Dog Days and Sengoku Basara

So, recently, I was hanging around my brother's apartment, and he finally got me to watch Dog Days.  He's been trying to get me into it for a while.  How does he always find such cute shows?!  *o*

Later that day, I broke out Sengoku Basara, as I had been, for almost everyday for the last few weeks, and suddenly the irony occurred to me:
We were both currently obsessing over series about open battlefield warfare.  Though, it may be hard to recognize, what with Dog Days being so amazingly cute and Sengoku Basara being so much Shonen awesomeness.  But we were essentially watching the same genre (in a way).  I still laugh out loud when I think of the comparison.  ^u^

Even more amusing when my brother points out Dog Days's Yukikaze constantly calling for her "Oyakata-sama", much in the same way Sengoku Basara's Yukimura keeps yelling for his "Oyakata-sama".  ^.^

But, it's an irony we've been repeating since we both got into anime.  Way back when his walls were covered with Sailormoon and mine, with Dragon Ball Z.  But I have to wonder if it's more gutsy to be my brother, for being so unapologetically proud about liking cute things, despite looking like a football linebacker, while I'm still a timid fool.  ^^;

Last Party! ^u^

Yesterday morning, I was like this:

because the Sengoku Basara movie The Last Party came in the mail!  ^v^!!!

I totally was not expecting to get it before November 6th.  (I thought that date would be a triple whammy of Basara, voting, and Halo 4.  But since I'm not really into FPSes, now I only have to worry about voting.)  Yay for pre-orders!  ^-^

So, of course, I watched it multiple times that day, and was pleasantly surprised to find it had its own episodes of Mini Sengoku Basara.  ^u^  The only thing missing from those previous Mini Sengoku Basara was an episode with an adorable chibi-Yukimura.  So happy there's one here!  I keep watching it over and over.  *u*

The entire time, I was watching the movie like:

Especially the part where ****** saves *********---I have a gasp of shock each time.

Or where ****** jumped in and talked ****** out of killing ******---I was so cheering for someone to stop that. 

Well, I guess there isn't too much I can say without giving away spoilers. 

...Except Ieyasu was endearing, Yukimura was awesome in his new coat, and, of course, Masamune was cool as always. 

So go watch the movie, damn it!  It's epic!  ^O^!!!

skipping PMX2012 Artist Market

I've been waffling over this, but I think it's time I get decisive about skipping Pacific Media Expo's artist alley, this year.  ;__;  Sad.  Very sad. 

I had all these grand plans.
Small cons like PMX, were supposed to be where I did artist alleys, so I could run around the bigger cons, as a normal attendee.  Usually, smaller cons aren't so busy, so I wouldn't have to work so hard, trying not to think about what I was missing, like I did at AX artist alley. 

I was going to make more heart-shaped, flag pairing pendants, of course.  But I recently got an idea to make them about more than Hetalia fangirling.  Since it was _Pacific_ Media Expo, I thought I could do a bunch of Asian countries not mentioned in Hetalia.  At Anime Expo 2012, people came up, asking for flags to show off their ethnicity, instead of Hetalia fandom.  I could have done Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and a whole slew of other Asian flags that would have been just perfect for an Asian convention like PMX. 

I was also going to take one passing customer's suggestion, and turn some of my bunny tails into Truffula trees.

Then, of course, stock my basic fodder of pom-pom moogles, paopu fruit, and plushie pizza.

And with PMX's requirement for 20% original, non-fanart, I was going to try to sell off my scads of hand-made, wire jewelry.  That stuff gets to be like knitting, once you get into it.  But then, you never know what to do with all those necklaces after you make them. 

But apparently, I didn't want it urgently enough, because instead of working on new stock all this time, I messed around doing---What did I do, anyway?  ~_~;  I really don't know.  My life is a collosal mess.  So, I have to apologize.  To myself and to everyone. 

But let's face it, me getting into Artist Market this year is just not realistic.  It sold out in 4 minutes from the time they opened sign-ups.  And I was out, all that night, celebrating my dad's birthday.  Even if I do apply to the waiting list, I haven't been replenishing my stock.  I thought I could make a decent amount of new stock in the 3 weeks before the con, but now I'm sick.  And I'm notoriously slow at recovery.  Not to mention the other RL stuff I have to take care of at the same time.  I didn't even get around to applying for my seller's permit from the EOB yet.  Not to mention that I'm low on business cards.  Would an order now, even make it in time for PMX?  And what could I submit for PMX's portfolio review?  My DeviantArt is mixed up with so many pieces that I don't sell at artist alley.  So, I should just enjoy PMX as a fan.  ...Then make it my mission, on the last day of the con, to pre-register for next year's Artist Market!

I'm not even trying for Anime Los Angeles's artist alley.  You can't even just buy table space.  Their room is so small, you can only sign-up for a lottery, to get into their artist alley.  Besides, there's too much stuff going on at ALA, to miss it, while sitting at a table.  I want to become a better cosplay videographer, afterall.  And ALA is _the_ cosplay gathering con. 

So, that leaves me with another question:  Should I go for Anime Expo artist alley again?  I had decided by the end of this year's AX, that I would try one year as a regular attendee again, so I wouldn't have to miss all the cosplay gatherings and panels that I likely won't be able to see at any other con.  Even though doing artist alley in 2012, made it the most fun I've had at Anime Expo in years, I have to make sure it was worth missing the rest of the con.  Though, I do think about the people who enjoyed my jewelry and may hope to see it again---especially since I haven't figured out Etsy and online seller's taxes yet.  @_@;  If I can't do artist alley at these small cons like PMX, then maybe I shouldn't blow an opportunity like AX.  Maybe I'll get a partner and have someone man my table, while I'm hosting cosplay gatherings or covering others with video.  That'd be nice.  I love having it all.

But as for PMX.  It's time I resolve myself to defeat for this year and my mission to secure next year.  ...I guess that means I'm working on cosplay to distract myself from the sudden omission of busy time that I expected, making new stock. 

recent arrivals

This post is about a week late, but I got these in the mail, pretty much when I returned home from Yaoi Con. 

So happy!  ^u^  I've been looking forward to watching Sengoku Basara non-stop.  @u@  ...While my other friends are watching The Avengers 5 times a day...  Is it wrong that I choose Sengoku Basara over The Avengers?  o.O?  I think this is what they call a "guilty pleasure".  #^.^#

I must give a word of warning about the series "Modern Magic Made Simple", which is the DVD case in the middle, bottom row.  I checked out the series on Crunchyroll:  http://www.crunchyroll.com/yokuwakaru-gendai-maho  Not only was it cute, sweet, with endearing characters, beautiful character design, and touching themes, but the end of each episode had a PUPPET SHOW omake!  @U@!!!!!!  I was sold.  Cute little SD-plushies of the series' main characters---that were also puppets!---explaining bits of exposition that would have slowed down the episodes?!  Wahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!  @U@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ...But then.  Then I ordered the DVDs released by Sentai Filmworks, and it did not have the puppet show omake.  ;_______________;  It wasn't even in the Extras section!  ;0;!!!!  If it was a matter of trying to fit a whole series onto 2 DVDs, I could have done without the previews.  I mean, I had the whole series; I would have gone straight to the next episode anyway.  I would much rather have the puppet show, instead.  So now, I'm so sad about it, in my typical difficulty-coping-with-disappointment fashion, that I just can't bring myself to watch those DVDs for a while.  Even the fact that the rest of the series is cute, AND about magic, AND about technology, AND has time travel elements---still can't make up for the great disappointment in not having those cute puppet shows, that I was soooooo looking forward to owning on DVD.  ;~; 

Still, the rest of this shwag is pretty sweet!

cosplay stage shows

As I was watching the Sengoku Basara stage show online, my brother walked by, shaking his head.  Since he's also otaku, I was surprised that he hadn't heard of these stage shows before.  Even the Bleach stage show, which was quite some time ago.

If I had to explain this trend of stage show adaptations of anime series, I would have to reference Halloween.  In documentaries of Halloween's conversion from 1950's, exclusively-children's holiday to the present-day's inclusion of adults, scholars explained that children from the 1950's who loved Halloween, did not see any reason to give up that love, just because they grew up.

Is it that the children who grew up, watching sentai stage shows at shopping malls, didn't see any reason to give up their affinity for stage shows, just because of age?  These anime-based stage shows are very similar to the sentai stage shows that are typically for children...They're just upped a level.  ^_^  I like to think of them as epic cosplay skits! *u*

Hinata Hyuga as an anti-bullying poster girl

On August 26, 2012, Tokyopop's Facebook page posted a picture of Hinata as a preview for their upcoming post about "anime characters who were able to overcome their tormentors".  The next day, they shared a link to this article:
"Bully Beatdown: 5 Characters Who Overcame Adversity"
http://www.nerdistnews.com/region/tokyopop/bully-beatdown-5-characters-who-overcame-adversity

Surprisingly, there were a lot of comments on Tokyopop's Facebook page complaining that Hinata was a terrible example of an anime character who overcame her bully.  I dare to disagree.  Even if Hinata seemed like a push-over against the bullying from Neji and her father (though, according to some commentors, this bullying was only in the anime, but not the manga), she's still a good example of standing up to bullies.  I don't see why everyone is disagreeing with Tokyopop's use of her picture in their anti-bullying Facebook post.


 Sure, she got beat up physically by Neji, and Naruto had to physically defeat Neji, but in very significat ways, Neji was also defeated by Hinata.  Despite Neji's bullying, Hinata did not give in to his constant claims that she was a failure.  She rose above the dictation of his emotional tormenting, and she chose her own way of living her life, to try her best and maintain hope in herself, regardless of what he said.  Not only did she not believe in the hopeless destiny he was claiming for her, but she also was able to see through to his own weaknesses and motivations against destiny, which were hidden even from himself.  If not physically, Hinata certainly proved herself to be superior in spirit.  It could be said that she defeated Neji in a much more significant manner than physical battle.  And though this did not completely defeat Neji, it did strike him enough to lose his cool---I think he realized that she truly had defeated him, by superceeding the obstacles that he had succumbed to.


 Naruto was the one who completed Neji's defeat.  But as the Hero of the series, Naruto exemplified the best way to deal with a bully.  Not necessarily by defeating them, but by transforming their bullying spirit into a non-malicious one.  Even after the moment Naruto punched-out Neji, incapacitating him, Neji was still speaking in a manner that suggested that he had not changed his way of thought (the inflexibility of destiny and the destiny of the weak to be defeated by the physically strong).  Neji really changed only after Naruto went on to explain that in the academy, Naruto himself was the biggest failure ever, and yet, he just proved that even a "failure" could change destiny and overcome challenges.  This gave hope to Neji's inner torments, thus negating his hidden needs to torment Hinata.  Time and again, this solution of tending to the hidden pain of bullies, to turn them into people more empathic towards others' pain, and enable them to feel remorse for bullying, has proven to be the real answer.  This solution also saves the tormented from becoming bullies themselves, just to defend themselves from bullies.


 Naruto and Hinata together demonstrated 2 different fronts against bullying, and I don't think that the emotional side of bullying issues should be neglected, in favor of physical battles alone.  Bullying isn't just physical, afterall, and neither are the tools to battle it.  And personally, I think that showing that if even a soft-spoken, (relatively) physically weak person like Hinata can persist against bullies, and hold on to her hope in herself and in life, and even go one further, by continuing to try her best in all she does, then she's an excellent example of hope and true Strength for people tormented by bullies. 

responses to a "Geekdom dark side" article

Geekdom sees it's own dark side - San Francisco cosplay - Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/article/geekdom-sees-it-s-own-dark-side?fb_action_ids=10151128142044658&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151128142044658%22%3A10152059893775285%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151128142044658%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]

If I have any problem with some of the newcomers into geekdom, or a particular fandom, it's my personally having witnessed newcomers being antagonistic towards geekdom.  Whether they be a non-fan, coming to our convention, to riducule us as a sideshow, or by making me feel like a walking sideshow, by riduculing a fan of my type for trying out their fandom's convention.  I have walked by people in an anime convention's exhibit hall, who cry out, "I don't even like anime!", sufficiently shattering the air of acceptance we were prepared to feel at-con, into a mere, false sense of security.  And I've stood shyly in line at other cons, about to pull out my manga for the 2+hour wait, only to be unable to escape the manga-hating conversation of the group next to me, and pressed between intimidation and boredom at a con that was supposed to be fun.

And I have been victim of those acidic comments to cosplay.  I love DeviantArt, but I post my cosplay pictures at Cosplay.com, unless I can be absolutely confident about my photos/cosplay, in such an objective coldness, that there sometimes isn't an ounce of fun allowed.  ;_;  Otherwise, I've gotten comments like "You're ugly", rather than, "Try different lighting or this type of make-up".  Nevermind constructive criticism---Where did all the human empathy and fun go?

 This article actually reminds me about a point I was making in my recent blog entry:  It's so jarring to experience geeks being exclusionary and judgemental, when in Real Life (outside the fandom) we are usually the subjects of ridicule and ostrization.  Weren't we supposed to learn empathy from surviving the guanlet of the Mundane world?  When did the fandom world become an opportunity to become the bullies that tortured us in Mundane life?  It's not like that Elitist reversal of power is really retaliating against the people who rightfully deserve the searing end of indignation.

I really liked the last paragraph of this article, which brought attention to the vast, growing library and variety of fandoms available.  To me, this reinforces the idea that there is something for everyone.  Therefore, everyone has a right to be a geek.