I have read what has been released of the manga for Dance in the Vampire Bund, and alas I really enjoyed it, some of the ideas there were brilliant, such as the True Forms.
I have seen the first couple of episodes of the anime, which was started in an intriguing way. But of how it started alas the second episode was also a bit of. I was disappointing with some of that was done with the second episode. None the less I still enjoyed watching it (I must say though I am a sucker for vampires). I hope that from now the anime will loyally follow the manga as doing so would create a very interesting anime.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Dance In The Vampire Bund
It's BorderLOVE! ^_^
I originally started out playing Borderlands thinking that it would be a quick filler while waiting for the next Sims 3 expansion, little did I know how much of a euphoric time vacuum it would ultimately become in my life, so much that I wanted to do a full out fan illustration for it but I always put it to the side. When Apocalust on Flickr mentioned to me the idea to do my take on Borderlands in illustrated form, I thought it was a awesome opportunity to draw some fan art about something I’m more or less currently obsessed with, ahahah ^_^.
For this post, I’m not going to talk about creating art itself, that’s covered better on the actual Flickr page I posted it on, instead about the game and it’s relationship to the illustration. First of all, those who’ve played Borderlands probably know that all the guns are randomly generated from over “87 bazillion” combinations, which isn’t a real number, but sounds good with marketing. These particular guns in the drawing however ARE actually real weapons in the game, although it’s entirely possible that nobody will have the exact same types again, so for those who want to know exactly what those two are, here’s the in game item cards for them!
Hellfire & Volcano fun for the whole family!
The Hellfire and the Volcano are arguably the two most famous weapons in Borderlands, but for me, I just love them because they set people on fire, which honestly just makes me happy. These two featured here aren’t all that powerful anymore and I have since found better versions, but they were my favorite aesthetically and I kept hold of them for the longest time, if only for drawing reference, ahahah, man, pruning down that inventory was sure pain to make room for those two ^_^. For those wondering, the girl featured in the picture is Lilith the Siren, one of the 4 playable characters in the game and clearly the only one who’s not a man.
I personally play a Lv 50 Controller/Assassin Catalyst build with focus on dazing and Phase Walking. I call this particular build, the “Adaptive Build”, since it’s power is in switching between different Class Mods for different situations instead of just relying on one particular mod, but now I’m just talking game lingo and am slowly destroying your will to live with this wall of text.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun making this illustration, and I hope other Borderlands players will enjoy it as well ^_^. I’m currently playing the Mad Moxxi DLC and having a good time, but I’ll have to start my next art project very soon if I want to meet my deadlines, so please wish me luck and to recover from my chronic video game addiction!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
[January 2010] New Anime Release! II.
おおかみかくし (Ookami Kakushi)
聖痕のクェイサー (Seikon no Kweisaa)
おまもりひまり (Omamori Himari)
ダンスインザヴァンパイアバンド (Dance in the Vampire Bund)
ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト (Sora no Oto)
れでぃ×ばと! (Redi×Bato!)
Though I’ve seen first episode of every anime that I listed above, I’m certainly not going to watch all of these anime(s). I think this time around, meaning, for January 2010 New Anime Releases are mainly male focused, pure harem genre. It’s really not my type ^^;; As I was watching, I couldn’t stop but think, “Wouldn’t it be great if it was all male characters?” Instead of れでぃ×ばと! (Redi×Bato!), how about 美少年×ばと! (Bishounen×Bato!), or おまもりはやて (Omamori Hayate) or おまもり隼人 (Omamori Hayato) rather than おまもりひまり (Omamori Himari) for instance. I will not watch Redi×Bato! for sure. Omamori Himari, maybe. I’m watching 聖痕のクェイサー (Seikon no Kweisaa), then again, because the main protagonist is a silver-haired bishounen with attitude. Yes, sometimes that’s just enough for me watch. hehe xD So, enough with my 腐女子 talk.
おおかみかくし (Ookami Kakushi) and ダンスインザヴァンパイアバンド (Dance in the Vampire Bund), I will watch. ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト (Sora no Oto), again, maybe.
There are still one more anime that I’m waiting. のだめカンタービレ (Nodame Cantabile). It starts TODAY!!!
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Sunday, January 10, 2010
Charlotte’s first anime convention
I’d gotten word about a month ago that a new anime convention was coming to town. Billed as “the Carolinas’ first anime con of the new year,” it promised to be three days worth of exciting anime goodness. Since it was only a short drive from where I live, I decided to give it a visit. The organizers have dubbed this new foray into the American convention scene Ichibancon (www.ichibancon.com). It was held at the Great Wolf Lodge and Resort in Concord, NC, just a couple minutes north of central Charlotte.
Given that this was a startup, I didn’t set my expectations very high. The venue itself wasn’t extremely large, so space and attendance would be limited. With that in mind, I set off last night after work to sample the offerings.
The Great Wolf Lodge is actually a family resort/indoor water park. It has a hotel, restaurant, and caters to families with younger children. The con itself was contained in the conference area of the resort, meaning there was minimal disruption to the lodge’s normal activities. There were two smaller rooms for panels, a large room for main events, and a vendor area. There was also a small nook set aside for various game systems.
The above photo was what greeted us when we went through the front door. Registration was in the main lobby and was run pretty efficiently. The organizers must have had some experience in the past, or had figured out how to handle the traffic.
While the lobby remained mostly clear on the first day, it quickly became the center point of any mass cosplay photo op. It was the only space large enough that could hold people. Going outside was pretty much out of the question, as temperatures in Charlotte hovered around the 40 degree mark during the day and dipping below freezing after the sun went down.
The vendor area had about a dozen different sellers peddling various wares from swords to clothing. One seller had a small stock of bootleg CDs and DVDs, which was a bit disappointing. At bigger conventions this is usually more common, but with a smaller group like this, I wonder if it’s possible (or feasible) to police such things? Only one seller really had a selection of figures, although not extremely large. One thing that struck me as odd was the types of merchandise being sold. While there was your typical Shonen Jump and Final Fantasy paraphernalia, there was also a surprising amount of Sailor Moon goods. For a series that hasn’t been on air in almost a decade, that’s pretty odd.
Since there wasn’t a huge variety of newer stock, not much caught my eye. I did score one figure for my collection… Holo from Spice and Wolf.
At first I was wondering why she came with an extra set of arms. Once I got the box open, I realized that she was completely cast off-able, and could be displayed nekkid. Not quite sure about that…
In all, the first year of Ichibancon was a great effort. Hopefully, this year’s success will lead to future growth and return in subsequent years. One thing the organizers may want to consider is having a dedicated cosplay meet up area. That way, crowds don’t gather in the central area and cause trouble for folks trying to get from one side to the other.
I’ll be going back tomorrow afternoon for the last bit of the event. There is an Asian BJD panel at noon, and Rin will be attending it with me. Hopefully she’ll have the opportunity to meet others like her and share stories!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
"Otaku Couples: Threat or Menace?" The Otaku Diaries and Relationships
In Part 7 of the Otaku Diaries, the Reverse Thieves tackle dating and relationships, topics that are stereotypically divorced from anime fandom and geekdom in general.
One of the questions asked of its participants was how necessary it was for the people they date to like anime, and the majority said that they would at least see it as a plus, while no one said it would detract from the dating experience. I’ve seen anime fans online talk about how they would never date another anime fan, that stance is usually born out of the idea that being an anime fan entails being host to a variety of negative traits that don’t necessarily have to do with anime. They’ve just created an image in their heads that otaku are physically unappealing, loud, obnoxious, and simply unattractive. However, rarely does it have to do with the actual love of anime. In the end, who wouldn’t a companion with whom you could comfortably share your hobbies and passions if even a little? Japanese has a term for an otaku relationship: “otaple,” or “otaku couple.”
One thing that I want to take into consideration is the history of anime fandom in the west, particularly the fact that in the earlier days of anime fandom in the US, anime was primarily a men’s club, and the idea of girls being into anime and manga in large enough amounts that guys could find a girl to share in their love of anime was a far-off dream. This is a typical scenario for pretty much any sort of geekish hobby. And then people discovered that girls were capable of enjoying comics, and we got to see the reaction that happens any time a new group enters an existing fandom, whether it’s girls coming into anime, new people on an internet forum, or those rascally Star Wars fans entering the established world of science fiction: “They’re liking my hobby, but not the way I expected/wanted them to!” It’s possible at that point to wake up from the dream disgusted, but it’s also possible to see opportunity. Of course we are about a decade removed from that initial occurrence, but it still happens time after time, when the image we’ve built up in our heads does not match the reality.
In the eyes of anime fans the otaple status can be considered a Holy Grail or a Pandora’s Box, and from what I’ve seen it largely has to do with how they view the concept of the otaku relationship. Getting together with someone just because you share a hobby makes for a weak and flimsy foundation for a relationship. This is the source of the more negative view of otaku relationships, the idea that you ignore the flaws of the other just because they “like anime,” even when you are not actually happy about it. But when mutual love of anime is a vehicle for connecting on a deeper level, when it is used to support the foundation without being the foundation, that is when the otaple succeeds.
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