International Cosplay Day, which I'll shorten to ICD, was a blast, and I attended the 3rd Annual ICD for this year with buddies from the DC Anime Club, which was split into a weekend. Lots of photo-bombing, girl power, and photoshoots happened that day, and we were the highlights at the US Botanical Gardens in DC.
The first day had a large group consisent of myself, friend and Club Prez Chris Wanamaker, and his wife, my friend and fellow blogger Momo, along with many others I met either for the first time ever, or at club meetings and conventions. Dealing with a lot of people, it was kind of a hassle keeping everyone in check, and Mother Nature's indecisiveness didn't help matters. A day filled with laughter, dancing, and shenanigans, I couldn't wish for anything better for a Saturday, despite almost not making it. I dressed as Rokuro "Rock" Okajima of Black Lagoon.
For Sunday, it wasn't AS eventful, but in a way fulfilling, since I regrouped with Melissa Williams and company after parting ways with Chris and Momo. Assisting them with a music video they're doing (still in progress), the day didn't feel like a waste for me personally, as I once again donned the garb of Sailor Moon's Malachite that day. The weather was still a hassle to bear, but I came prepared for it. Following this, I went around Capitol Hill in the outfit (and no complaints were heard), and then switched up and headed home, but not without doing a little shopping.
Oh, speaking of which, I also had a pic taken Saturday with Capitol Hill in the background: one by myself, and one with a Vocaloid Cosplayer, and we both had green ties that day. And now I must wash the other one for the Lolita Picnic this coming Sunday at the Freer Gallery. I will post what I can about that another day.
All in all, a grand time, and here's hoping ICD 2K13 will be bigger. Seiko Takeda, signing out!
2012/08/27
2012/08/07
Ev13: Otakon 2012
Oh boy... this summer was hot, and once again I found myself near the Ice Cold Water guy in Baltimore, MD. Yep, Otakon 2012 happened there, and for me, it was my second and most interesting con year yet.
Unlike before, I had no room nor model kits, but I saw many things. From the Aniplex and Funimation booths, to the tables of the likes of Nekocon and adult visual novel company Mangagamer. I also attended the Masquerade show... scratch that. I was actually IN it, debuting in a new costume. The Saturday evening and Sunday of the con, I dressed up as Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Even now, I'm thinking of others, among which Shirou Emiya of Fate/Stay Night and Roger Smith of The Big O. I also met the likes of Aya Hirano, who is the seiyuu of Haruhi Suzumiya from the Haruhi Suzumiya works (which I blogged about before.) But the GREATEST honor, and what I'll never forget is that Jason David Frank, who played the role of Tommy for Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, and Power Rangers Zeo, Turbo: The Movie, and DinoThunder, was actually present in Otakon this year.
To our dismay, Jaleel White (who voiced Steve Urkel from Family Matters as well as the first voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog) , nor Eddie Lebron, who made fan films for both Sonic and Mega Man, couldn't be there, nor was the Sonic fan film in which White reprises the role. I also managed to see my cherished friends as well as a certain cosplayer I keep seeing since Tigercon last year. Still, she pulls off Street Fighter's Juri Han well. And kinda late for me, and somewhat irrelevant, but I tried for the first time Street Fighter X Tekken. I'll post my thoughts about this in Seiko's Gamer Base later.
Otakon 2012 was fun indeed, I just hope next year I have much more to write home about... as well as something to spend. Seiko Takeda, signing out.
Unlike before, I had no room nor model kits, but I saw many things. From the Aniplex and Funimation booths, to the tables of the likes of Nekocon and adult visual novel company Mangagamer. I also attended the Masquerade show... scratch that. I was actually IN it, debuting in a new costume. The Saturday evening and Sunday of the con, I dressed up as Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Even now, I'm thinking of others, among which Shirou Emiya of Fate/Stay Night and Roger Smith of The Big O. I also met the likes of Aya Hirano, who is the seiyuu of Haruhi Suzumiya from the Haruhi Suzumiya works (which I blogged about before.) But the GREATEST honor, and what I'll never forget is that Jason David Frank, who played the role of Tommy for Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, and Power Rangers Zeo, Turbo: The Movie, and DinoThunder, was actually present in Otakon this year.
To our dismay, Jaleel White (who voiced Steve Urkel from Family Matters as well as the first voice actor for Sonic the Hedgehog) , nor Eddie Lebron, who made fan films for both Sonic and Mega Man, couldn't be there, nor was the Sonic fan film in which White reprises the role. I also managed to see my cherished friends as well as a certain cosplayer I keep seeing since Tigercon last year. Still, she pulls off Street Fighter's Juri Han well. And kinda late for me, and somewhat irrelevant, but I tried for the first time Street Fighter X Tekken. I'll post my thoughts about this in Seiko's Gamer Base later.
Otakon 2012 was fun indeed, I just hope next year I have much more to write home about... as well as something to spend. Seiko Takeda, signing out.
2012/06/02
CCXII: "Samurai Champloo"
I am a nut for anything dealing with swords, so naturally, I couldn't pass up on Samurai Champloo. Another one o those titles I caught on Adult Swim, it's a popular piece, partly because of the theme, composed by SHING02 and the late Nujabes. In direction, this was Shinichiro Watanabe's first directorial effort, succeeding that of the preceding and famous work Cowboy Bebop. As it was critically acclaimed, it reached the plateau its predecessor took before.
Kind of a weird way the three individuals meet one another. Fuu is a waitress who ends up being harassed by a band of samurai, not helping that one of those happens to be the son of Magistrate Tomonoshima. However, things go south for him as she is rescued by a rouge named Mugen, while shortly later, another samurai, Jin, enters. After their own respective battles, the two match glares with one another, sparking a fight amongst themselves. However, during the conflict, the restaurant burns, and the prefect's son ends up one arm less after Mugen sliced it off. Caught by the authorities, they are set to be executed, but Fuu intervenes. As compensation for saving their lives, Fuu enlists their help seeking a samurai that smells of sunflowers. It came with a stipulation, however: until this man is found, they are not to attack one another. And with both acquainted in battle once, this is a tough stipulation to hold... especially when it's the ronin and the vagabond hungrily at each other's throats!
Where Cowboy Bebop had a jazzy to early rock theme to their music, Samurai Champloo features a hip-hop to mid tempo style. A few songs also had R&B elements to them too, and during the battle, the tempo picks up. Even in their game, they feature a turntable (I've yet to play it, but should I do so, I'll put it in the Gamer Base blog.) Like Bebop, Champloo saw 26 episodes aired on TV, shown as part of the Adult Swim block. Made in Manglobe Studio, it was licensed by the defunct Geneon Entertainment, and one of the several titles turned over to Funimation Entertainment, who currently holds the license. Between the anime and the video game Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, the voice actors have been for the most part consistent. In the case of Mugen, however, he had two different ones: in the anime he was voiced by Steven Blum (who was known as the voice of TOM of Toonami, and amazingly as Spike from the aforementioned Cowboy Bebop anime), while Liam O'Brien (who voiced Taishi of Comic Party and Captain Ukitake of Bleach) voiced him in the game. The latter two are consistent, with Jin voiced by Kirk Thornton (who voiced Saito of Ruroni Kenshin, and as of the game Sonic Free Riders, is the current voice of Sonic series character Shadow the Hedgehog), while Fuu is voiced by Kari Wahlgren (who also voiced Kagami Hiiragi of Lucky Star, and debuted as Haruhara Haruko of FLCL.) I can only say this now, but even with the editing out of some bloody scenes, the nudity, and the language, it's still errs into the not-so-kid-friendly zone as far as content, so keeping the little o0nes away is a must.
Samurai Champloo ended up as acclaimed as Cowboy Bebop with good reason. Fitting enough, not perfect, but another 9 of 10 is satisfying. Personally, as far as directing goes, Watanabe did great.
Kind of a weird way the three individuals meet one another. Fuu is a waitress who ends up being harassed by a band of samurai, not helping that one of those happens to be the son of Magistrate Tomonoshima. However, things go south for him as she is rescued by a rouge named Mugen, while shortly later, another samurai, Jin, enters. After their own respective battles, the two match glares with one another, sparking a fight amongst themselves. However, during the conflict, the restaurant burns, and the prefect's son ends up one arm less after Mugen sliced it off. Caught by the authorities, they are set to be executed, but Fuu intervenes. As compensation for saving their lives, Fuu enlists their help seeking a samurai that smells of sunflowers. It came with a stipulation, however: until this man is found, they are not to attack one another. And with both acquainted in battle once, this is a tough stipulation to hold... especially when it's the ronin and the vagabond hungrily at each other's throats!
Where Cowboy Bebop had a jazzy to early rock theme to their music, Samurai Champloo features a hip-hop to mid tempo style. A few songs also had R&B elements to them too, and during the battle, the tempo picks up. Even in their game, they feature a turntable (I've yet to play it, but should I do so, I'll put it in the Gamer Base blog.) Like Bebop, Champloo saw 26 episodes aired on TV, shown as part of the Adult Swim block. Made in Manglobe Studio, it was licensed by the defunct Geneon Entertainment, and one of the several titles turned over to Funimation Entertainment, who currently holds the license. Between the anime and the video game Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked, the voice actors have been for the most part consistent. In the case of Mugen, however, he had two different ones: in the anime he was voiced by Steven Blum (who was known as the voice of TOM of Toonami, and amazingly as Spike from the aforementioned Cowboy Bebop anime), while Liam O'Brien (who voiced Taishi of Comic Party and Captain Ukitake of Bleach) voiced him in the game. The latter two are consistent, with Jin voiced by Kirk Thornton (who voiced Saito of Ruroni Kenshin, and as of the game Sonic Free Riders, is the current voice of Sonic series character Shadow the Hedgehog), while Fuu is voiced by Kari Wahlgren (who also voiced Kagami Hiiragi of Lucky Star, and debuted as Haruhara Haruko of FLCL.) I can only say this now, but even with the editing out of some bloody scenes, the nudity, and the language, it's still errs into the not-so-kid-friendly zone as far as content, so keeping the little o0nes away is a must.
Samurai Champloo ended up as acclaimed as Cowboy Bebop with good reason. Fitting enough, not perfect, but another 9 of 10 is satisfying. Personally, as far as directing goes, Watanabe did great.
2012/05/22
Ev12: Fiesta Asia 2012
I know it's been long since I've done ANY posting, and I'm sorry about that. But things have become complicated, what with having limited internet service as well as my preparations for July and August (another issue I'll address soon.) In the meantime, I came back from yesterdays excursion at Fiesta Asia 2012, down near the National Archives in D.C. Once again, I went with my friends of the anime club and had a wonderful, yet humid, time, busting out my Rock (Black Lagoon) cosplay for the first time. As with any Fiesta Asia, we took part in the Cosplay Parade, though unlike a year ago, I didn't have to march with the banner myself this time. We also had a few photoshoots here and there, photos I'm still waiting to see, and with my Blackberry I took a few more, some of which I will put on here a little later.
As for what's ahead, I'm not only going to Otakon in July, but the month after, I'll be in Europe for a while, namely Austria, so it's doubtful if I'll have internet, let alone be able to review anime for a while. However, in the mean time, I'm also involved with this documentary that the students of George Washington University students are doing about anime (I know, it's exciting for me.) It's unnown if copies of this will be made, but if possible, that would be great. VERY doubtful if I can sync this to the Wolf Vlogger, though. In any case, that's it for now, but stay true and golden, and I'll post again sometime later. Seiko Takeda-Wolf, signing out!
As for what's ahead, I'm not only going to Otakon in July, but the month after, I'll be in Europe for a while, namely Austria, so it's doubtful if I'll have internet, let alone be able to review anime for a while. However, in the mean time, I'm also involved with this documentary that the students of George Washington University students are doing about anime (I know, it's exciting for me.) It's unnown if copies of this will be made, but if possible, that would be great. VERY doubtful if I can sync this to the Wolf Vlogger, though. In any case, that's it for now, but stay true and golden, and I'll post again sometime later. Seiko Takeda-Wolf, signing out!
2012/05/03
CCXI: "The Avengers"
Some posts back, I saw before the masses Captain America: The First Avenger, now my wish was fulfilled, when days ago, I watched The Avengers, the Marvel flick comic fanboys were dying for. And boy, was it a hell of a film!! Heading to Silver Spring with my friends was sorth it, despite returning late.
When Loki decides to raise hell, he does so in a big way. Getting his hands on a certain artifact, he wages war on Earth, with little effort at that. But there's one thing you should never, ever do, and that's to rile up a man of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury to be exact, because it made him desperate enough to assemble a band of heroes to raise Hell. Divided, they are greats on their own, but together, they aren't a team to take lightly. From thawed out legends, to destructive faces, The Avengers will save Earth, or Avenge it!
Starring the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson, it brings together some of Marvel's most familiar and famous faces. The only thing I can say is that you stick around for the whole film to see what Marvel will do next, but if you want destruction, lasers and pipebombs, this movie does not disappoint. Pending on who favors it, we were lucky to see it in IMAX 3D, and it was interesting, despite the gaudy design of the glasses themselves.
Make tomorrow, May 4th, the date people, for this Marvel film is worth seeing. Perfect, 10 of 10, any best rating I say just isn't enough to describe how awesome The Avengers is. I encourage you to see this film!!
When Loki decides to raise hell, he does so in a big way. Getting his hands on a certain artifact, he wages war on Earth, with little effort at that. But there's one thing you should never, ever do, and that's to rile up a man of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury to be exact, because it made him desperate enough to assemble a band of heroes to raise Hell. Divided, they are greats on their own, but together, they aren't a team to take lightly. From thawed out legends, to destructive faces, The Avengers will save Earth, or Avenge it!
Starring the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson, it brings together some of Marvel's most familiar and famous faces. The only thing I can say is that you stick around for the whole film to see what Marvel will do next, but if you want destruction, lasers and pipebombs, this movie does not disappoint. Pending on who favors it, we were lucky to see it in IMAX 3D, and it was interesting, despite the gaudy design of the glasses themselves.
Make tomorrow, May 4th, the date people, for this Marvel film is worth seeing. Perfect, 10 of 10, any best rating I say just isn't enough to describe how awesome The Avengers is. I encourage you to see this film!!
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