anime world Although hes already started creating a manga and another series called Ultimo and also developing an animated television series named Quartz with GDH
This morning at precisely 12:00pm, I went with my mom and a family friend to our local movie theater to watch AVATAR in 3D
…Wow, that past sentence sounds like a five year old at show and tell, talking monotonously about his incredibly boring summer.
Anyways, the movie was AWESOME..BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN SO FAR. It had the right amount of romance, tragedy, happiness, and violence. The special effects, were of course, AMAZINGLY DONE – the beautiful scenes, places, animals, plants and WOW. It even had a moral to it – DON`T MESS WITH NATURE and that fighting terror with terror has got to be the stupidest thing to do on a foreign planet.
James Cameron is such a master, He wrote, directed and produced this amazing film, as well as Titanic and countless other films I don’t know – someone give him a large sized cheese burrito topped with extra salsa, cause that 2h and 45m was the best use of my time this March break
ALSO, to add to “productive” day I’ve had, or should I say, am having, is that I started another manga – Pandora Hearts!
I just realized the association of Planet Pandora in Avatar and Pandora Hearts….LMAO.
Well, most of my friends say it’s ok, the art looks pretty good, better than waiting around for other manga on my list to update. (hint hint I put in a new page!)
Speaking of Pandora, I keep juxtaposing it with Pandora’s Box, the one that was released with all the evil spirits and hope at the very bottom? But heck, Pandora has got to be the mythical character with the most curiousity and least self control in the world…
But then again, back then they had people who married their siblings (INCEST), and people running around naked or draped in bedsheets (togas) – therefore I am assuming that the people who gave Pandora the box didn’t know of reverse psychology.
I am also starting to read Firethorn, I was literally on the verge of sleep when I decided to blog. Now i know why people read books before they go to sleep :O (sudden realization )
CHECK MY NEW ANIME AND MANGA PAGE!
Mood: Accomplished
Word of the Day: Drudge (meaning servants who do labouring tasks)
Doing: Sleeping in the Hallelujah Mountains (reference to AVATAR)
And finally the last piece to complete the Moe collection of the year. Azusa Nakano joins the girls in the figma ranks.
No words could express my overflowing joy as Azusa is finally revealed to the public along with her accessories. One thing that we can take note of this is that this will be a sure fire sold out. So better watch out for her on your favorite stores.
Sadly, the release date is still shrouded in the dark so we really have to keep our guard up on this one.
More info via the Figma Blog.
In light of the Handley case’s conclusion and the recent measure in Tokyo to outlaw sexually provocative imagery of characters 18 and under to protect “nonexistent youths,” as well as the subsequent opposition by manga creators from all over Japan, I’ve felt an increasing desire to state my thoughts on the whole situation. I’m not really anybody who can affect a change, particularly when it comes to the Japanese government, but I still want to say my piece.
Before I begin, I want to explain my stance on objectionable art so that you can understand where I’m coming from. Ask two different people from similar upbringings to list their sexual kinks, and you would likely see differences in their answers. People’s sexualities are very personal things, and often times people cannot help what they are sexually attracted to. They can ignore it, they can actively avoid situations in which they are exposed to it, and being confused about their own sexuality can lead a person to think they’re into something they’re really not, but sexual attraction, to whatever it may be, will be there.
And so you’ll find situations where something one person finds sexually attractive will be absolutely repulsive and morally reprehensible to another. It is not absolutely not wrong for a person to feel disgusted with something that makes them highly uncomfortable, and it is their very right to think less of anyone who finds such a thing arousing. However, it is my belief that laws should not be passed based simply on the fact that something is seen as creepy or disgusting. Laws should not be carried by emotion alone. In order for it to be a crime, there should be a real risk of harm, be it physical, psychological, monetary, or some other form to another individual, something that makes it more than just a “bad feeling.”
With that in mind, I want to get into the main thrust of why this bill to protect “nonexistent youths” is so dangerous should it pass. Simply put, it is too broad in its scope and so vague in its language that it can encompass pretty much anything. It is too much based on vague “feelings,” and is inherently flawed.
Pornography is one thing, but the proposal extends to all potentially sexually provocative portrayals of characters 18 and under. Let’s take a classic example of something easily sexualized but a part of everyday life: the short skirt. How short does it have to be in order to be considered sexually provocative? What is the threshold? Is it the standard length for a Japanese school uniform’s skirt? In that case, I don’t think I have to tell you that there is a sizable population that would disagree with that. In that case, let’s just get rid of all short skirts on minors in manga and anime. Even long dresses can be deemed sexually attractive, possibly moreso than short skirts, depending on the individual. The same thing applies to getting rid of dresses and skirts entirely and replacing them with pants. Forbid sexually provocative imagery? I can only believe that the people who drafted this proposal have no idea how powerful the human imagination can be, especially that of a horny teenager.
The teenager is also an important individual to consider with this proposal. The idea of removing fictional portrayals of people 18 and under that could be deemed sexually provocative feels like a myopic decision created in the world of adults. The proposal is there to prevent adults from looking at underage characters in a sexual manner, but not everybody reading manga is an adult. And while I know that it is difficult to determine age based on a drawing given the sheer unlimited possibilities that can occur when pen is put to paper and an image is created, let’s just assume for the sake of argument that we discovered a way to 100% accurately portray the age of a drawn character, that the 16-year old on the page is 16 years old. If you consider the reader to also be a 16-year old, then it would only make sense that they would be sexually attracted to that character, that a 16-year old can be sexually attractive at all. Yes, there is a risk involved with attracting people who are much older than teenagers, but if we were to apply that logic to the real world, to “existent youths,” it would be as if teenagers were being told that they weren’t allowed to look attractive because there’s a risk people outside their age group might find them attractive as well, or saying that people 18 and under cannot look attractive at all. Again, when taken from a purely adult perspective, it’s easy to see why this would make sense, but not everyone in Japan is an adult, and not everyone reading manga is over the age of 18.
Taking a broad view of censorship, artists and creators will push the limits of censorship as far as they possibly can, no matter how strict or severe the censorship may be. Genitals are censored in Japanese pornography, but their porn industry has found a number of ways around the “mosaic.” Some companies push the limits of pixel size in the mosaic, boasting that their mosaics are extra small, while the very concept of bukkake possibly stems from the goal of showing evidence of the male genitals without actually displaying them. If a limit on skirt length really were to be decided and skirts were deemed “okay” if they were less than 4 centimeters above the knees at most, then some manga creator or artist out there would make sure to point out that a girl’s skirt is 4.000001 cm above. It’s one thing to set a limit and say, “this is the point you must not cross,” but to try and prevent anything sexual from being portrayed in visual fiction is a losing battle forever thwarted by the endless creativity of artists.
This particular entry has been floating around in my head for quite a long time, not only because I frequently watch anime and play games, but also because Crisis Core has a special place in my heart. Could be because it was the only comfort I had over the worst two weeks of my life, but either way, I really like the game.
For anyone new to the party, that is, the people with little to no interest in games/anime/Japan in general, Crisis Core is the prequel that takes place seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, which I, by the way, have not actually played. Essentially, it sets the scene for the resident evil corporation, Shinra, and how the big bad in FFVII, Sephiroth actually got so evil in the first place. I guess that part would be kinda interesting if I actually liked or had any interest in Sephiroth, but I don’t. (Though I do quite like the freaky mind games he plays with Cloud, but that’s for another time.)
The gameplay itself isn’t particularly great, but, well, you’re dumb if you expect a Japanese RPG to have innovative gameplay. (I’m sure they exist, but seriously, stupid idea assuming something like that) In my mind, a Japanese RPG is just a slightly more interactive version of a visual novel. See, a visual novel, as it might imply, is mostly reading through lots and lots of text, looking at the occasional supporting image and at times choosing a particular direction for the storyline. Similarly, Japanese RPGs mostly entail watching some short movies, (equivalent to the supporting images in the VN) reading some text for the bits they can’t be bothered animating/it costs too much money, and continuing the storyline by fighting a series of relatively easy battles, since most RPGs have some action elements. So, despite it being a game, the intention, at least I think, is to entertain the audience through the narrative, rather than challenging gameplay. And in doing this, Crisis Core is really, really successful.
Something that I’ve found is that Squeenix manages to write relatively well are its characters. While some of them might resemble stock characters initially, all the main ones do manage to develop in some way throughout the course of the game, which is not something I can say for the majority of stock anime characters. See, what anime doesn’t know how to do properly is when to stop showing a character angsting. A very big problem that a lot of anime characters run into is that they get very fucking annoying because they just spend too much time complaining about their dear feelings. And I don’t know why anime is so insistent in drilling characters and their feelings into our heads. (Well, I suppose we wouldn’t think stock characters had feelings if they weren’t stuffed down our throats, but there are much better ways to pull off good character development.) Squeenix, and Crisis Core in particular, seems to avoid this particular problem. They know what level of emotion spewing is enough to get the point across and affect the audience without all of it just getting irritating.
Case in point. About halfway through the game, Zack, the essential main character in Crisis Core, due to a series of unfortunate events, is forced to essentially kill the person who has acted has his friend and mentor figure for quite a while. Obviously, after the ordeal, Zack’s realisation that he is indeed powerless in light of the big picture around him is pretty distressing.
Now, see, in anime, this particular situation would almost always lead to several very fucking annoying episodes of the main character just angsting away for ages and ages and ages. I dunno, somebody might be into something like that, but I… really don’t. Lucky for me, Crisis Core doesn’t do crap like that. Simply, after the abovementioned scene and a minute or two of the subsequent sad, there’s a timeskip to when Zack is back on his feet and very clearly having matured since. And the general execution of the entire thing is really, really good, and really, they managed to convey more human emotions and development through that short series of clips than several anime series’ could with 24 twenty minute episodes.
So I was thinking about it… and I honestly can’t think why anime finds it necessary to spell out every single thing a character feels, and spend way too long doing it. A show I watched recently basically had the main character spelling out to the audience the personality traits of the people around him. Stuff like that is really very unnecessary. Anime/film/tv in particular have a large variety of ways they can convey meanings to the audience. Unlike books, they aren’t limited to the power of words and formatting alone to get a message across. Each character is built through not only what they look like, but also the way they speak, and the mood of every single scene can be drastically changed by the musical track played in the background. The entire atmosphere, the entire mood of the show can be changed by the way scenes are shot, the way things are animated and the assortment of colours. And yet, despite all of these different ways for anime (and certainly, a large majority of mainstream entertainment, be it regular tv, films, etcetera) to convey different messages and different feelings, why does it constantly fall back to the same bland characters, the same shallow emotions and development and the same lackluster art quality? Do they think that their audience is so stupid that they can’t extract meaning from anything but words directly? (Well, considering some of the viewership, that might not be a particularly incorrect assumption) Unfortunately, the reason is probably just laziness. Why spend more money for atmosphere and art quality when you can make about the same amount of money from a generic story that will appeal to the masses? In the end, only a minority will be really appreciating your work, and you will, more likely than not, not hear from them very much anyway.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Crisis Core. The graphics are quite good, especially for a PSP game, and the graphical difference from ingame to cutscene isn’t as atmosphere destroying as it is in, say, FFVII. The magic attacks are beautiful, but I’m also a sucker for coloured dancing lights and particle effects, so, I dunno, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. The ingame battle music isn’t particularly great, but the game always hits home with the music during cutscenes, which further adds to the game’s overall effective pacing and atmosphere. Although the only character I really really like in the game is Zack, the entire cast is quite well rounded and do react, well, like regular people, rather than that thing that happens in anime all the time when most of the characters only have one (annoying) personality trait. The DMW feature also brings more of the story and character interactions into the game part of the game rather than limiting only the cutscenes. Essentially, with this, Zack recalls particular memories he’s had with particular people he meets, and this grants him additional abilities/better attacks/etc in combat. The memories themselves aren’t ones that play in the cutscenes, but they actually resemble fond memories normal people have when they spend time with their friends — not of any serious subjects or anything in particular, just nice memories that make you smile when you remember them.
And see, the existance of this feature makes the ending even more crushing. No, seriously, this game made me cry. And games don’t make me cry. Well, the crying may have been related to my generally bad emotional state at time of first playthrough, but oh man, the ending was just great. Technically it’s a spoiler, but anybody not connected to the FFVII scene won’t be bothered by this knowledge, but basically, Zack is shot down and killed by Shinra’s army. The game makes you play through a fight that you can never win at against waves and waves of Shinra troops, with them progressively doing more damage. The more damage Zack takes, the more of this memories of his friends fade, and once its all his HP is gone, so are all of his memories of his friends and all that’s left is the sound of gunfire. I read elsewhere that somebody didn’t like how they made the player trudge through this part, despite the inevitable death, but it worked really well for me. I probably played the best I had ever played the game ever, clinging on the hope that maybe he’ll get out alive. And, well, when he doesn’t, I seriously felt like somebody had just ripped my heart out. (Again, these feelings are probably more affected by my general unstable state of mind when I played it, but I’ve replayed it since then and it still makes me depressed, so clearly it’s doing something right.) And again, the reactions towards Zack’s death by the other characters aren’t overplayed or overdramatised, and again, the game simply ends with another timeskip to show the development in the characters since the death, rather than dwelling for countless hours on the characters and their angst.
I’m sure I’m making all kinds of dangerous generalisations talking about anime like this, but, well, gems are always going to exist, who manage to combine good narrative, execution, atmosphere and characters. What my problem is is just that not enough of those exist. If it were up to me, every single show would at least go to efforts to really stimulate the audience mentally, intellectually and emotionally. But, well, a lot of people don’t like that kind of thing. Some people are apparently watch shows not to think, but to have some manner of entertainment where thinking is not neccessary and all they want is a few hours of non commital timepass. But, well, I’m not one of these people, and I don’t think I can ever be somebody like that.
Its like asking a horse to suddenly change himself into a ladybug, or something.
Probably the anime that made me really like Shoujo (As well as ‘Ouran High School Host Club’). ‘Lovely Complex’ the anime is an adaptation of the popular manga series by Nakahara Aya (Which I have yet to read). Our protagonist, Koizumi Risa, is the tallest girl in her class; our second protagonist, Oizumi Otani, is the shortest lad in his class- I guess you can see where this is going?
The plot is reminiscent of Toradora, in which we swap out scary and agressive with tall and short. The plot progresses smoothly throughout the series, and after each episode it left me wanting more and more. The characters were extremely likable, Risa is an absolute nutcase and Otani is as thick as two planks of wood. It makes for some very interesting comedy moments. Thats another thing I loved about this anime, even through the serious drama parts it could make you laugh without killing the flow. Two support characters come to mind when reminiscing about the comedy, Risa’s good friend Nobuko and her boyfriend Nakao; these two are the spine of the comedy structure in this anime, they constantly made me laugh with their appearances and input to the situations.
In all a fantastic anime and one of my top 5 of all time. I highly recommend if you need something light hearted, cute but with enough drama and suspense to keep it fresh every episode.
Yey! We just finished our final exam of the 4th quarter, the last we’ll have! But you know, I feel that I didn’t do well this time. I can only leave everything to prayer and trust.
So what will we be doing now? As graduating students, we took the exams earlier than the other grade levels. This week, we’ll be practicing for our graduation ceremony, and busy ourselves for the Graduation Ball!!! Yey!
I already have my simple gown ready for dry cleaning. Its color is apple green and has a simple but elegant design. It was made by Sylvia Silvestre.
And I can finally breathe (yes, breathe!). I just couldn’t these past few months. Breathe with a smile, Yui! Your hard work will pay you back in the future! Sou desu!
RUROUNI KENSHIN ————->
This is one of my favorite animes. And right now I want to watch it again. I really really like Kenshin. I always think that he’s my ideal guy. Eehh…… So sweet, pure, and caring. And I can relate so much with Kaoru! Kaoru and Kenshin pairing is the best! I like how they care so much for each other, and how Watsuki (manga-ka – author/artist) made it so hilarious and sweet.
I’ll be watching it again. I watched it years before but I never really completed it all. Its now currently on Animax. But I’m kinda’ disappointed by Animax’s choice of english dub. They used the version where there names were changed. Kenshin-Kenshi and Kaoru-Kori. And I think Kaoru’s voice was too mousy and high. Wasn’t anything like the original version. I’m also disappointed because I’ve been watching since the 20th or 30th + episode.
What I like about this anime is its value of friendship and pure love, its showcase of Japanese history, the very unique character personalities and design, the originality of the anime/manga, and its comedy. And I shouldn’t forget the very very pleasing soundtrack. I like Sobakasu and the others.
BTW, I decided to make this segment in my blog. The WEEKLY MESSAGES is where I will post my message to my blogger friends. Hope you like this section! Inspired by Wink Up.
WEEKLY MESSAGES:
TO ADRIANNE-SAN: Long time no chat! But I’ll be free soon. Let’s talk about R.Kenshin if you’re interested. It’s a good anime, isn’t it?!
TO LESLIE: We’ll be graduating soon. I’m glad you stopped bullying me. But you pinch me so painfully! Please make it lighter then if you don’t want to stop it. (^w^;) Hehe.
TO ANGELA: Your hair is still curly.
TO CLAUDINE: Thank you for sympathizing with me these past few months. Let’s see each other in La Salle! BTW, did you receive a green ID from the acceptance letter from La Salle?
Base design I had settled on a couple of weeks ago.
I first make test prints on ordinary paper using a gray scale print. Color ink and decal paper are expensive! The elliptical base took couple of adjustments to the image dimensions to get right.
Final print. The top black strip is the decal I'll be adding to the top of Saber's stocking for added detail. Before I can apply I need to wait a day, seal it, then wait another day or else the ink will run off soon as the decal hits the water.
Drawing chibi Grimmjow is going to be a lot easier than you thought. Start with a circle for his face and or head and then draw the outlined shape for his hair style. When that is done you can add the facial guidelines and then draw out the shape of Grimmjow’s chibi body. Don’t forget to draw in the shapes for his arms too!
Step 2.
Now that you have chibi Grimmjow’s facial guidelines drawn in, you can start this sketch by drawing Grimmjow’s eyes like you see them here. The shape of his eyes sort of look like bat wings. This emphasizes the intense look he always has on his face. Once his eyes are drawn out you can add the lining for his pupils and eyeballs.
Step 3.
This is the fun part because you will now draw chibi Grimmjow’s hair style. He has what you call a long spike, with a curl or two hanging in the front of his face. Add some detailing and definition to his hair and then you can draw out the ear on the right side of Grimmjow’s face.
Step 4.
Sketch out the shape of his face and then draw the shape of his mouth and or teeth. Next draw the bony mask he wears on the right side of his face, and then start sketching out the shape of Grimmjow’s chibi arms that are stout and chunky looking. Don’t forget to draw in his hand as well.
Step 5.
Now you will start sketching out chibi Grimmjow’s jacket and then his left arm. Once that is done add some detailing to his chest which is showing through because he always wears his jacket open. Once that is done you can draw the lining for his zipper to make it look bolder. Next sketch out his sash and then add some crease lines to Grimmjow’s sash too. Lastly, add some pleated lines around his waist under his sash.
Step 6.
Finish off your chibi Bleach character by capping off his hakama and then draw the shape of his chibi feet. Erase all the guidelines and shapes that you drew in step one, so you can prepare your chibi for color.
Step 7.
You have just learned “how to draw chibi Grimmjow step by step”. Color him in and you are all done. I hope you had fun with this lesson, be sure to join me next time for another fun filled tutorial lesson.
One of the work in progress pictures I’m working on now. It’s a chibi Pic of Oz from the anime Pandora Hearts. I know it’s a blurry pic but i have to use my webcam.
Since my last post on the subject, Discotek has updated their blog posting announcing the first boxed set. Here are all the details we have:
Release date: June 29th
Cost: $59.95/36 episodes
The cover art
Includes the Manga Entertainment English dub, as well as English subtitles
Includes the original Japanese Op/Ed, as well as episode previews
Let’s go through this one bullet at a time, shall we?
Release date: June 29th
The date has been finalized since the first blog post. Great news. While it’s not at all uncommon for the actual release date to change as we get closer, the fact they have a specific date in mind is a good sign. I will be monitoring amazon and righstuf. Once the product appears in either of those places for pre-order, I’ll feel even better about this going down as planned, though again, it’s no guarantee.
With the recent news that the Fist of the North Star video game Hoktuo Musou will be released in Europe in the “summer of 2010”, it seems that this DVD couldn’t come out at a better time. Summer isn’t very specific, but in Europe that covers the months of June, July, and August. I expect that the video game will draw additional interest to the boxed set, because a lot of people know about Fist of the North Star only peripherally. Here’s hoping for an American release date for the video game soon.
Cost: $59.95/36 episodes
Fair enough. That’s about $1.70 an episode. I think that fairly-priced boxed sets cost no more than 2 bucks an episode, and this boxed set falls within my general rule, for whatever that’s worth. Crunchyroll sells Fist of the North Star episodes at 2 bucks a pop, so this is already a better deal than that. Factor in that most online retailers will have a discount on top of that, and the video quality is guaranteed to be better than what you can get from Crunchyroll.
As you may already know, the Fist of the North Star television series is actually divided into two separate anime series, while the manga is one complete story (sort of like the way the US divided Dragonball into Dragonball and Dragonball Z). Part 1 of Fist of the North Star ran for 109 episodes, while Part ran for 43. Part 1 is by far the best part of the anime, as it’s the story which series writer Buronson had planned to tell from the beginning. It includes all of the epic pathos covered in the 1986 movie, which is what the series is best known for. Part 2 is what Buronson found himself writing after being encouraged to continue the story due to its popularity (the way Toriyama intended to end Dragonball with the Freeze/Goku fight, but got persuaded to drag things out). You won’t hear me praise Dragonball for much, but Toriyama did a far better job extending Dragonball than Buronson did extending Fist of the North Star. In Fist of the North Star, character archetypes and plots are rehashed to absurd levels. We even get long-lost twins. The entire affair was so botched that the anime got cancelled, even though the manga staggered on! That’s right, if you want the full story, you’ll have to read the manga.
This is a long was of saying that Discotek is probably planning to release Part 1, the best part of the story, in a total of 3 boxed sets. 36 is a somewhat unusual number of episodes to include on a boxed set, but it makes sense when you think 36+36+37=109, the length of Part 1. I actually have an additional reason to believe this is the plan, but more on that later.
It makes you wonder though… is the release of part 2 going to be predicated on the success of part 1? When Discotek announced they acquired the license for Fist of the North Star in October 2009, they said the plan was to release it in 4 boxed sets.
The cover art
Not much to speculate. Here is the posted cover art. While it surely might be tweaked or given a complete overhaul, why bother? It looks fine. It’s actually the same cover art as the 2003 volume 1 release of Fist of the North Star, by Manga Video, with a less obnoxious background color (a cropped version was also used for the 1999 VHS release). It’s a nice throwback on that level, and it also parallels nicely with the cover art for Discotek’s release of the 1986 movie. What else is there to say? They could have used some beautiful Tetsuo Hara artwork, or some of the hyper-detailed promotional artwork from the 1986 movie, but this serves as an honest representation of what the animation looks like in this part of the series.
Includes the Manga Entertainment English dub, as well as English subtitles
The first 36 episodes were dubbed by Manga Entertainment, so this will be the first and only boxed set Discotek releases with a dub included. I suppose it’s a nice gesture for completists, but the dub itself isn’t very good.
On to the subtitles!
In a lot of ways, when Discotek released the remastered version of the 1986 Fist of the North Star movie, we got the best product imaginable. Comprehensively reviewed at Kentai’s Films, the video quality was at the exact same level as what was released in Japan. This is extremely rare when in comes to licensed anime in the US. I apologize for all of the Dragonball comparisons, but Dragonball Z has been released countless times in countless forms in the US, and it has only just begun to be released in the quality that it has been available to the Japanese all these years. Getting the remastered version of Fist was quite a boon.
The problem, which the above-linked review enumerates, was that the subtitles weren’t very good, and they bordered on flat-out bad at times. To someone who knows the series through and through, this isn’t a major problem, but it’s definitely disappointing.
Now the plot thickens my friends. That Kentai’s Films blog I linked to earlier? Well, the writer of that blog works for Discotek, at the very least on a freelance basis.
And he’s heavily hinted that he’s working on cleaning up the Fist of the North Star subtitles.
This can be nothing but great news, considering how detail-oriented he comes across in all his blog posts, as well as his passionate love for the 1986 movie, and all the minutia therein.
Closing Thoughts
If you made it this far, congratulations. You have more endurance than Rei after he got hit at that critical pressure point. There is one big question that’s still looming…
What DVD master will they use? There have been two different boxed sets in Japan. The first came out in 2002. In 2008, the 25th Anniversary DVD Premium Box came out, and it looks far better than the original. I really hope that’s what we get. In an ideal world, we would get that master, unaltered, the same way we got the 1986 movie in full Japanese quality.
For the Japanese term, “suki”(好き), “daisuki”(大好き) and “aishiteru” (愛してる) (basically means, like, really like you and I love you), all of these are usually translated as “I love you” in the scanlation world. Ok, fine. In the official English translations as well. I DETEST this translation.
Yes, I know. In the English-speaking world, “like” is a more platonic feeling than “love”, but there is still a difference between these two meanings. Many a times a plot had been ruined due to translating all three terms the same because “suki” was translated as “love” so when the oh-so-coveted moment where the boyfriend finally says “Aishiteru”, the significance is diluted A LOT due to “suki” being translated as “love” in the first place.
Due to this, I refuse to ever translate “suki” as “love” and stick to as what it’s supposed to mean – “like”. “Daisuki” stumps me a bit though. “I REALLY like you” doesn’t sound all that natural. “I adore you” also sounds weird in certain context but I still think that’s the best to go. You never know when you can ruin a plot by translating things wrong.
(Best example: In Card Captor, Kero-chan was kept with the same pronunciation in English ie. Keroberos. What the translators DIDN’T do is read through the entire series before translating. If they had done that, they would had realised that Keroberos is the Japanese pronunciation for Cerberus – which is pretty damn siginificant, later on in the plot. And they had no excuse to not check since the series was only licensed AFTER it finished in Japan)
Over 1.5k tweets, almost 14k followers, listed over 1.2k times and only following a measly 25, we can already see his ego on Twitter is constantly growing.
Be wise and follow him if you can, despite for any of those who lack any Japanese literacy will most obviously suffer…
Avex Group Holdings has announced on that their Avex Entertainment branch will establish an anime division to develop business opportunities in voice acting, actresses, character merchandises and long-term franchises.
This new anime division is an offspring of the “anime room” that was first existed within the video production division of Avex Entertainment’s video business group.
Also as part of Avex Group’s massive corporate restructuring efforts, their BeeTV mobile phone television station is getting its own division as well.
This episode was super cute. I enjoyed the KobatoxFujimoto moments and I liked how it crossed over the Tsubasa Chronicles. I didn’t really like how Shaoran looked. He looked demented. Oh well, on to the comments! Btw, sorry for the crappy screenshots:(
Aww, Kobato being her usual self:)
Kobato and Fujimoto!! -drools- He is patting her head:) KYAAA~
I love this screenshot. Kobato is just too cute. -nosebleed-
Head pat again~ More Kobato and Fujimoto fangirling!
Smiling because Sayaka-Sensei said Kobato is a girl girl. Are you beginning to fall in love with her Fuji-chan? ><
I think Kobato looks ****ing adorable in this outfit.
Look who popped in! DUN DUN DUNNN.
This scene was hilarious. With all the huh, huh, huh, it was like WTH who are these people. Randomly popping up in alleyways.
It seems that Fai knows something about her head. Does she have like a pair of ears under there?
Iryorogi and Mokona xD Iryorogi was like “Crap, people.”
Iryorogi and Kuro-tan Same voice actors.
Fai and his acrobatic skills. Ahh, how I have missed you Fai-chan.
Kobato offering for them to stay at her house. So excited.
Dilemma, Dilemma what shall I do?
Kobato and Shaoran working hard!
Acting as stuffed animals. Mokona is so cute!
Kobato being proud of herself:) Yay, she wrapped it.
And who is this mysterious person in Kobato’s memories?
-shock- Its Fujimoto-san?! Okay I am totally confused.
Hmmm, so who can this be?
It seems that Fai knows what Kobato is. Some type of alien maybe? Haha, just kidding.
FAIII~ I MISS YOU.
Why are you guys leaving so soon?
Who are you giving you Valentine’s chocolates to, Kobato? Fujimoto-san?
Seems like she’s thinking about giving them to Fujimoto!
__________
This week there is a new ending. The song is very calming. It’s a nice ending for the episodes. Screencaps are below. The ending sequence is just pictures of Kobato which are beautiful. It was getting tiring seeing the Konpeito bottle. So it seems that next week we are getting back to the storyline.
Phew, that took forever. I think next time I’ll only do a few screencaps with just my thoughts on the epiosode.
)
Yey! We just finished our final exam of the 4th quarter, the last we’ll have! But you know, I feel that I didn’t do well this time. I can only leave everything to prayer and trust.
Step 1.
Step 2.
Step 3.
Step 4.
Step 5.
Step 6.
Step 7.
Avex Group Holdings has announced on that their Avex Entertainment branch will establish an anime division to develop business opportunities in voice acting, actresses, character merchandises and long-term franchises.
