Wow, I've never posted on this thing and the first I am is to announce the anime club has moved to a new website [though currently lacking in content].
The website has a blog as well as an anime club forums and other pages concerning the new things that will be added to the anime club this year. I can't say much about it since nothing can be finalized without the year having officially begun but please check it out yourself and tell me what you think :]
www.freewebs.com/molloyanime
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Time Warps
Yeah my AB post is coming up. Pretty long but should be done.. whenever
Anyways since we are almost back from a long break, I thought it would be a good time to start talking about time warps and the lack of our sense of time.
I know this has happened to us at one point. Most common place this happens is at school, especially in the first week.
This has happened to us at one point. Just without the bullets...
Anyways since we are almost back from a long break, I thought it would be a good time to start talking about time warps and the lack of our sense of time.
I know this has happened to us at one point. Most common place this happens is at school, especially in the first week.
This has happened to us at one point. Just without the bullets...
It looks like we have been sitting in class for hours but in reality only a few minutes have passed by. Even when I sleep I cant escape it. Its some sort of spell the school has put on us. Very evil and unforgiving.
It also happens when we are enjoying something. You all know the saying "Time flies when you're having fun." Well it actually does. A few minutes of gaming whether it be Brawl, COD4, or PatchuCon: Defend the Library, you always feel that only a few minutes have passed by when in reality you have been playing for 5+ hours nonstop.
Why am I posting this? Actually its because I felt that I've experienced a time warp after AB. Even though I've only been basically playing games, making my AB post, eating, and sleeping, time has actually passed by pretty quickly. It only felt like yesterday I was there in The Pillows concert with Andre rocking [H]ard from the sounds of incomprehensible music.
This whole week after AB has is actually only a blur to me. Still finding ways to fill the void between graduation, cons, college, and more cons.
But enough rants for now. I want to know when you guys experience time warps.
I get it during:
School - real time slows down
Gaming - real time speeds up T_T
Daylight savings time - off by an hour for up to 3 days
Breaks/Summer vacation - completely loose my sense of time
Saimoe - I start to live 1 day ahead of you guys until Saimoe ends
Cons? - actually no. I have a pretty tight schedule during cons so I can't afford to loose time.
Dont worry. AB (Day 1) is coming soon followed by 2 and 3 quickly (I hope).
It also happens when we are enjoying something. You all know the saying "Time flies when you're having fun." Well it actually does. A few minutes of gaming whether it be Brawl, COD4, or PatchuCon: Defend the Library, you always feel that only a few minutes have passed by when in reality you have been playing for 5+ hours nonstop.
Why am I posting this? Actually its because I felt that I've experienced a time warp after AB. Even though I've only been basically playing games, making my AB post, eating, and sleeping, time has actually passed by pretty quickly. It only felt like yesterday I was there in The Pillows concert with Andre rocking [H]ard from the sounds of incomprehensible music.
This whole week after AB has is actually only a blur to me. Still finding ways to fill the void between graduation, cons, college, and more cons.
But enough rants for now. I want to know when you guys experience time warps.
I get it during:
School - real time slows down
Gaming - real time speeds up T_T
Daylight savings time - off by an hour for up to 3 days
Breaks/Summer vacation - completely loose my sense of time
Saimoe - I start to live 1 day ahead of you guys until Saimoe ends
Cons? - actually no. I have a pretty tight schedule during cons so I can't afford to loose time.
Dont worry. AB (Day 1) is coming soon followed by 2 and 3 quickly (I hope).
Friday, March 28, 2008
AMV continued with more links
Since TheGrape wants me to post up the actual links to the AMVs, Ill do one better and do a detailed explanation of the site and also have a link to some of my favorite AMVs and past AB winners. So now we do a rewind to my previous post about AMVs. Anime Music Videos or AMVs to be brief are fan made videos that combine anime video footage and music. So first of I must direct any fan of AMVs to the website
This website can be summed up as a database were most AMV creators post their creations so that others can download them. It not only allows users to download and access AMVs that they have seen but also see the creator’s opinion. This website is also a community website where AMV lovers can come together and chat through the forums. Okay so now that I have got you interested you are wondering how to join and what it’s going to cost. Well good news for everyone its easy to join and its FREE. All you have to do is register with the website.
NOTE: The website is free but it does ask for donations to help it with the daily upkeep. This shows up as a web page that shows up about every six pages asking for donations. I’m guessing most of you will just ignore this and click proceed (Even I do it). Just thought you would like to know before you join.
So not that you have made an account you want to start downloading. This is I can help; next will be links to AB finalists and AMVs that I thought were good. First of will be links to the finalist lists for the past 4 AB and then I will highlight some of my favorites
Okay so here is a list of the previous 4 AB. In each link there will be a complete list of the videos that have won and those that are finalists. The names of the AMVs will also link to the download link from the AnimeMusicVideos.org website. Now for those who are interested I will provide links to some of my favorite AMVs (will not include the ones from AB 2008).
Something Wicked This Way Comes
All The Cool Kids Are Doing It
ACROSS & NERV: Phallacies in the Experiments
Warrant - 6th Division of Death
Hey hopefully that wasnt to many well i expect you will download them all and watch em. You can trash those that you don't like. Remember these are just my favorite AMVs they dont have to be yours ( but they should be)
(WOW this was way more help than TheGrape ever gave me. All I ever got was "e")
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Anime Boston: AMVs and things
http://youtube.com/watch?v=m22Cq6MQymo&feature=related
Me, Adam and Gecko were captured here, but Antonia was on the defendants side I believe.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7S9_L8TJZU0
LOL this one made us LOL HARD!!!!!!!!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ku0hke_bvW4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QqWHnd8q134&feature=related
I'll post more later although I am sure you could find them yourselves.
Me, Adam and Gecko were captured here, but Antonia was on the defendants side I believe.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7S9_L8TJZU0
LOL this one made us LOL HARD!!!!!!!!!! http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ku0hke_bvW4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QqWHnd8q134&feature=related
I'll post more later although I am sure you could find them yourselves.
Anime Boston: Day 2.5/3
We woke up bright and early, at around 7 o clock, and headed straight for the convention center. After scouring around a bit, me John Joey and Adam had some dunkin donuts and went to the food court for the head count and Doc told us the next one would be I believe at 1 o clock. AFter that, if I remember correctly, me, Adam and ANtonia went to the AMV screenin again. Around the time half way through the ROmance portion had occured, we got bored so we went to the dealers room, were I bought an akatski hat (the mugiwara-esque, one, and for those who do not know, mugiwara means strawhat in japanese). we decided to head back to the Memorial room to see if we could make it to see the comedy portions. we got there around the time the single video compilation ( featuring the robot chick type skips between the endings of skits) was ending. we stayed till the end, and definitely enjoyed the Attack of the Otaku finale.
After, we went back to the dealers room I believe, where we scoured yet again, and eventually when it was 1 o clock and we did a head count at the food court, I bought super smash bros. brawl ( which in only 8 hours I have beaten subspace emissary and was at around 85% completion) from the gamestop along with a strategy guide for it, and had a good 35$ left. Bored, we went to the dealers room, and I went to the back , where the xxxHolicxxx stuff and the funimation stuff were at. I found 2 guys playing something called One Piece Unlimited adventure. I had not known how to play, but I quickly dominated everyone who came by for a good hour and a half. this was after me, Kevin HONG ( not hang), and Ryan went to Final Fantasy Philosophy, which was boring as hell. at around 2:45, i decided to walk around to find some more anime club members, and I found Adam, Antonia and Gecko ( DaGrossa's younger nephew) near the FF Philosophy. something called cosplay court was going to start at3:00 PM, so we decided to wait and go on. to see what happened, you can check out the youtube links at the end of this blog. after all that I got my luggage, put in on the bus, and teh bus ride back home was filled with much sleeping, and putting my metal on my psp full blast for the bus to enjoy, Tim saying we would ride home on a cardboard bus, and other stuff. and something about a wumbo ball, not important.
me, Gecko, and ADam were captured on camera YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m22Cq6MQymo&feature=related
Anime Boston: Day 2
IMO if I count the rave from 12:00 AM to 2:00 AM on saturday morning as friday, day 2 was basically the best day. I woke up and cosplayed all day. This is where we got to see the best things. The AMV contest,Anime Unscripted, the game room ( Exhibition C), Dealer's room, and a bit more. I will post later today or tomorrow with links to some of the videos and tell more. I am looking foward to hear how Eric Lee, Paulo, Andre, and Murphy thought it was since they stayed an extra day ( till sunday, when the tourney finals for all the games was). As stated earlier, I started cosplaying alot on day 2 ( Friday, although we technically arrived on wednesday, the true part didn't start till thursday). We traveled a lot, and I played a bit of Halo 3 in the game room ( Exhibition C, floor 2 of the Heinz Convention Center I believe) before entering both the halo 3 singles and doubles tourney. While freeplaying, me and someone playing about 2 seats away from me dominated. I got 1st place for 2 rounds and he got 1st place for 2 rounds ( but he was 2nd when I was first and first when I was 2nd). I walked over and asked if he would be in the doubles as my partner (thought of asking Murphy but wasn't 100% sure of his skills and if he would show up), and he agreed. he also convinced me to sign up for singles, which I did badly on ( only 11 kills :(, for some reason I do better in freeplay than in official matches, and the battle rifles really f**ked me over).
But later me, Earl, Antonia and Adam went to the dealers room, where both me, Earl, and Adam bought some actual kunai ( hurray for non-plastic kunai :) ), which of course came in a small cylinder shaped container. a good 15$ spent on that. Later on, after traveling to the dealers room with TJ ( quite the Death Note Fanboy, even tho its a manga that already ended), I went around by myself ( OMFG BY MYSELF, I HAVE BALLS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and scouted a bit.
Eventually I met up with Kevin Hang ( I think, not totally sure) and we found Earl and his little gang. it was around 7:30 more or less. My doubles tourney was from 8:00 pm to 10:00pm, so I was only gonna stay for 30 minutes. we went to the anime unscripted for about the 40 minutes or so that was left of it. and it was absolutely HILARIOUS.
In one part, there was a game show called "change", where one of the contestants is granted the power of change, where he shouts the word change, and the other characters must change whatever they just said.
(one part). * a man is pretending to be a child being escorted by a man*.
child: your a nice guy.
CHANGE!!!!!
child: your an asshole!!!!!!!
(another part).
Girl: THIS IS AN ANIME CONVENTION!
CHANGE!!!!!!
Girl. This... ISSSSSSSSS.. * guy in the audience yells sparta*.... SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
it was absolutely hilarious. and for those who went, didn't the skinny guy look and sound EXACTLY like Tim Wilcox??? holy crap I seriously thought it was him.
Afterwards we went to the food court I think, and went back to the convention center. Having been by myself, I found Joey Mcgown and John Becker in a tiny group, and convinced them to go to the AMV contest screening, when we got there, it was just finishing the first romance nominee, which was about gundam seed or something.
some of the more comedic ones included the whole "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves" which ended with a RICK ROLL OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!!!!!!!
Another video was an assortment of things featuring different songs and such, and was set up a la Robot Chicken style, with the tv fuzz when jumping between skits. My favorite part of that video was the apocalypse pony's skit which used an actual skit from RObot Chicken with the actual animation of Sailor Moon.
However I also enjoyed Attack of the OTaku, which is now on my PSP :). Of course, the Dead Fantasy videos were after it ended, which by that time it was just around time to meet up at food court, but me and joey were the only ones there that I could see, so I gave him my phone to call doc and let him know we were too busy at the AMV contest. then dead fantasy started. and I heard someone whispering in front about how he made it and stuff. I thought it was BS until at the end ( right before DF2 ended) he said it was going to split off into 5 more parts ( possibly indicated also by the fact that i believe 5 beams of light were there at the end. so possibly 5 different or connected fights). and then he stood up and I was like OMFG. no way I just stood behind this guy the whole time O_O. and then I took his Picture. not the BEST, but its ok. Like Eric Lee ( or paulo, not sure which) suggested, the animemusic videos site is apparently good to find the videos. I think I saved the sheet which had the names of the videos/ who made them somewhere in my backpack, so I'll look later and see if its there somewhere. After hanging out in the lobby for a bit, me, Adam, Lisa, and Earl decided to go to the Race, which had a pretty huge line, but it moved really fast and in huge chunks. along the about 10-15 minute wait, we found a guy in a Jigglypuff costume, who bargained if Lisa "captured him with her master ball" if he could cut in front of us. we agreed of course for the lulz.
When we got inside, there was a significantly big mosh pit on the left side, where a guy was RUssian dancing really really low to the ground (think guys with furry hats sort of like kicking back and forth but pretty straight type). after some people came in and breakdanced, ma man Jigglypuff came in to show these beginners how its done. he came out of nowhere in his fruity costume and, in the nicest way I can put it, TORE THAT SHIT UP... for a good 18 seconds. Then we got bored and Adam starting tearing that shit up ( the dude can dance O_O). We went back to the lobby and saw avory and justin.
Earl and Lisa decided it was about time to go to bed, so me and Avory headed to the rave ( Avory basically has a techno fetish). WE got bored pretty fast ( although both times I went to the rave I danced a bit, much more so than Doc or Murphy as far as I know) but saw like either 9 year olds, or midgets that looked like little kids full fledged making out like 17 year olds while dancing to the techno. Sadly while dancing I did a kick ( don't ask why, but when i get involved with techno I do weird stuff) and kicked a girl really hard and knocked her down, but I tried to play it off by pretending nothing happened. apparently she got carried out on a stretcher because either her leg broke or she was in excessive pain. We saw Sonya in a corner too so yea. Avory is weird.. told me some weird things he would do to her * facepalms*... and yea... after that we went back to our rooms, sonya took a room check, we watched 30 minutes of Harvey Birdman... and went to sleep.
Monday, March 24, 2008
AMV for AB 2008
Hey This is just a quick Post. Hope you guys really enjoyed Anime Boston 2008, cause I know I definitely did. I see some tooke our advice and watched the AMV contest and had a great time especially with Dead Fantasy. Well anyways if you were interested in having these AMV's on your Hard Drive, well then proceed to
As I said before, this is just a quick post I am making just after returning home. I will follow with more details on AB 2008 and AMV's later.
Hey here is more stuff since I am no longer tired ( I slept more than 12 hrs after getting back from Boston). Seriously I did not sleep more than 5 hrs a day during the Convention. So I see that you enjoyed Dead Fantasy well I bet you will enjoy his other works especially :
(To lazy to make it a hyperlink, Just go copy and past)
On the website it includes his personal animation videos which are all amazing and his thoughts on each video. Well Dead Fantasy was amazing but this year he didnt give out free copies of the movie and that made me sad. So for those that did go to the AMV contest what did you think?
As I said before, this is just a quick post I am making just after returning home. I will follow with more details on AB 2008 and AMV's later.
Hey here is more stuff since I am no longer tired ( I slept more than 12 hrs after getting back from Boston). Seriously I did not sleep more than 5 hrs a day during the Convention. So I see that you enjoyed Dead Fantasy well I bet you will enjoy his other works especially :
HALOID
*Spoilers Halo V. Metroid Spoiler*.
So for those of you interested in seeing his other works you can go to:
(To lazy to make it a hyperlink, Just go copy and past)
On the website it includes his personal animation videos which are all amazing and his thoughts on each video. Well Dead Fantasy was amazing but this year he didnt give out free copies of the movie and that made me sad. So for those that did go to the AMV contest what did you think?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Anime Boston 08: An AMAZING anime convention
For those who went, let it be known that the AMV contest Rick Roll and Breakdancing Jigglypuff that me, Lisa, Adam Roman and Earl saw will live on in our hearts. and youtube for the Rick ROll
this is not the complete version, but the song continues like that basically:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kAv2DW7-Iic
we saw this, and dead fantasy 1 and 2, both as far as I know available on youtube.
well I'm off to play SSBB for the wii, and prepare yourselves for a pretty lengthy post. somewhere around 3-6 times the length of my silkroad online post
Getting there:
This was a good 6 hours long to get to the hotel. But it was kinda of fun. most of it was me making "dirty" jokes, poking Jessica's mokono hat, bothering Justin, listening to Avory's techno, and making Avory listen to my metal songs :). Texting my cousin and watching Avory pretending to jack off to piss off Justin ( don't ask, we were REALLY bored). BTW, I was in the bus both times ( getting there and coming back home).
Arrival:
It looked extremely nice in the hotel. We thought it was just so nice and stuff ( it was much better than the somewhat cramped bus, and the lighting was nice. Joey, John, Earl and Zecca were sorta being stupid during the waiting time in the corner of the hotel when we entered. then we went to our rooms after our rooms had been assigned captains ( Adam Roman was ours). We got unpacked a bit, but I think we had to go back down or something really fast ( not totally sure since i only remember the awesome stuff). Anyway, since the convention center was closed, a good group of us just waltzed around for a couple of hours, watched some videos on youtube in the lobby, and slept.
Day 1:
This is when it started to get fun. Although I cosplayed only at around an hour after we gout our convention passes ( that Doc handed out), there was still a couple of other cosplayers lurking around ( mostly bleach cosplayers). I somewhat pretended to be drunk ( although I almost felt it even tho I drank Pepsi LOL) and a guy came up and asked where a Bleach get together was, I told him I didn't know and I was basically half drunk and he gave me a pound, saying the exact same thing. so yea. Manly talks :). Didn't really get to go into the convention.
this is not the complete version, but the song continues like that basically:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kAv2DW7-Iic
we saw this, and dead fantasy 1 and 2, both as far as I know available on youtube.
well I'm off to play SSBB for the wii, and prepare yourselves for a pretty lengthy post. somewhere around 3-6 times the length of my silkroad online post
Getting there:
This was a good 6 hours long to get to the hotel. But it was kinda of fun. most of it was me making "dirty" jokes, poking Jessica's mokono hat, bothering Justin, listening to Avory's techno, and making Avory listen to my metal songs :). Texting my cousin and watching Avory pretending to jack off to piss off Justin ( don't ask, we were REALLY bored). BTW, I was in the bus both times ( getting there and coming back home).
Arrival:
It looked extremely nice in the hotel. We thought it was just so nice and stuff ( it was much better than the somewhat cramped bus, and the lighting was nice. Joey, John, Earl and Zecca were sorta being stupid during the waiting time in the corner of the hotel when we entered. then we went to our rooms after our rooms had been assigned captains ( Adam Roman was ours). We got unpacked a bit, but I think we had to go back down or something really fast ( not totally sure since i only remember the awesome stuff). Anyway, since the convention center was closed, a good group of us just waltzed around for a couple of hours, watched some videos on youtube in the lobby, and slept.
Day 1:
This is when it started to get fun. Although I cosplayed only at around an hour after we gout our convention passes ( that Doc handed out), there was still a couple of other cosplayers lurking around ( mostly bleach cosplayers). I somewhat pretended to be drunk ( although I almost felt it even tho I drank Pepsi LOL) and a guy came up and asked where a Bleach get together was, I told him I didn't know and I was basically half drunk and he gave me a pound, saying the exact same thing. so yea. Manly talks :). Didn't really get to go into the convention.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Anime Boston!
Here's a good luck and safe trip to all you happy people who got to go to anime Boston. Yes I'm jealous. >.<>
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Silkroad Online..
Seeing as Usagi already posted about a game, I thought I might take a shot.
This one is called Silkroad Online, a game which was made in Korea ( so obviously the korean version of the game is ahead of the International version), yet unlike many other asian games outside of China or Japan, it is very good. First to note is that like Gunz, its free, second note: you can download through torrents OR just download it direct ( great if you have a 300mbps connection like me). It is an MMORPG, and although many people might not have heard of it, it is certainly not a backwater or bad game.
Like many other games, the weapon and armor system can work on a + (plus) system. with the most recorded in the iSRO version being about +10. Seal of Star ( also known simply as SOS), is equivalent to a weapon being +5(APPROXIMATELY, since its still stronger than a +5 of the same thing). SO moon is most equivalent to +10, and so sun most equivalent to an Seal of Star PLUS Seal of moon, 2ndly most equivalent to +15. in addition to a weapon/armor piece being sealed( star, moon or sun, which CANNOT be made, only found in their sealed state), they can ALSO be PLUSED (+) normally as well, further increasing their power.
this image is a seal of sun weapon ( which also has a couple of +'s on it) on the highest degree ( degrees in the game are like ranks, each degree starts and ends at a certain level, like levels 1,8,16,24, and 32 for example). The weapon sprite itself resembles the tip of weapon seal of star status but is also combined with the swirling, snake like beam of light only on a seal of moon weapon.
PVP: This game is great for PVP, although many asses and noobkillers do their part to contribute to the misery of new players. TO prevent people from randomly coming up and killing you, it works on a cape system. wear a cape ( which you must be at least level 10 to wear), and you can pvp. the color of the cape represents which people you can attack, if you wear red, you can attack everyone with capes except those with red capes. however, if you wear an orange cape, you can attack everyone with capes, INCLUDING those with orange capes. In my honest opinion, its more efficient than the world of warcraft system or other systems where you can ONLY fight with people near your level, or just be a certain level JUST to even start pvping (Rappelz online for example) and those levels are like 32, which can take days to achieve.
The guild and friend system works near identical to others as well, basically in terms of number of people, starting from lowest to greatest: single player ( just you, noone else) parties ( which are temporary, and you are removed from the party either if everyone leaves, the party leader boots you, or if you disconnect)., Guilds ( standard, LARGE LARGE LARGE connection of people), and Unions ( a fairly new concept, where entire guilds make up a single union, and a lead Guild is in charge, specifically the guild master of the head guild, who adds and removes guilds from the union). friends can be added and removed as wished.
Overall, I think since its FREE with premium items ( which only include alchemy items to boost weapond and such) being the only thing that you can use money on and buying gold, fun, good graphics ( NOT INSANE, but not at all bad), good gameplay and great PVP, its worth a download. There, I made a post. I'll probably be making a lot tho so yea. hope you don't have "ADD" like Eric Lee suggests *facepalms*. laterz.
This one is called Silkroad Online, a game which was made in Korea ( so obviously the korean version of the game is ahead of the International version), yet unlike many other asian games outside of China or Japan, it is very good. First to note is that like Gunz, its free, second note: you can download through torrents OR just download it direct ( great if you have a 300mbps connection like me). It is an MMORPG, and although many people might not have heard of it, it is certainly not a backwater or bad game.
Like many other games, the weapon and armor system can work on a + (plus) system. with the most recorded in the iSRO version being about +10. Seal of Star ( also known simply as SOS), is equivalent to a weapon being +5(APPROXIMATELY, since its still stronger than a +5 of the same thing). SO moon is most equivalent to +10, and so sun most equivalent to an Seal of Star PLUS Seal of moon, 2ndly most equivalent to +15. in addition to a weapon/armor piece being sealed( star, moon or sun, which CANNOT be made, only found in their sealed state), they can ALSO be PLUSED (+) normally as well, further increasing their power.
this image is a seal of sun weapon ( which also has a couple of +'s on it) on the highest degree ( degrees in the game are like ranks, each degree starts and ends at a certain level, like levels 1,8,16,24, and 32 for example). The weapon sprite itself resembles the tip of weapon seal of star status but is also combined with the swirling, snake like beam of light only on a seal of moon weapon.
PVP: This game is great for PVP, although many asses and noobkillers do their part to contribute to the misery of new players. TO prevent people from randomly coming up and killing you, it works on a cape system. wear a cape ( which you must be at least level 10 to wear), and you can pvp. the color of the cape represents which people you can attack, if you wear red, you can attack everyone with capes except those with red capes. however, if you wear an orange cape, you can attack everyone with capes, INCLUDING those with orange capes. In my honest opinion, its more efficient than the world of warcraft system or other systems where you can ONLY fight with people near your level, or just be a certain level JUST to even start pvping (Rappelz online for example) and those levels are like 32, which can take days to achieve.
The guild and friend system works near identical to others as well, basically in terms of number of people, starting from lowest to greatest: single player ( just you, noone else) parties ( which are temporary, and you are removed from the party either if everyone leaves, the party leader boots you, or if you disconnect)., Guilds ( standard, LARGE LARGE LARGE connection of people), and Unions ( a fairly new concept, where entire guilds make up a single union, and a lead Guild is in charge, specifically the guild master of the head guild, who adds and removes guilds from the union). friends can be added and removed as wished.
Overall, I think since its FREE with premium items ( which only include alchemy items to boost weapond and such) being the only thing that you can use money on and buying gold, fun, good graphics ( NOT INSANE, but not at all bad), good gameplay and great PVP, its worth a download. There, I made a post. I'll probably be making a lot tho so yea. hope you don't have "ADD" like Eric Lee suggests *facepalms*. laterz.
Yuu Watase
Yuu Watase is an excellent manga writer particularly in the gennre of shoujo which is basically like the chick-flick kind of genre. That is not to say that those of the male gender may not read it of course. I know men who love chick-flicks. Personally I think it's a good thing if they do. It doesn't mean they're gay as long as they don't act girlie. >.> That bothers me, but I'm not against gay people.Anyway, I love Yuu Watase's style. Basically it includes romance, comedy, drama, suspense, action, and adventure. That can vary from time to time, but she always includes romance, comedy, and drama. I enjoy her art as well. It's very cute especially when she turns her characters into chibi form. xD If you're looking for a good manga to read, I would definitely look for some of her works. So far, I have enjoyed every one of them that I have read. That's about 6 different titles. Some of her mangas have been made into animes (i.e. Ceres, Fushigi Yuugi).
Some of her titles (all of which I have read):
Fushigi Yuugi
Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden
Ceres: Celestial Legend
Absolute Boyfriend
Imadoki
Alice 19th
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
GunZ
Things have been ebbing again so I've come to wake everyone up and steer away from that angry post. Lol. So how is everyone's vacation so far? Mine has been bummy. I've been sick since the start of vacation. Ah, always the unlucky girl. Oh well. I'm still having fun though, staying up late and waking late too. Lol. But more importantly, online gaming! Which is what I have come to post about.
This past weekend I have been playing online GunZ the Duel. It's an online game brought to you by ijji. To check it out, go to ijji.com and then click GunZ or just use this url; http://gunz.ijji.com/. Ijji has many other games too that are worthwhile to check out.
Back to GunZ. What exactly is it? Well, as a pretty experienced but sucky player, I can tell you. Lol. Basically, it's an action game involving guns, swords, or daggers. There are different types of guns such as machine guns, pistols, shot guns, rocket launchers, and etc. And for swords and daggars, there are different skills you can learn with them such as "butterfly", "wall climb," and etc. These skills you can look up how to do on youtube. xD Sounds like fun so far doesn't it? Cause it is if you get used to it that is. So check it out when you're stuck, bored at home like me.
Remember I am not promoting gaming 24/7. That's bad for you. I'm just saying if you really have nothing better to do, rather than lay in bed and stare at the ceiling all day long, why not have some fun.
If there are any questions, just ask away and I'll do my best to answer. Hope you all enjoy your vacation! ^^
Images!
This past weekend I have been playing online GunZ the Duel. It's an online game brought to you by ijji. To check it out, go to ijji.com and then click GunZ or just use this url; http://gunz.ijji.com/. Ijji has many other games too that are worthwhile to check out.
Back to GunZ. What exactly is it? Well, as a pretty experienced but sucky player, I can tell you. Lol. Basically, it's an action game involving guns, swords, or daggers. There are different types of guns such as machine guns, pistols, shot guns, rocket launchers, and etc. And for swords and daggars, there are different skills you can learn with them such as "butterfly", "wall climb," and etc. These skills you can look up how to do on youtube. xD Sounds like fun so far doesn't it? Cause it is if you get used to it that is. So check it out when you're stuck, bored at home like me.
Remember I am not promoting gaming 24/7. That's bad for you. I'm just saying if you really have nothing better to do, rather than lay in bed and stare at the ceiling all day long, why not have some fun.
If there are any questions, just ask away and I'll do my best to answer. Hope you all enjoy your vacation! ^^
Images!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Anger Post With A Post at the End
Disclaimer: If you are easily offended and you have low self esteem stay far, far away from the first three paragraphs. If you do choose to read on because you have somewhat of a backbone then I am obligated to say... The opinions that are expressed in this post may or may not in any way represent the beliefs of Archbishop Molloy High School, The Anime Club, Mr. Dougherty, or The blog manager Paulo. These opinions are that of the author and of him alone. I repeat if you are easily offended don't read the first three paragraphs.
You people cannot read, not one comment on my post about Sleepless Nights completely answered all questions. Seriously are country has an epidemic of failures hiding behind the veil of ADD. The most made up nonsense ever, can’t pay attention, don’t blame it on some mental disorder hone up and say that you fail at life. Jeez how can we poll you on what to watch when you just don’t care.
Democracy be damned if you were the people running it. Thanks to you ignorant masses and I mean that in all sense of the term our country takes away our rights. It’s because of you simpletons that we can’t vote until we are 18; it is because of you that we can’t drink until 21. It is because of you that people treat all of us like we don’t know anything. Are you going to hone up to your faults, I doubt it. I am going to try DEMOCRACY one last time; if it doesn’t work we (those in charge) will take over. We will decide what you watch, what you do, what you will think. Because that is seriously the impression I am getting from you. No opinions, respect, or passion for anything you do.
One last time now and I am expecting answers or the next post will be propaganda. Now are you ready to listen… or am I going to have to hunt each and everyone to attend the blog and make it a mandatory requirement for the club. For those with ADD I am fed up and I am angry with you failures.
So the POLL (in bold to attract you attention, and remember answer all of them.)
I’ll even number them so you wont get lost and skip one
1. What is your favorite anime at this moment?
2. What video game are you currently occupies the most of you 5 min. attention span?
3. Can you even write a blog post or is that beyond you?
4. How much do you spend on average per month on you anime related needs?
5. What genre of anime do you think you are most attracted too?
6. Out of all the things we have shown what is you favorite?
7. Do you even want an officer position next year?
8. Anime or Manga?
9. Totally irrelevant but, What is you favorite movie
I will answer first as always:
1. Code Geass
2. COD 4
3. Yes I can and I just did
4. $20-$40 but big at a convention
5. Shonen (Action Adventure/ Drama)
6. Higurashi no Koro ni
7. Not Applicable
8. Manga for long series Anime for anything else
9. Infernal Affairs / The Professional
Saturday, February 16, 2008
R&R
Hello everyone! First off, I'm going to introduce myself since I don't wanna be considered rude. D: Lol. I am the little yet not-so-little Asian Chinese girl. Mi nombre es Jenny. Yup and I'm slightly tri-lingual! I think. Sorta, kinda, maybe? Lol anyway! now that I'm not rude anymore, let's get on to the more interesting stuff.
My lastest anime-related obsessions. (This is an anime-related site right? oO)
Images of the mangas: (I like putting up pictures even though it's a bit troublesome ^^)
Gentlemen's allaince:
Land of the Blindfolded:
My lastest anime-related obsessions. (This is an anime-related site right? oO)
- Manga! I have been reading manga online lately since I found a great site. It's onemanga.com. If you;re interested in reading manga, I'd go there. It's great. xD As for what I have been reading...Well I've read The Gentlemen's Alliance (aka Shinshi Doumei Cross) and Land of the Blindfolded (aka Mekakushi no Kuni) so far. Personally, I think they were and are really really good mangas. Land of the Blindfolded has a pretty original plot. The basic genre of the two mangas are romance, suspense, and comedy. I think they're more aimed toward a female audience, but I'm unsure of that. But from a girl's point of view, me, it's definitely worth the read. If someone would like for me to go more in depth about it, request so by commenting. If not, then I'll just leave it at this. Don't wanna put myself to unnecessary work. Yes, I'm lazy but hey, it's R&R week. xP Rest and relaxation. <3>
Images of the mangas: (I like putting up pictures even though it's a bit troublesome ^^)
Gentlemen's allaince:
Land of the Blindfolded:
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Happy Chinese New Years everyone!
*"Gung hay fat choy!"It is a pleasure for me to start my first post with such a greeting. Asian pride! xD ( I wonder if making those funky expressions are inappropriate...)
Anyhow, with all due sincerity, I hope everyone has a wonderful time and a great year.
*"Gung hay fat choy"= Cantonese for best wishes and congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year.
Some information about this year:
This year is the year of the Rat. The year of the rat is a time of hard work, renewal, and activity. It is a good year to begin a new job, get married, or make a fresh start. It is a year to take opportunities and make adventures. Ventures started now may not yield immediately but opportunities will come for people who are prepared and resourceful. To best way to succeed is to be patient, let things develop gradually and make the most of every opportunity.
Here are Chinese New Year pictures! Why? Because they are pretty.
Here ends my post for today. But fear not, I will be back one day! xD
If there are any questions or problems, do tell me. Feel free to comment!
Again, enjoy your wonderful new year! ^^V
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Sleepless Nights
Sleepless Nights. Now doesn’t that sound familiar, why it’s the name of our blog. As Naaila says it’s a bit cliché but hey I know for a fact that I get most of my posts done in the middle of the night. For a fact I am writing these exact words at 3:10. a.m. But are you having a Sleepless Night also?
Sleep is supposedly a necessity to human sanity, without it we would go insane or as scientist would have us believe. This topic is so popular we have even read about in the school newspaper the Stanner (for those that don’t understand, you weren’t in the school when the story was published). I have a few questions for you blog viewers. How many hours do you sleep per night, does it differ between the weekdays and weekends. I sleep about seven every day. Do you alter you circadian rhythm between weekends and weekdays (meaning, for all the slow people out their, do you sleep at different hours between weekends and weekdays)? Finally the most important question is what do you do when you sleep late or what do you think you would be doing if you slept late?
Friday, February 1, 2008
Cosplaying Yah just read the post
Okay as Tim has said NO WEAPONS. But seriously how can you make certain assumptions even though you have no prior knowledge about Anime Boston. Have you previously inquired basic rules and regulation? I am guessing the answer is NO since you have blatantly made an error. Yes they will allow you to carry knives for you to accidentally stab people. It is common sense to allow minors to carry knives in a crowded area. Of course we have have obviously forgotten about guns because we all like to accidentally shoot and have duels when we are bored. But hey we wont be lodging in a 200 dollar a night hotel room but a $500 a night ICU care.
Hey heres a little trivia for you DID YOU KNOW that there will also be people cosplaying as policeman and they pretend to put you in a barred room. But don't lose hope they are only cosplaying and remember they are only cosplaying when they bring you before a judge. The normal hotel guest will just love to get stabbed by a knife since we are all cosplayers here. They don't bleed real blood because in the con air as we like to call it we are invicible to all bodily harm. There will be some screaming but hey that doesn't mean you hurt them. Seeing as how ignorant the masses are (One of you might be familiar with this) so lost in the dark we veteran con goers will take it upon ourselves to shed light upon you uncivilized barbarians. But hey thats what they said to the Native Americans right before they put them to slavery but we wont be that evil.
We have been planning to release some anime Boston info, especially our experiences on the blog. This incident is the perfect springboard for us to begin this process. Anime Boston is this clubs most important event so we want ti help you enjoy it the most. If you were gonna bring a weapon, yah you're not gonna have fun when the con staff confiscate it, especially if its your friends sword. Good Luck getting that back without a hassle. To reiterate the corrections to your errors. You will not be allowed to carry any edged weapons, and sometimes even some unedged weapons if they pose a threat to public safety. Also Tim brought up a good point point about changing only when you get there. It would be common sense to only change when you get there. If you got in full costume I think you would be looked upon weirdly. But since you people will be arriving a day earlier it would be unwise to get in full gear anyway. If you have any further questions feel free to ask I will answer them to the best of my ability.
*Written by LeeSkyDragon Lots of support by TheGrape
Hey heres a little trivia for you DID YOU KNOW that there will also be people cosplaying as policeman and they pretend to put you in a barred room. But don't lose hope they are only cosplaying and remember they are only cosplaying when they bring you before a judge. The normal hotel guest will just love to get stabbed by a knife since we are all cosplayers here. They don't bleed real blood because in the con air as we like to call it we are invicible to all bodily harm. There will be some screaming but hey that doesn't mean you hurt them. Seeing as how ignorant the masses are (One of you might be familiar with this) so lost in the dark we veteran con goers will take it upon ourselves to shed light upon you uncivilized barbarians. But hey thats what they said to the Native Americans right before they put them to slavery but we wont be that evil.
We have been planning to release some anime Boston info, especially our experiences on the blog. This incident is the perfect springboard for us to begin this process. Anime Boston is this clubs most important event so we want ti help you enjoy it the most. If you were gonna bring a weapon, yah you're not gonna have fun when the con staff confiscate it, especially if its your friends sword. Good Luck getting that back without a hassle. To reiterate the corrections to your errors. You will not be allowed to carry any edged weapons, and sometimes even some unedged weapons if they pose a threat to public safety. Also Tim brought up a good point point about changing only when you get there. It would be common sense to only change when you get there. If you got in full costume I think you would be looked upon weirdly. But since you people will be arriving a day earlier it would be unwise to get in full gear anyway. If you have any further questions feel free to ask I will answer them to the best of my ability.
*Written by LeeSkyDragon Lots of support by TheGrape
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Cosplaying ( Costumes and such)
Hello to everyone. This is Eric Rodriguez. Just wondering if any of you guys are going to be cosplaying and perhaps give you ideas as to where you can find some costumes and around how much they can cost. As far as I know, I will be cosplaying as Kisame, Earl James as Itachi, TJ Darcy as Gaara, Avory as Kankouro, and Antonia as Temari. Now I do not know the exact cost of our costumes or whatever, but I might borrow my cousins katana or use bandages and a handle to make a samehada. If don't want to waste money for example, buying a real sword, you can either borrow from a friend if they somehow happen to have one, buy a fake one ( plastic or such), or better still, try to create one or such using household items ( maybe a knife), however only if you know what your doing and know it won't fall apart or something and hurt someone.
Just wondering however, can we dress up before or after we get to the hotel? I was sort of planning to Paint myself blue or something with the gill slits at around my cheeks or neck.
Just remember, you don't HAVE to cosplay and if you do, you don't have to be as great as the next Gai (LOL). just have fun and enjoy doing it.
EDIT: Apparently you cannot bring real weapons, but I still encourage you to use household items to make weapons ( not real ones but things like my samehada which will be made out of Styrofoam) or paper kunai or something.
Just wondering however, can we dress up before or after we get to the hotel? I was sort of planning to Paint myself blue or something with the gill slits at around my cheeks or neck.
Just remember, you don't HAVE to cosplay and if you do, you don't have to be as great as the next Gai (LOL). just have fun and enjoy doing it.
EDIT: Apparently you cannot bring real weapons, but I still encourage you to use household items to make weapons ( not real ones but things like my samehada which will be made out of Styrofoam) or paper kunai or something.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Anime Boston Meeting / Anime Screening Tomorrow
Tomorrow (specifically: Thursday, January 31st, since this will stay up), in room 206 at 2:10, there's an important meeting regarding Anime Boston followed by an anime screening.
At the meeting, first we'll be explaining what the rooming situation in the hotel is like, then setting people up into rooms of four. It is important you come so that you can work out who you want to share a hotel room with.
Then we'll be discussing the price change and giving out papers to assure us that your parents are notified of the change. As you should have heard in the e-mail last week the trip will now be $364. You've all payed at least $150 already, leaving $214 for most of you due by February 8th. Also, this no longer includes food, so you will have to bring extra money for that. For a more in-depth explanation as to why this is happening and what you need to do, come to the meeting tomorrow.
As for the screening, we have yet to decide specifically what we'll be screening, to my knowledge (Paulo, if you've worked it out, just edit this). There are some ideas (my personal choice being Dexter's Lab), but keep suggestions coming, to any of the officers, be it through here or at school.
The screening will be after the meeting, so if you're not coming to Boston you could come later than 2:10, but those who are going on the trip are strongly suggested to attend and get there on time.
At the meeting, first we'll be explaining what the rooming situation in the hotel is like, then setting people up into rooms of four. It is important you come so that you can work out who you want to share a hotel room with.
Then we'll be discussing the price change and giving out papers to assure us that your parents are notified of the change. As you should have heard in the e-mail last week the trip will now be $364. You've all payed at least $150 already, leaving $214 for most of you due by February 8th. Also, this no longer includes food, so you will have to bring extra money for that. For a more in-depth explanation as to why this is happening and what you need to do, come to the meeting tomorrow.
As for the screening, we have yet to decide specifically what we'll be screening, to my knowledge (Paulo, if you've worked it out, just edit this). There are some ideas (my personal choice being Dexter's Lab), but keep suggestions coming, to any of the officers, be it through here or at school.
The screening will be after the meeting, so if you're not coming to Boston you could come later than 2:10, but those who are going on the trip are strongly suggested to attend and get there on time.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The NYAF for all those that couldnt go
*Warning. Large blocks of text for the ADD impaired (that means 90% of you)*
This post is about the New York Anime Festival for all those who didn’t go, and I’m looking at the majority of you (I don’t necessarily blame you since it was such a new convention and didn’t have any reputation). Well this convention was held very close to home; in fact it was held in Manhattan at the Jacob Javitz center, although it didn’t take up the entire building it took up a large part of it (well I really have not seen any convention use up the whole building except maybe the auto show). It was held between December 7th and 9th.
Like any regular anime convention it had a dealer’s room, panels, anime screening rooms but it also has it also offered some unique experiences. Paulo and me (Eric) were the only seniors that attended and the only ones that also attended Anime Boston and the New York Anime Festival. As such I will compare this convention to my experiences to Anime Boston due to the fact that that is one of the most impressive and first experience with a Anime convention. Because of this you will see me refer to Anime Boston many times as a benchmark. This will also help those that are going to Anime Boston understand this con better and what to expect from it. So without further a due here is my experience from NYAF (for all you slow people this is the abbreviation of the festival name)
First Experiences
Well my first experience of NYAF was buying the VIP tickets. So as such we will first talk about the stuff it came with and the badge. Although this isn’t essential to the convention it offers something that other conventions don’t. Well to tell the truth the stuff is under my desk right now.
To elaborate the T-Shirt was nice but wearing it is not really high on my list of clothes to wear, the sake set is worthless to me (for all those that drink all the best wishes to you), and the plushy is really not all that great. All right I’m being a little harsh because in truth I’m just too lazy to take the stuff out and try to use it. But truthfully I don’t really think the stuff was all that great.
Now to move onto the badge, wow what apiece **it (synonym for crap). It’s a piece of cardboard with silly little cartoons on it (not anime its really just cartoons). Its nothing like Anime Boston with its nice plastic badges and nice rope necklace, it’s only a stupid piece of twine and easily breaks causing your badge to fall. Okay onto the next topic of discussion the actual con.
Quality
To begin I would like to say that is convention had very high production values, for all those that don’t understand please let me explain. In terms that you simple people would understand it was pretty. There was no garbage lying around anywhere throughout the three day convention. The bathrooms were clean and sanitary and the side rooms for the games and manga libraries were well kept. There was not the mass of lines at the game room and the manga room was organized.
Another thing to talk about was the seating, one word great. The seats were very comfortable, as any con goer knows seats are very important. After spending a long time scouring the dealer room floor you get tired and want to sit down. So how were these seats great, they were cushioned. I know most of you haven’t been to Anime Boston, but trust me the seats were good even though they were plastic. Many late nights (mostly done by Paulo and Andre) were spent sleeping in these chairs. According to their testimonials the chairs were great but once Paulo and me experienced these seats we quickly saw the flaws in the Anime Boston seating.
But the major flaw that we saw in the production value was the lack of water during screenings thus making us very thirsty once we ran out of our own water supply. For all those ignorant people who say just go buy your water you should go to Manhattan and see how much water costs.
Finally we go to talk about the decorations, although sparse there were some interesting things that they did that were never seen before. In the dealers room there were banners hanging from the ceilings with numbers and anime (specifically Bleach). This allowed easy direction giving in the gigantic Dealers room. Beside this though there were some posters and quite a bit of sponsor logos.
Room sizes
Next we go on to talk about the setup and room design. Well in general there are really 4 sections of this con very much unlike Anime Boston, which is held in a huge convention center. But the NYAF was big; these four sections were very large and were very accommodating to the attendees. There was no shortage of room to say the least except for one instance (but a little later for that story). Well the four rooms are the Main Hall were the main events are being shown, the famous Dealers Room, Screening Rooms, and the Side Rooms. The Main Hall has a giant screen and many seats. The sound quality in this hall was great and the screen allowed many people to see. But beside the opening ceremony Paulo and me only used it as a place to eat, as no café existed. In Anime Boston there were some interesting events that the main hall had but here there were many things but none attracted our attention all that much.
Next the Screening Rooms, they were very large much bigger in fact than Anime Boston. They Screen was of decent size and the sound quality powerful but there are some gripes to be had. These Screening Rooms are temporary and built out of plaster sheeting which is less than sound proof; there were some, just some instances of sound pollution between rooms. But as said before the seating was great.
The Dealers Room was also something to marvel at. I actually believe that it was actually on par with Anime Boston’s dealer room. They had many different vendors and many different sponsors had very interesting booths. The Tokyo Pop booth was nice and big booth nothing really to say. But the Capcom both had hands on demos from their upcoming games (cough Devil May Cry 4 cough). And Ubisoft was showing off Naruto: Rise of the Ninja. These were some interesting additions that I found nice to see that the sponsors actually helped us con attendees for once.
Video Game Room
Lastly the side rooms, personally I can only comment on the game room since I never attended the manga library. The game room to say sadly was subpar. The Anime Boston even though it was very disorganized and such a mess it was big and offered a variety of both Japanese and American games and even some 18+ games late night (Don’t get any ideas now). The tournaments were also much more organized during Anime Boston. But there are some new cool new ideas that I found very appealing and should be implemented during Anime Boston. First they had projectors for the tournaments, which allowed more people to see they competitors in all their glory. They also had mats in front of the games describing the controls, which is very helpful for newcomers to the game.
Screenings
Okay now I am betting that you’re dying to know bout the screenings (if not go to hell, this is my post and if you have any qualms just shove it). All right a very weird thing about the screenings was that they were in English. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the sponsors were major contributors. But this isn’t all bad since it allows devoted fans (such as Paulo) to see the dubbings of his favorite animes. They also showed a variety of animes ranging from action to comedy to romance. They also decided to show some live action material that was based off of Anime. But the highlight of the NYAF was the screening of an upcoming movie crossover between Tsubasa Chronicles and xxxHollic, almost like an advanced screening since the movie still hasn’t come out yet. So all in all I give it a balanced rating not the greatest I have seen but interesting concepts and much better than other conventions that sucked.
Cosplaying
Finally we reach my last topic of discussion (for all those that made it this far congratulations you have an above average attention span and don’t have ADD). Well this is my miscellaneous topics that fit no were. First well talk about the quality of the cosplayers, alright as a guy I will come out and say it, I look for hot girls in nice costumes but seriously there was a lack of pretty girls. But on a positive note there was also a lacking of fat girls also.
Another thing was the maid café, this was a cool concept but it wasn’t fully fleshed out and could have been done much better. Basically it is a café were you eat but there are girls in cosplay walking around. Although my previous gripe still applies this was the major concentration of all right looking girls. Finally one big shout out to the waffle stand. This was the most popular attraction during the convention it was the best smelling food ever within the history of conventions. It also boasted the longest line.
Conclusion
Well time for my concluding thought. In all honesty I really enjoyed this convention or festival or whatever you want to call it. I really wanted more of you to attend but know that the first one is over I hope to see you attend the next one.
Many of the mistakes can be attributed to a rookie mistake. You must consider that this is the first of its kind and that despite many of its flaws it was surprisingly good. I really enjoyed it and there is no doubt that the will continue to improve on this convention. Despite what you might think as serious complaints there are just small criticisms. In all actuality this was really close to being a spectacular convention. I just hope the fix some of the aforementioned mistakes.
Another point is that Anime Boston is a very popular and I believe the second largest convention in the east coast. Comparing this convention a relative upstart to Anime Boston with at least 5 years of experience is harsh. I doubt that Anime Boston’s first year was as good as the latest ones.
I know this might sound like me trying to redeem the NYAF, it really isn’t since I just want you people to experience something new. NYAF brought many cool new experiences that were sometimes even better than Boston (well definitely not the travel, Damn traveling home everyday was the one of the most tiring things to do in my life).
Anyway with this post I hope to convince you to go to the next NYAF and to also look out for some of these things when you go to Anime Boston. What I have mentioned in this post are all great ways of judging and experiencing a convention.
**If your keeping track on how many words it is, its exactly 1891 words not counting this, titles, and the warning message -TheGrape
This post is about the New York Anime Festival for all those who didn’t go, and I’m looking at the majority of you (I don’t necessarily blame you since it was such a new convention and didn’t have any reputation). Well this convention was held very close to home; in fact it was held in Manhattan at the Jacob Javitz center, although it didn’t take up the entire building it took up a large part of it (well I really have not seen any convention use up the whole building except maybe the auto show). It was held between December 7th and 9th.
Like any regular anime convention it had a dealer’s room, panels, anime screening rooms but it also has it also offered some unique experiences. Paulo and me (Eric) were the only seniors that attended and the only ones that also attended Anime Boston and the New York Anime Festival. As such I will compare this convention to my experiences to Anime Boston due to the fact that that is one of the most impressive and first experience with a Anime convention. Because of this you will see me refer to Anime Boston many times as a benchmark. This will also help those that are going to Anime Boston understand this con better and what to expect from it. So without further a due here is my experience from NYAF (for all you slow people this is the abbreviation of the festival name)
First Experiences
Well my first experience of NYAF was buying the VIP tickets. So as such we will first talk about the stuff it came with and the badge. Although this isn’t essential to the convention it offers something that other conventions don’t. Well to tell the truth the stuff is under my desk right now.
To elaborate the T-Shirt was nice but wearing it is not really high on my list of clothes to wear, the sake set is worthless to me (for all those that drink all the best wishes to you), and the plushy is really not all that great. All right I’m being a little harsh because in truth I’m just too lazy to take the stuff out and try to use it. But truthfully I don’t really think the stuff was all that great.
Now to move onto the badge, wow what apiece **it (synonym for crap). It’s a piece of cardboard with silly little cartoons on it (not anime its really just cartoons). Its nothing like Anime Boston with its nice plastic badges and nice rope necklace, it’s only a stupid piece of twine and easily breaks causing your badge to fall. Okay onto the next topic of discussion the actual con.
Quality
To begin I would like to say that is convention had very high production values, for all those that don’t understand please let me explain. In terms that you simple people would understand it was pretty. There was no garbage lying around anywhere throughout the three day convention. The bathrooms were clean and sanitary and the side rooms for the games and manga libraries were well kept. There was not the mass of lines at the game room and the manga room was organized.
Another thing to talk about was the seating, one word great. The seats were very comfortable, as any con goer knows seats are very important. After spending a long time scouring the dealer room floor you get tired and want to sit down. So how were these seats great, they were cushioned. I know most of you haven’t been to Anime Boston, but trust me the seats were good even though they were plastic. Many late nights (mostly done by Paulo and Andre) were spent sleeping in these chairs. According to their testimonials the chairs were great but once Paulo and me experienced these seats we quickly saw the flaws in the Anime Boston seating.
But the major flaw that we saw in the production value was the lack of water during screenings thus making us very thirsty once we ran out of our own water supply. For all those ignorant people who say just go buy your water you should go to Manhattan and see how much water costs.
Finally we go to talk about the decorations, although sparse there were some interesting things that they did that were never seen before. In the dealers room there were banners hanging from the ceilings with numbers and anime (specifically Bleach). This allowed easy direction giving in the gigantic Dealers room. Beside this though there were some posters and quite a bit of sponsor logos.
Room sizes
Next we go on to talk about the setup and room design. Well in general there are really 4 sections of this con very much unlike Anime Boston, which is held in a huge convention center. But the NYAF was big; these four sections were very large and were very accommodating to the attendees. There was no shortage of room to say the least except for one instance (but a little later for that story). Well the four rooms are the Main Hall were the main events are being shown, the famous Dealers Room, Screening Rooms, and the Side Rooms. The Main Hall has a giant screen and many seats. The sound quality in this hall was great and the screen allowed many people to see. But beside the opening ceremony Paulo and me only used it as a place to eat, as no café existed. In Anime Boston there were some interesting events that the main hall had but here there were many things but none attracted our attention all that much.
Next the Screening Rooms, they were very large much bigger in fact than Anime Boston. They Screen was of decent size and the sound quality powerful but there are some gripes to be had. These Screening Rooms are temporary and built out of plaster sheeting which is less than sound proof; there were some, just some instances of sound pollution between rooms. But as said before the seating was great.
The Dealers Room was also something to marvel at. I actually believe that it was actually on par with Anime Boston’s dealer room. They had many different vendors and many different sponsors had very interesting booths. The Tokyo Pop booth was nice and big booth nothing really to say. But the Capcom both had hands on demos from their upcoming games (cough Devil May Cry 4 cough). And Ubisoft was showing off Naruto: Rise of the Ninja. These were some interesting additions that I found nice to see that the sponsors actually helped us con attendees for once.
Video Game Room
Lastly the side rooms, personally I can only comment on the game room since I never attended the manga library. The game room to say sadly was subpar. The Anime Boston even though it was very disorganized and such a mess it was big and offered a variety of both Japanese and American games and even some 18+ games late night (Don’t get any ideas now). The tournaments were also much more organized during Anime Boston. But there are some new cool new ideas that I found very appealing and should be implemented during Anime Boston. First they had projectors for the tournaments, which allowed more people to see they competitors in all their glory. They also had mats in front of the games describing the controls, which is very helpful for newcomers to the game.
Screenings
Okay now I am betting that you’re dying to know bout the screenings (if not go to hell, this is my post and if you have any qualms just shove it). All right a very weird thing about the screenings was that they were in English. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the sponsors were major contributors. But this isn’t all bad since it allows devoted fans (such as Paulo) to see the dubbings of his favorite animes. They also showed a variety of animes ranging from action to comedy to romance. They also decided to show some live action material that was based off of Anime. But the highlight of the NYAF was the screening of an upcoming movie crossover between Tsubasa Chronicles and xxxHollic, almost like an advanced screening since the movie still hasn’t come out yet. So all in all I give it a balanced rating not the greatest I have seen but interesting concepts and much better than other conventions that sucked.
Cosplaying
Finally we reach my last topic of discussion (for all those that made it this far congratulations you have an above average attention span and don’t have ADD). Well this is my miscellaneous topics that fit no were. First well talk about the quality of the cosplayers, alright as a guy I will come out and say it, I look for hot girls in nice costumes but seriously there was a lack of pretty girls. But on a positive note there was also a lacking of fat girls also.
Another thing was the maid café, this was a cool concept but it wasn’t fully fleshed out and could have been done much better. Basically it is a café were you eat but there are girls in cosplay walking around. Although my previous gripe still applies this was the major concentration of all right looking girls. Finally one big shout out to the waffle stand. This was the most popular attraction during the convention it was the best smelling food ever within the history of conventions. It also boasted the longest line.
Conclusion
Well time for my concluding thought. In all honesty I really enjoyed this convention or festival or whatever you want to call it. I really wanted more of you to attend but know that the first one is over I hope to see you attend the next one.
Many of the mistakes can be attributed to a rookie mistake. You must consider that this is the first of its kind and that despite many of its flaws it was surprisingly good. I really enjoyed it and there is no doubt that the will continue to improve on this convention. Despite what you might think as serious complaints there are just small criticisms. In all actuality this was really close to being a spectacular convention. I just hope the fix some of the aforementioned mistakes.
Another point is that Anime Boston is a very popular and I believe the second largest convention in the east coast. Comparing this convention a relative upstart to Anime Boston with at least 5 years of experience is harsh. I doubt that Anime Boston’s first year was as good as the latest ones.
I know this might sound like me trying to redeem the NYAF, it really isn’t since I just want you people to experience something new. NYAF brought many cool new experiences that were sometimes even better than Boston (well definitely not the travel, Damn traveling home everyday was the one of the most tiring things to do in my life).
Anyway with this post I hope to convince you to go to the next NYAF and to also look out for some of these things when you go to Anime Boston. What I have mentioned in this post are all great ways of judging and experiencing a convention.
**If your keeping track on how many words it is, its exactly 1891 words not counting this, titles, and the warning message -TheGrape
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Anime Boston
Well as you can guess from the name this post will be about Anime Boston and as the day or in this case days come near (March 21st-23rd), I thought it might be nice to enlighten the people about the convention.
This event happens to be the biggest thing the Anime Club does during the year and kind of also our "thing" since we run things along with the Sci-Fi Cub most of the time, of course there are the screenings but there not as often as we want them to be but thats because of scheduling issues... well anyway back to Boston.
Some people (which were very few) seem to have attended the New York Anime Festival, which personally I didn't attend but from what i heard its kinda of similar in terms of the inside experience but the huge difference its that you had to walk home unlike in Boston were you have to take the elevator to your rooms which would be interesting as you meet many interesting people there. Another big point is also that Anime Boston goes throughout the night which allows you to enjoy it to the fullest as you most likely will only be in your rooms to sleep which, if you really enjoy the convention, will be around 2:00AM as i think that might be curfew, which unfortunately you have since its still a school trip.
Well anyway.... we have also seems that many of you have actually been interested in cosplaying which there is actually a lot of in Anime Boston, you will see everything you may want to see and some which you may not want to. Also if your really into it you might want to attend the masquerade to see professionals cosplayers, at least some of them. Well anyway, you can see by yourself how big cosplaying is in the following sites (they happen to be personal albums from people who attended AB so yeah... just so you know)
Random person's album
Yet another random person's album
And yet another one....
And finally the last one
Well, even if cosplaying doesn't interest you there is still the Dealer's Room, which kind of gives you access to imported and rare stuff from anime you've watched or any other collectibles for a "reasonable" price. Well I don't know if Doc already had the meeting to you guys about the trip and the details but to kind of touch on it, you guys will be spending most of your money in this place in average people take around $200 but if you guys kind of think you'll go all out might as well bring around $500 as some people have and even had to borrow money to sustain their needs for more stuff >.>.
Well anyway thats about the biggest things Boston will offer aside from the non-stop anime screenings and the random games you will experience (support the duck, duck, goose games.. lol). Well anyway I hope you guys got something out of this post but you guys would most likely be having a meeting about this if you already haven't had one. Well for all those going to Boston.. be sure to keep your eyes out for Jesus.
**As a final serious note, rest of Anime Boston money will be due by February**
This event happens to be the biggest thing the Anime Club does during the year and kind of also our "thing" since we run things along with the Sci-Fi Cub most of the time, of course there are the screenings but there not as often as we want them to be but thats because of scheduling issues... well anyway back to Boston.
Some people (which were very few) seem to have attended the New York Anime Festival, which personally I didn't attend but from what i heard its kinda of similar in terms of the inside experience but the huge difference its that you had to walk home unlike in Boston were you have to take the elevator to your rooms which would be interesting as you meet many interesting people there. Another big point is also that Anime Boston goes throughout the night which allows you to enjoy it to the fullest as you most likely will only be in your rooms to sleep which, if you really enjoy the convention, will be around 2:00AM as i think that might be curfew, which unfortunately you have since its still a school trip.
Well anyway.... we have also seems that many of you have actually been interested in cosplaying which there is actually a lot of in Anime Boston, you will see everything you may want to see and some which you may not want to. Also if your really into it you might want to attend the masquerade to see professionals cosplayers, at least some of them. Well anyway, you can see by yourself how big cosplaying is in the following sites (they happen to be personal albums from people who attended AB so yeah... just so you know)
Random person's album
Yet another random person's album
And yet another one....
And finally the last one
Well, even if cosplaying doesn't interest you there is still the Dealer's Room, which kind of gives you access to imported and rare stuff from anime you've watched or any other collectibles for a "reasonable" price. Well I don't know if Doc already had the meeting to you guys about the trip and the details but to kind of touch on it, you guys will be spending most of your money in this place in average people take around $200 but if you guys kind of think you'll go all out might as well bring around $500 as some people have and even had to borrow money to sustain their needs for more stuff >.>.
Well anyway thats about the biggest things Boston will offer aside from the non-stop anime screenings and the random games you will experience (support the duck, duck, goose games.. lol). Well anyway I hope you guys got something out of this post but you guys would most likely be having a meeting about this if you already haven't had one. Well for all those going to Boston.. be sure to keep your eyes out for Jesus.
**As a final serious note, rest of Anime Boston money will be due by February**
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Code Geass my first review/post
Okay as Paulo has so emotionally said our Blog has no activity, as such I feel that I should finally make some posts. This was originally supposed to be The Code Geass review but since Paulo modified it I cant access it anymore. So I will once again start with my review of this anime. On a side note I am not as skilled as Paulo with the whole screenshot thing so as such my review will not contain the pictures I originally planned but I will try to get them in at a later date. So without further ado:
**TheGrape uploaded the pictures
Code Geass
Code Geass, really in a class all its own, is an amalgam of a myriad of different themes that are so popular days. Mech, Politics, Revolutions, Terrorism, and Mind Games just to list a few of the interesting plot points that will arise while watching this great anime. All right so now that you have heard a few biased words of praise from the fandom in my heart I will try to offer a more subjective view.
V for.. very weird
Code Geass is set in an alternate world in the near future (really already two clichés and your calling this subjective) Great Britain or Britannia, as it is known in the anime, is a technically advanced empire that has effectively conquered the majority of the world leaving a few small empires to hold up a meager defense. This story begins in Japan and with its discovery of that eras oil Britannia has led a full-scale invasion with its newest weapons of mass destruction (okay maybe not Saddam style but still big robots can kill especially how they are depicted in the anime). This little history lesson brings us to the start of the anime. Japan now renamed Area eleven has become a protectorate of Britannia. This is the stage in where our characters set this brilliant anime. In a country split between its own personal pride and its new prosperous rulers two men with an intertwined past set off on two different paths. (Well if that wasn’t dramatic enough for you I don’t know what is). But in this anime the characters are very interesting.
First off lets talk about the art style of the characters. Created by art studio Clamp, and for those who don’t know what that is, they made Tsubasa Chronicles and xxxHollic. Well the characters of Code Geass are realistic, meaning no overly gigantic eyes, but they have an air of fantasy that surrounds them. They are unnaturally lanky yet is not daunting and is actually quite easy to accept. The main characters of Lelouch Lamperouge and Suzaku Kururugi are two characters that are character foils of each other. Not in their physical appearance in white they look similar, but in their qualities and own personal history. These two main characters are easily identifiable with but still allow you to easily switch to the other main character. This is one of the most interesting aspects of the anime, who to root for?
Anyway beyond the talk about characters I mentioned some reoccurring motifs in Code Geass (I know mad English words deal with it), I feel like I should elaborate. This anime is not a hodgepodge of motifs that are popular thrown together and hope to work; it is actually a well-scripted anime that effectively combines each of the listed elements to make a unique twist that has made it so popular. It combines effective mind battles that are reminiscent of Death Note but besides being only a mind drama it has it infuses politics onto it. This might sound like a bore (a la stupid elections or the such) but this is not your usual politician making faulty promises but has a political murder mystery and a subtle fight for power within the largest empire in the world. And what does this great empire use as its right hand of might (real corny I know) Knightmare frames or as a generic anime fanboy would call it a mech. I find these mechs very interesting, they are not highly maneuverable machines to the point of defying physics (I’m looking at you Gundam). They run on a rear wheel propulsion system that is surprisingly realistic, almost like a walking tank that can roll at high speeds. But it is also not so realistic that it is reviled. These knightmare frames are very unique each having a different design and even though they are aforementioned not very agile they can be very athletic when piloted by a skilled pilot.
Motion sickness ftw
Anyway it is very hard trying to describe each individual part of this anime, It is not an anime that should be taken apart and studied part by part for excellence, even though it is very good in its parts the “Sum of the Parts” is a very enjoying thrill ride that is very captivating and is fast becoming a very popular anime (reaching Number 2 slot on a recent Newtype standings). These are just my personal feelings on this anime, I know this is my first post in along time, since like the stone age, so offer any comments that you want. I will try to upload the pictures at a later date**.
Opening Songs: "Colors" by FLOW
"Kaidoku Funō" by Jinn
"Hitomi no Tsubasa" by Acess
Ending Songs: "Yūkyō Seishunka" by Ali Project
"Mosaic Kakera" by Sunset Swish**TheGrape uploaded the pictures
Friday, January 11, 2008
Anime vs Manga and your favorite anime/manga battles :)!
Just doing more of a small vote here on the blog. Just asking, which do you prefer and why? do you Prefer anime ( I think John probably does with his love of Veronica Tailor and her Misty voice LOL) or the manga. I myself enjoy both, although the anime more than the manga. ( last note, when I say k4 or something like that, it means kyuubi and the number means number of tails)
the K4 fight (Naruto) just got animated and It was excellent. very very very good animated fight and the previous one was just pure awesome. I must admit, the way k2 naruto looked when he beat up Deidara before Deidara switches last second was kinda funny. almost like he had lipstick on. ALthough right now my favorite anime fights of all time are ( in no particular order)
are One Piece:
Rob D. Lucci vs Monkey D. Luffy ( anime And manga, tho preferably anime)
Short Zoro vs Luffy fight before Baroque works( anime)
Luffy vs Crocodile ( anime only)
Mugiwara ( strawhats) vs Aokiji( one of eric lee's few favorite one piece characters).
Luffy's Father, Dragon, saving Luffy from Captain Smoker from execution.
Portgas D. Ace vs Marshal D. Teach AKA Blackbeard
couple of others
Dragon Ball: almost every major fight. especially the last one against Tao Pai Pai. Cyborg Tao was actually a bit of filler from what I hear, he wasn't in the manga I believe.
Dragonball Z: SSj1 goku vs freezer, pimp slapping Freezer was pure win.
all ssj3 transformations, both dub and sub.
final kamehameha with super perfect serul and gohan ssj2
all the movies.
JJBA: All Za Warudo scenes in anime. All ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora and muda muda muda muda muda scenes in the anime. the toki no tomae scenes.
Naruto: LOTS of fight scenes. when he goes k0 for the first time against Haku.
Sound 4+ kimimaro fights. the cs2 sasuke vs k1 battle at valley of the end. the whole valley of the end battle. the Lee vs Gaara fight ( almost everyone loves this fight a lot). The Naruto vs Shukaku fight. some of the filler fights.
5 gated Gai vs 5 Gated lee in the fillers.
Shippuden: gaara vs deidara fight
battle with sasori. battle with k3 and k4 naruto vs orochimaru. sasuke's "defeat" of Orochimaru. Sasuke vs Deidara battle ( my poor little Dei Dei died :( )
"recent" battles which I will spoiler for people like Murphy who are like 10 chapters behind. (highlight to see the spoilers, you were warned, don't complain if you don't like it)
Pein vs Jiraiya (1, 3 and 6 bodied fights)
Pein's defeat of Jiraiya
Sasuke's "defeat" of Itachi
Thats my thing in a nutshell. Looking foward to reading your comments and comparing my favorite moments to yours.
the K4 fight (Naruto) just got animated and It was excellent. very very very good animated fight and the previous one was just pure awesome. I must admit, the way k2 naruto looked when he beat up Deidara before Deidara switches last second was kinda funny. almost like he had lipstick on. ALthough right now my favorite anime fights of all time are ( in no particular order)
are One Piece:
Rob D. Lucci vs Monkey D. Luffy ( anime And manga, tho preferably anime)
Short Zoro vs Luffy fight before Baroque works( anime)
Luffy vs Crocodile ( anime only)
Mugiwara ( strawhats) vs Aokiji( one of eric lee's few favorite one piece characters).
Luffy's Father, Dragon, saving Luffy from Captain Smoker from execution.
Portgas D. Ace vs Marshal D. Teach AKA Blackbeard
couple of others
Dragon Ball: almost every major fight. especially the last one against Tao Pai Pai. Cyborg Tao was actually a bit of filler from what I hear, he wasn't in the manga I believe.
Dragonball Z: SSj1 goku vs freezer, pimp slapping Freezer was pure win.
all ssj3 transformations, both dub and sub.
final kamehameha with super perfect serul and gohan ssj2
all the movies.
JJBA: All Za Warudo scenes in anime. All ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora and muda muda muda muda muda scenes in the anime. the toki no tomae scenes.
Naruto: LOTS of fight scenes. when he goes k0 for the first time against Haku.
Sound 4+ kimimaro fights. the cs2 sasuke vs k1 battle at valley of the end. the whole valley of the end battle. the Lee vs Gaara fight ( almost everyone loves this fight a lot). The Naruto vs Shukaku fight. some of the filler fights.
5 gated Gai vs 5 Gated lee in the fillers.
Shippuden: gaara vs deidara fight
battle with sasori. battle with k3 and k4 naruto vs orochimaru. sasuke's "defeat" of Orochimaru. Sasuke vs Deidara battle ( my poor little Dei Dei died :( )
"recent" battles which I will spoiler for people like Murphy who are like 10 chapters behind. (highlight to see the spoilers, you were warned, don't complain if you don't like it)
Pein vs Jiraiya (1, 3 and 6 bodied fights)
Pein's defeat of Jiraiya
Sasuke's "defeat" of Itachi
Thats my thing in a nutshell. Looking foward to reading your comments and comparing my favorite moments to yours.
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