Milky Way - From Start to Finish -

another piece in the Estell Series... ithink there will eventually be at least two more... possibly more then that... i'm indecisive but i know i need a minimum of two more to finish the overarching story. 

so, before each pic i try doing just a page of gestures and thumbnails cause it helps me come up with the full idea... which is almost always completely different from the starting point but hey... putting pencil to paper and committing can be the hardest thing.

in that page of brainstorming i almost always have a pic thats part of the estelle series but i end up doing something else instead... so at the rate i'm going the series should be done in a year or so.

anyways i started out with the sketch of course.

so the idea behind it is she's looking at the wishes brought to her and trying to grant them. so in going with the theme i originally was calling this the granting star (to go with wishing star and dancing star) but then i was like... no... thats a dumb title.... and after colouring it kind of reminded me of the milky way so i went with that...

due to a fever that wont leave me be and a wrist that isn't helping it took me longer then i expected to get this done.... but that meant i remembered to take a screen shot during all this.
i was going to post on tumble the flat colour lineless but it just didn't have enough contrast to warrent being posed in that state....
still here it is

you may be abel to tell from this i changed a lot fro mthe sketch.. .mainly outfit and placement of her comet tail scarf thingy... and those little wish gathering sprites i made them a bit smaller and tried adding more... tryign to figure out how they working into everything took the longest to be honest.

anyways even though my body was telling me take a day off i told it to shut up and i managed to get it all done today.... my thumb is swollen and my shoulder feels out of wack but whatever... i can rest when i'm out of stuff to draw.

so the final product did end up being more glittery and darker... yay?

like i said i was starting to lean more towards a personified milky-way... dunno if i succeeded but hey in the end i am happy with it...

for now though i need to rest
though it is canada day tomorrow............ hm.....

Completed: Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (spoilers)

I can't see any way of praising this show without spoilers... so i'm not even going to try.

Tl;dr: I really liked this show and Personally think it's the best show this season.

From here on out spoilers (i will try to avoid them but it cannot be helped)

Personal Bias: I don't like mech anime cause 98% of the time is takes place in space and space scares me.

So... Ensign Ledo, a pilot in the Galactic army has finally earned enough hours of servitude to the army to go live as a civilian for 2 weeks in avalon. Avalon in a space colony since thanks to the Hideaze they don't have a planet they can call their own. On avalon civilions job is simply to procreate so the army will have enough soldiers to defend avalon. If one is too weak to do either of these tasks they are culled for the good of humanity.

In his final battle as a soldier somethign goes wrong and after passing through a warp gate improperly he is sent hurtling across space and lands on a planet that is completely covered in water... even odder then that the atmosphere is completely breathable and there are even human colonies who have no idea about the fight between humans and Hideaze. How is a person who's sole purpose in life has been taken away from them by chance going to survive when he can't even communicate.

Well... luckily for Ledo he's got a giant mech pilot interface system known as Chamber. Chamber has a myriad of skills one of which being after listening to them converse he is eventually able to help translate. Ledo, being stuck there also manages to learn the language over time.
we find out pretty quick that no, there is no hope of Ledo getting back to the army... but he is stil la soldier so he does his best to protect the people.... this ends up backfiring because when you have technology far superior to others they grow to fear you.

However a girl named Amy decides to try and understand and even befriend him since they look like they are the same age.

the show from there is about Culture clash from two people who both grew up as humans in vastly different situations.

things only get worse as it appears the Hideaze have invaded earth... or have they?

i think i can stop there cause i do not want to spoil everything... but any less that that and i doubt i could get across why this show is my favorite.

ok.... i will admit when i first started watching i kind of though of the story like a spin off to macross. minor spoiler in macross: zentradi are humans who genetically altered themselves to be giant and super strong.... so in my mind this was like the moment before the zentradi made themselves giant... i dunn owhy that helped but for some of the slower eps it made me giggle thinking like that.

also just to get it out of the way on my panic attack meter
like Macross this didn't give me any panic attacks... granted it barely takes place in space... so... yay~


The good:
i would like to say everything... but i'll be more specific.
the colours: the way you see the homogenized colours of the space humans compared to the  bright and colourful crew members of the gargantia... it just creates this wonderful colour story of one being super clean and steril btu also lifeless while the other is alive and booming and fun with a wide range of emotion.
character design: each character is unique and easy to tell apart from each other... they even held a contest and 15 fan made designs can be see in the background of a shot in the final ep (for like 4 seconds but hey, i'd be jumping up and down if that happened to me)
The music: it just fits the mood perfectly and to be honest this show made me cry more then once (and tear up more then that)
The writing: done by the same person who did PMMM so you know you're going to get some lovely commentary on part of the world, in this case technology and nature vs. nurture.
The animation: so... darn... pretty... even 3d things like chamber mesh perfectly in this animated world.
Transition: i think seeing ledo's character arc over the course of the 13 eps is one of the best character arcs i've ever seen.... it's not suddenly turn on a dime he's a civilian.... it's just so well done.

The not so good:
despite the series length (13 episodes) there are a few eps near the middle that are a little slow and to counteract the slowness they up the fanservice... ugh... it just felt lazy.... cause there are things i felt they could have explored a bit more.... but it's only about 3 episodes... maybe even only 2 that are bad for this. i want to say it fits the theme of the show, going from high action war to fairly peaceful planet.... but no it just feels like "oh no we gotta tell this show stuff... lets have a bathing suit ep and then another with sexy dancing... that'll keep em watching while we set up the next plot point."

The bad:
um.... if you don't like mech out of space stories you'll hate this one? i guess? i can't think of anyways...
actually no the only bad thing is that no one has said they have licensed it yet.... i would love a NISA boxset of this (i can dream~)

If you haven't seen the show yet please give it a shot, it's over at Crunchyroll for free. 




MAJOR SPOILERS FROM HERE ON

Seriously i'm about to give away the ending... but it's something i really wanna talk about...
...
...
So... Chamber

When i first heard this creepy robot interface talk the way he talks i was like
"oh boy this is going to be a situation when the robot will decide the human isn't doing the right thing since he's being swayed by emotion i better take over to deal with the threat for the good of humanity."

I was wrong...... kinda.
Thank you Gargantia for taking my expectation and going "no no no this isn't gunna go how you think"

though.............. there is that kinda.... nah i wont spoil it

but seriously what chamber did at the end was wonderful and i loved it

just such a wonderful show.
go watch it!

Completed: Chihayafuru 2

so apparently SNAFU is about a week behind so i get to space these out a bit... yay
Also that fever i mentioned is still around so... i will ramble... 

SO

Chihayafuru 2
The Second season of the Karuta Sport anime/shoujo series.

when the first season aired i was still in college... which kinda blows my mind....
because i don't want to wait that long for a third season!
I want it now. *forever bad at waiting*

The show is about Chihaya who discovers her love of the 100 poets matching card game through a friend and works hard to get a club going in her school and become the queen.

I am not normally a fan of sport anime but this has to be my favorite right next to Kuroko's basketball.

It does a perfect job in explaining the rules to the game gradually over time.
it has unique and diverse set of characters from all over (with different body shape/types to boot for added awesome) who all have distinct personalities/advantages/disadvantages.
Unlike other sport anime there is no calling out of special attacks... just "holy shit she hit the card before the speaker made a sound" or "how did he hit two cards so quick?"
there is no "if i just believe in myself i will win" but instead of the more realistic "what are they doing that i am not thats giving them and edge"
characters no matter how important do occasionally lose... which always is a plus in my books cause i hate watching something knowing that they have to win for the story to progress... in this case win or lose it doens't matter... life goes one....
so... sport anime/shoujo series/slice of life.

anyways other things i really love about this show.
The art
it's... so... pretty
and a little sparkly... which is always a plus in my books...
but yeah it's just so lovely to look at.
The music
it just fits the mood perfectly, though the ending song made me swear a few times cause i didn't want the episode to end there. still a lovely song.
The love ineterest
it's there, it's never really the focus... cause chihaya is a bit sense.
the new characters... i was worried that some would end up getting pushed to the side cause it's 7 main instead of 5 and they do kinda but they all still get a portion of their arc... there will be a third season eventually (i can't see much more then that.... i mean it all depends on how they pace it but who knows.) so i get why the arcs weren't fully realized but at least nothing was too cliffhangery.
well the ending was a bit of a "you can't end there" but nothing where i'm mad that it's over... for now.

um... something negative....
hmmmm
well one character, who does the most growing this season doesn't get much attention but now that he's in the same rank as Chihaya i think that will change a bit.
that and of course i may have to wait another year or so before the next season... not amused by that notion.
maybe i'll read the manga....
or not.... i just want more....

so next thing i'll probably end up finishing is... Gargantia... hopefully by then no more fever...

Comleted: Devil Survivor 2 The anime

Holy crap the end of the season feels like it came out of nowhere....
and almost everything i'm watching ends this week... lovely... so i guess 5-6 'reviews' on the way.

First: Devil Survivor 2.

Now a quick note, i have not played this particular game but i have played the first one.... i can't beat it no matter how much i try but hey... at least i tried.

while they technically aren't Shin Megami tensei games i have played varying degrees of Persona 1-4
i enjoy the series despite how difficult and controller/handheld throwing it can get.

so when Crunchy Announced that they were airing the anime of the game i had thought of picking up but i wanted to be the first one first i was excited because i honestly care way more about the story then i do the gameplay.

Any time you go into an SMT story there are a few things to expect.
Death - even main characters aren't safe from it.
Sadness - even happy ending aren't happy
Destruction - whats the point of having gods, demons, myths and legends duel if you aren't going to destroy the world at least once?


So yeah... just know that going in.

so what the show about.
The end of the world as a test for humanity.
The will of humanity to survive
the choice that the survivors make.

Our main character is Hibiki and after being killed in a subway he is given the choice to live, he takes it. From there he learn that 7 monsters are going to try and destroy humanity as a test and that if they survive it they can remake the world as they see fit.

there are different organizations and personalities but in the end the goal is the same... Survive.

The good:
The voice acting.... so.... yeah... because hibiki is voiced by the guy who did Natsume and Yamato is done by the guy who played matoba it just feels like a more action heavy Natsume yuujinchou.
all the voiced in the show are great but i really love hearing those two play off each other.
The art and animation...
1. i want Hibiki's hoody
2. his hair is so fluffly
3. gah everything in this show is so darn pretty.
the story is pretty good too but i can tell they probably told things out of order from the game cause... well SMT games are long and slow to build and this was a 13 episode series. need to speed things up.
the intro and ending song really really good too... the music in general just fits the mood perfectly

the not so good:
i despise how the female are designed by SMT in general but in this show it's particularly ridiculous.
Fun fact, Breasts do not act like that... they shouldn't look poliganol and really should have clothing adhere to them like socks. A dancer in particular has barely a strip of fabric covering her noughty bits which must be attached with glue cause considering how much she is tossed around there is NO WAY it would continue to cover her. This is just an irk i have...  iknow 99% of people don't care but dammit it's annoying as hell.

the bad:
it's over : (
...
i wanted more
oh and i guess i was partially waiting for an explanation of why Alcor looks so much like hibiki and there.... there just wasn't... oh well... maybe i was looking too much into it.

on a sadder not Index has been charged with fraud lately... i hope this doesn't stop more SMT or Persona games from being made but i guess we will see... i'll proabbly wait a bit to watch SNAFU cause yeah my fevers gotten progressively worse during this review so i better just rest... maybe play some animal crossing...

but yeah good show, i enjoyed it, you don't need to have played any SMT to enjoy it (though if your like me you may have commented on how it much be nice to have Mazio or Ziodyne available rigth off the bat... but i'm snarky)

oh and if you can't stand seeing Anatomy bits in the form of monsters best to just avoid SMT, you wanna know what i mean? look at your own risk, NSFW

Flight - From Start to finish -

when i started working on this sketch i didn't think it would go the way it did.
I figured it would just be a little experiment with Paint tool Sai

and well... on the one hand it was an experiment with paint tool sai... about 98% of this was done in that program and the other 2% was in photoshop.

but this piece took a fairly big journey in a relatively small space of time.

ok, standard pic of a fairy... i mean... it seems if i'm not drawing mermaids i'm drawing fairies right?

so i figure i'll try a lineless version cause... thats the smart thing to do when you haven't done anything in that program... lineless~

at this point i realize no i want lines.... so i ink over this cause i wanted to keep as much of the other that i possibly could.
only to pretty quickly give up and say screw it it wont take long to colour it again... i'm not even happy with the colours i picked anyways so a good time to change them

this is where the change happened.

once i deleted the colour and only had the lines of the face i looked at it and went. "that looks like my character rai.
i shrugged it off at first and just told myself  "oh well... better just keep this a simple experiment piece of a fairy~ wouldn't you rather do butterfly wings instead of angel wings?"
then my stubborness kicked in and said "no, last time i did butterfly wings i wanted to cry cause i couldn't get them to look halfway decent.... i'm actually not bad at drawing feathered wings... yeah they can be stupidly detailed but so what they are fun!"
so i actualyl walked away for the day and though about how i wanted to persue it....
and by 'for the day' i mean 'for an hour or two'

next thing i know i have

so other then the pose..... not too much similar
oh well... i wil ladmit more often then not my process is
draw guilds > proceed to ingore them

so then i went to town in Sai... there are so really neat things that the program can do but i found it really hard to get nice blending and decent contrast.... (it's oil painting class all over again : D ) simply cause i went blend happy.
despite my overblending i stil lhad a blast with this and in the end i have a piece i am really happy with, no one else will probably care but thats okay, i care.

the biggest problem i have with it is that horizontal compositions look so small when i do my normal 600 px wide... so yeah a little bigger cause... why not.

but yeah lots of fun with this one... hopefully i get better with paint tool sai but all in good time
for now i gotta figure out what i'm drawing next~ normally it isn't hard, i just sit down and draw until i like something but i'm sick atm and that always throws a wrench into things.
stupid inconsistent weather, i blame you!

Comment sections

no matter who you are.
what media you search for one the web.
there is one universal truth about the internet.
Never read the comment section.

and i guess another is don't google yourself but the first is what i'm here to talk about...

so because i spend most of my day drawing or painting at my desk i tend to always have youtube or TGWTG or Blistered thumbs or escapist playing.
i find they are perfect for background noise and more often then not they make me work faster cause i'm laughing or smiling and it makes work pleasent.

however every now and then i scroll just a little too far down the page and get the joy of losing faith in humanity.

if they aren't bitching about how something changed or how it was better in the old days then they are telling you how wrong your opinion is and how much you suck.

here's an idea... instead of telling someone how much they suck... why don't you just try and make something better? talk is cheap and unless you can back it up by producing a superior product shut up.

i watched sages review and the first comment i saw was litterally. "worst game ever"
they went on to say he didn't mention how long it was or how the combat felt.
oh i'm sorry... he probably didn't realize that you needed all those number rating to decide if you want to buy it and can't just go "wow that sounds good" based on what he did say.

besides.... i don't think it means what you think it means
From Dictionary.com

a general survey of something, especially in words; a report or account of something.

or

to write reviews; review books, movies, etc., as for a newspaper or periodical: He reviews for some small-town newspaper

of course thats only one of many definitions but still my point stands... saying someone is reviewing something incorrectly is like saying an opinion is wrong.
"oh but he's on a site for reviewing, he should follow a formula!"
most of his videos do
he sais whats good, whats bad and then tells you his reccomendation.
yes most of the time he goes into specifics and this time he didn't.... i actually found that review to be one of his better ones cause it felt really honest. he wasn't just ticking off bullet points on what the game is... he actually talks about what the game was to him.
and in the end based on what i saw Video games awesome put out that is way more important then what the game is on a technical level.

also i'm seeing a lot of "omg another positive review? stop gushign about it and tell us whats bad?" again... thats not how review works... maybe to him nothing was really 'bad' or at least not worth mentioning... he liked the game... is that such a crime?

besides if you haven't picked up the game yet then you either don't care OR are like me and do not own a ps3.
so why are you bitching in the comment section that one guy didn't follow your idea of what a review is? just go do something productive with your lives.

Princess Tutu - Dub vs Sub

And befor you ask if i'll ever shut up about princess tutu the answer is no.... never...

but i actually do have something to talk about that i wasn't able to comment on before.

despite having the dvds since ADV released them i am never seen the show in japanese.
My first exposure to it was on a channel 'Anime Network on Demand'
they would play lots of ADV titles in english so i watched it cause i don't hate english dubs.

In fact if i haven't seen something in japanese (damn near impossible now cause of crunchy and the fact that 90% of what i buy is sub only) i will endeavor to listen in english first.... iwill watch it both ways eventualyl but i at least try.

So... on Princess Tutu's english dub.

I love it...
it's damn near perfect in my eyes.
it has all my fav english voice actors.
my first vol of the dvd is even signed by Luci Christian

so when i first tried watching it in japanese it was really hard to get into the performances.
especially Duck Ahiru and Mytho.

they weren't bad... just different and yeah....
so i decided i should push through.

and yeah i still adore the english dub but the japenese dumb is great too.

The number one complaint i hear about the dub is "they changed the names"

No... they didn't actually.

most of the names are Animal, ballet or novel puns.

In japanese the word for duck is Ahiru and while that may sound like a name to an english name to someone in japan it would be like calling someone duck... it isn't really a name.

so in a scene where duck goes. "i'm duck, but i'm also a duck" it would lose it;s meaning if it were. "i'm ahiru but i'm also a duck"

the whole duck/girl named duck thing is brought up multiple times throughout the show and it just wouldn't work at all if she was called ahiru.

The only one i don't really get is Kreahe.

it's written the same in both languages but in japaense it's said more like "ku-re-ru" instead of the english "kray-he"

so near the end when you figure out why she gave herself that particular human name is makes a lot more sense in japanese.... they justify it in english but i think they added a syllable.

that all being said... as much as i enjoyed Arihu's preformance... i still think luci christians duck and duck the girl are so perfect.
THAT BEING SAID.
i love japanese princess tutu cause it sounds a little more natural.... Luci does get into the groove once things start leaning towards hearach but at first she has the accent on and her voice is a little high... still realyl well done... so full of emotion.

both fakirs are great.
Mytho is good in both but i would give the nod to japanese mytho only cause he gets a lot more force in his voice as he gets emotions back...
Mr. cat vs Neko-sensei has to go to Mr. Cat cause i just love the cat way he sais things... it may be like that in japanese as well but i can't tell.
English rue is a bit lower then japanese rue and i feel like that gives her a bit more character, though japanese rue feels more vulnerable in some scenes with the raven.
Drosslemyer is great both ways.

Adel sounds good in both
Uzura sounds better in japanese just cause the Zura is a bit more natural.... english speakers don't say things like that so it felt taked on.
Femio, who is a minor character.... sounds so much better in english... his japanese voice deosn't fit at all... it feels like that voice should come out of a full grown man not a ballet student.

so overall some things are better in one then the others... so my suggestion is watch it in your native language first.... it's really the only way it all makes sense...
still both are so well done... and it's such a great show.

go watch it. 

Completed: The great and powerful Oz

Now... this is the Third Wizard of Oz related things i've reviews.
First was the stage play Wicked.
Second was the Andrew Lloyd Webber Stage play of the Wizard of Oz and now this....

...

Ok let me start off with this.
I hate children's media that panders to children. when i see something that is essentially glorified key jingling and hear it justified as "well it's just for kids" i begin to rage.
I have said it before and i will say it again as many times as it needs to be said.
Kids are smarter then you give them credit for.
The only reason children are as stupid as we think they are is cause we give them Crap media.
Not all kids shows are bad, not all kids books are bad, not even all kids films are bad....

But this? This was pretty damn terrible.
but it gets a slightly above average rating (6 out of 10) from people because it's "just for kids"
no.
That is not, nor will it ever be, a valid excuse.

But what about the fact that rating systems that are out of ten are Kinda BS cause no one gives a rating lower then five... (cause heaven forbid we fail someone... everyone should get a gold star)
still not an excuse.... i don't rate things cause honestly attaching a number to something completely personal opinion is a little silly... i either recommend it or i don't... after having laid out all my personal bias (cause boy do i have a lot)

So.... what was so terrible about this?

1. The acting.
I have nothing against any one individual actor in this film... i'm not a fan of any of them either but the thing that annoys me about the acting in general is they have their kids film voices on... the entire time. this is also probably the writer or directors fault cause some of the dialogue in this is just... repetitive nonsense... or even worse it thinks you are the Dumbest person ever.

I'll give an example.... at one point he mentions wanting to make fireworks.
when the fireworks are used we have the shot of them exploding.... NOTHING needed to be said past this point... most kids know that "oh wow that's how they are using the fireworks" BUT NO... this film takes it a step farther by having a character say "so those are fireworks." and you would think that would be enough BUT NOPE that STILL wasn't enough... they had to show the people firing it and the trajectory for an added. 'look at shit flying towards the screen' moment... more on that later. just incase you didn't get it.

it's like even a baby would get it at this point.
Also the jokes they were just "lets repeat the same thing over and over until it's annoying cause that's comedy
NO IT ISN'T

2. The canon.
I haven't read any of the books and my only exposure to the mythos are the things i mentioned above and obviously the 1939 version of the movie.... oh and the Wiz....
So i'm no "omg it has to perfectly fit in with all of the plot elements that have been laid out!" type of person.
but EVERYONE has seen the 1939 film, you'd be hard pressed to find a person who hasn't... to the general populace that movie defined the basics of the story.
This film TRIES to be in canon but it's like they didn't actually watch it.
the biggest thing that actually made me shout was: The poppy fields weren't poisonous until the wicked witch made them so... in fact she created the field to begin with....  so.... why are they there when this is 15-16 years prior to Dorothy Gale?
another thing was "why aren't they having the one witch make some ruby slippers" but then i realised they may be saving that for the sequel.... which if that gets made.... well at least a bunch of people will be getting a check... so some good will come out of it.

whatever.... pretty much everything this just kicks the canon to the curb while pretending to follow it.

3. The characters
i know this is unfair but compare the main character in this to the one in wicked.

He is a Liar who will willingly try to seduce any pretty lady but mostly is in it for the money when he's thrust into an adventure way over his head and he must find some way to be victorious while never really doing anything he just has knowledge of technology that this world doesn't.

She is an oddity, feared for her green skin despite her kind personality, she is picked on and made fun of by all her peers and yet she continues to try and help them, even after swearing off doing good deeds she still helps a friend who has done nothing to betray her cause in the end it gives the illusion of a happy story even though it may not appear to be happy for her.

Which sounds like a more likable character?

or lets look at the betraying friend?

In Oz it's someone who throws herself all over him, which of course triggers his commitment issues, and then when he goes to do the mission the 'prophecy' foretold she mistakes it as him picking the other witch and gives up her heart and humanity to get revenge because he doesn't love her enough despite him being nothing but kind even after she tried to kill him.

In wicked it's her room-mate who is the pretty prissy blond witch who has all the friends... the two don't get along mostly because Galinda can't for fear of being shunned by her other friends but despite all that high school drama the two do manage to form a bond.
When they travel to the emerald city and everything goes to hell Galinda happy reaps the reward of the guy she always wanted and many adoring fans who now all had a common enemy. But she's not really happy... she does some really horrible things to Elphaba to keep up the ruse of trying to bring her down but in the end she is sad by what happens.

Which sounds more complex?


Love interest
Oz: literally thrown in during the last minute of screen time, there is no chemistry other then she happens to look like a girl from Kansas that he loves. too bad she's marring another (and they mention his last name a few times just in case you don't get it.... so it's assuming you've seen the wizard of oz...  so you would THINK it would be kinda in canon but nope...

Wicked: it's conflicted because he's the handsome prince and should love the pretty popular girl but he sees past the green skin to the kind hearted person who just wants to have friends.

hmmm.... i wonder which one was built up more over time.

i think i've made my point.

actually no i haven't
The character of OZ... and this is true for ALL versions.... is a really unlikeable asshole.
he just is
so making him the protagonist means i don't like the protagonist.... if i don;t like the protagonist then i'm not gunna like the film.

4. The 3D.
Bias: I hate 3d
but i didn't see this in 3d i saw it in 2d so let me clarify.
I hate seeing films that are made for 3d in 2d because one of a few things WILL happen.

a) something... or many things will constantly come at you from the screen cause OMG it's 3d! 90% of the time it will have no relevance to the plot and will be held on for a really long time.

b) things will look like cardboard cutouts on a different plane of existence because the camera is focusing on the 3d crap but the way it's reacting to the filmed stuff doesn't make sense.  or the 3d things will appear to jitter in ways to match the living thing and it just looks wrong.

this film didn't need to be in 3d and I just hope this fad dies.

5. 3d character designs.
the cg in this film is pretty Cartoony.... not bad but it feels like it may have been better if everything was animated cause real life people do not fit in with the ascetic at all... also creepy cg flying money is creepy.

6. It's a prequel
this is a commentary of the idea of a prequel as a concept... we know certain characters HAVE to survive and that takes every last drop of tension out of the story... i can't get invested in something where i know the main characters are going to survive.

 But was it all bad?
No

1. Set design.
The sets in this film, at least the ones that aren't CGed are really fun and imaginative.... i can imagine it was a blast to make some of that stuff.

2. Costumes
If you do a Wizard of Oz story and you're costumes aren't incredible and fun then you just wasted your opportunity... this film embraced it and most of the outfits are just lovely.

A lot of people consider this is what they will do instead of a wicked film... i seriously hope that's not the case cause i think Wicked could translate into a film easily... it may have to be shortened a bit but it would be so much better then this crap

As for this film on it's own merits do i recommend it.
no
not even a little
it had some cool elements but it's not worth wasting 130 mins of you life on... just go watch the original movie instead... you'll have more fun.

Betta - From start to finish -

not a lot of process work with this one just cause i didn't take screen shots as i went along but i will be describing my process since it took a surprisingly long time to get to this finished product.

So... when i drew my mermaid before i thought itwould be fun to do it based on a fish just as a personal challenge.
then i said screw it and did what i wanted.

cause not even I can tell myself what to do.

anyways i did see some really pretty fish that i would probably turn into mermaids later
cause i have always loved mermaids... little mermaid is probably my fav disney film despite how much they took liberties with this story. anyways right now i'm in a mermaid mood.
though with all this sailor moon makeup being released i may do some more chibi stickers of that series... we'll see...

anyways... when i was younger my friend had two Betta fish (though she called them Siamese fighting fish... yeah i can understand why the name was changed.) and unfortunately she didn't know they would kill each other if they were in the same tank.. so when she was cleaning out the tank and put them in the same bowl she was sad when one of them was badly hurt.

Still i thought they were really pretty despite how mean they were.

so for this i did a little reseach on beta fish, found out they come in more then just the dark blue i've seen and that they have some interesting facts... i really liked how the males would twist their body to get attention and there was a blue versio nwith pink fins that i just thought would be really pretty.... so i sketched it out.

hm..... meh?
i mean i had a lot of fun with it i just... wasn't feeling it...
still i figured it could serve another purpose.
i have had paint tool sai on my comp forever but i've never played with it cause i'm just really used to photoshop... i've been using photoshop for nearly 12 years... so trying something new is always nerve wracking.
then i found that almost all the shortcuts i use the much are the same in Sai.... so that made the switch easy... also the fact that i could save as PSD and transfer over helped ease my nerves.

so i started inking and holy hell... that ink tool with my cintiq.... so responsive.... the lines could get so thin and the program never had to think about it... it was just seamless.
i finished the inking in like... 30 minutes.... really fast even for me.. so here i am kicking myself for not trying this program sooner but of well... i know now...
but then i tried to colour and it wasn't working out... i think i need a little more experimentation to figure out why the program acts the way it does... all in time.

so the lines and 3/4 of the eyes were done in Paint tool Sai while the rest was done in photoshop.
I made 3 brushes for this piece... i'm actually finding more and more i'm making brushes to suit my need.
one was for the texture and trying to avoid usign blending
one was for sparkle to the fins cause adding sparkle is fun...
and the third was the bubbles which originally i was going to do by hand and then i said.... no.... i can make a brush to do that for me... so i did

i wanted it to br brought and colourful and in the end i'm pretty happy with it.

but yeah it was a great piece to experiment with and a lesson that even if your not thrilled with something you should try to finish it cause in the end you'll probably learn something.
alright onto the next thing... whatever that ends up being.
but i think i'll be inking in painttool sai for forever more now... so nice~

Redbubble
Society 6

My life as a gamer.

With the recent developments at E3 i felt that it's appropriate to talk about my personal experience with video games.

I have always had some kind of video game system in my house. My father always enjoyed video games so he got them more for himself then he ever did for us.
We had an NES though i don't remember... i was too little.
My grandparents had the SNES so i only got to play it when i saw them.
Games were never a huge part of my life at that age, my mother believed in this frightening place known as Outside where we would do this thing called... playing.
that and i was only allowed 1 hour of tv a day... and almost every day half of that was taken up by Sailor moon... so it took priority over games.

however i still do consider myself a gamer... some of my favorite memories revolve around games.

One christmas I woke up at abut 6 am from excitement but the rule in my house was 'no presents till 7'
so not wanting to wake my family i went downstairs to see if there were any cartoons on to watch.
Next thing i know i'm being yelled at. "GET OUT OF THE BASEMENT" they cried. "NO BASEMENT ON CHRISTMAS!" i thought this pretty odd since that had never been a rule before but i wasn't about to start a rumble with my folks on the day i get presents... so i go upstairs and they are looking at me.. trying to see if i discovered anything.
this is when i realized my folks were just crazy and left it at that.

so we opened the present and there was one that was fairly big and addressed to both me and my brother which almost never happened.
so we opened it up and it's an empty n64 box.
so i looked at them. "the reason i wasn't allowed in the basement was because of this right?"
they nod.
"why not just hook it up after we open it"
"cause i wanted to play golden eye" my father replied.... he had been playing the damn system for a few days.... cause waiting would have just been too difficult.

unfortunately the system broke when we moved across the country but we got a game cube soon after.

So up to this point, only really played nintendo... i had friends and family that had sony and sega but it was just the occasional thing.

however when i wasn't getting the same amount of fun out of my gamecube that i had out of the other systems i turned to Sony.
I got a ps2... and it's got some of my favorite RPGs on it. it was a moment where irealized i liked games a lot more then i thought i did... oh and i also had nintendo handhels which are still my favorite thing ever.
My brother had a xbo but between the giant controller and lack of jrpgs i barely ever played it.

then the next generation... i wanted to get a ps3 but that pricetag was just too steep and there weren't any games screaming at me that they needed to be owned/were completely exclusive.
i did get a wii for the holiday and my brother got a 360.... he got a lot of games.... i got a handful.
i have some games i love on the Wii like the trauma team series but overall it didn't live up to the hype at all... and everyone cites galaxy as one of the best games for it.... and i can't play it without flipping my shit... so.... not a fan.
still between my GBA and DS i was still playing a lot of games.
Then the wii u launches.
and i just shrug my shoulders...
there was nothing that made me want to even think of spending money on it... yeah it's got some neat things but as far as games go... kinda been there done that.
it's been the same game for so long....
"oh but they changed something and that makes it a new game!"
for you maybe... for me ... it's just boring...
people are treating walking diagonally in pokemon like it's the second coming and i'm sorry but itshould have happened ages ago...
we should have ALWAYS been able to customize out avatar.... we should be able to travel all over the world... hell a pokemon MMORPG would be the best thing ever. i know it'll never happen but it would be amazing.
also i htink pokemon needs to be a little more realtime... but like how the paper mario series is... turb based but with button presses that allow for more damage or defense.

ugh tangent...
so... when sony announced their stuff a few months back i was a little worried that maybe i wouldn't be owning any console...
then microsoft did theres and i was flabberghasted. "maybe my brother wont be getting a new console either..."
i just couldn't imagine this house without games.

i was worried about e3 cause it would probably cement my opinion one way or the other.

SO.... Microsoft.
we are evil big brother company but look at all these brown shooters and sports games.
ugh... yeah... thats for not addressing any o the problems you were called out on.

SONY
Everything microsoft said... yeah... we're doing pretty much the opposite.
*cheers*
Oh and Versus 13 is now 15 and kingdom hearts three is actualy gunna happen
*standign Ovation*
one last thing, our price is 100 bucks less then microsoft.
*party time*

Nintendo
We are going to give you similiar gaems like we have for the past 20 years... and smash on 3ds.
*coughs and light clapping*

so yeah i went in with no expectations and i came out of it figuring i'll eventually get a PS4.... probably whenever 15 or kh3 release.... i will avoid getting it right away cause i avoid getting the first run of any console.

will i get a wii u? can't see why i would need to... theo ne game that looks fun on it is coming to 3ds too so........ yeah
will i get an Xbone
no.... but i was never going to... they just also wont be getting any money from my brother since it's been decided we can't support a company with those kinds of practices.

i feel like i'm at an odd place as a gamer... i've always leaned more towards handhelds... i'll be getting a vita in september (thanks Ys) and i already have my 3ds with a surprising amoutn of games (granted i loath about half of them [kid icarus, rhythm theif, Kingdom hearts DDD]) for only having had it a little while.

still... who knows what the next few years will bring... i kinda how there won't be anymore new consoles from here out but i know that wont be the case... wait and see... for now i just get to wait to get a ps4... i have time....

but seriously nintendo do something new... you have so much creativity and you are wasting it... and we're supposed to give you all our love and attention for things other games have been doing for a long time.

Completed: Uta no prince-sama maji love 1000%

AKA. Uta-pri.

this show....
this show.

I have no idea where to even start.

The show is about a school for singers and composers who are preparing to debut.
past that the plot is completely inconsequential and silly.

okay there is a little more
there is a girl and she loves composing music.
and she bumps into 6 handsome singers.
Theres the red singer who is spunky and full of energy.
the purple singer who resembles an already popular singer but it can be him cause he's already debuted.
the blue singer who seems to enjoy passtimes like caligraphy.
the Orange singer who is voiced by the same guy who did matoba from natusme yuujinchou and Daiki from Kuroko no basket... so now i just wanan draw them all playing basketball...
ok back on topic
the yellow singer who also happens to be the glasses guy of the bunch and completely bi-polar.
the pink one who is much more outspoken and childish then the others.
oh and i guess green who gets to be in one ep and is a cat.

so 7 handsome singers but only 6 of them go to school with her.

so um yeah... theres a lot of singing
most of the time it's followed by amazing studio quality sound and reverb and sparkles and hearts.
it's so over the top and stupid and silly
and i can't help but smile.

i should LOATH this show... it is literally about nothing... like yes they are trying to debut but theres never an question that they wont cause the first few minutes of the first episode spoils that.
but i dunno... it's just a fun time.

i did use it mostly as background noise so maybe if i sat down and actually watched it i would hate it more... but as far as harmless reverse harem anime goes this one is just a fun time.

The good:
characters are well designed.... well all except one... i'll get to that later.
the music is catchy... the ending song is so stupid but so fun and it just makes me want to do that stupid dance.
if you want to laugh at something that is taking itself way too seriously this is the show... it both takes it self seriously and plays it for laughs which just has me giggling the entire time.

the not so good:
ths show is stupid and pointless... maybe season 2 has more of a point but the first season is just 13 episodes of dumb. i didn't mind it but i know some people will not be able to stand such pointlessness.
the main girls eyes... they have green centers while everyone else has black in the center... it looks odd and almost souless... maybe if the others had coloured centers or maybe if it were a darker green it would look better.... but yeah thats just a pet peeve of mine.

will i watch 2000%?
probably... again most likely as BG noise. it's just too stupid to actually give my full attention and the language is simple enough i can understand 90%
i mean the bulk of it is "lets sing! i want to hear you sing! you;re not singing with all your heart!"
simple stuff.
but yeah honestly i don't recommend this show UNLESS you plan to have a laugh.

also i'm pretty sure in the context the song/show is talking about percentage doesn't work that way... oh well.. minor gripe
oh looks like green gets a little more screen time in 2000%.... too bad i don't really care.

Figure photoshoot: Natsume yuujinchou

So, this year i wasn't able to go to Anime north due to family situation and then coming down with the flu shortly before the con... my friend was able to go and she found this little gem.
and until i have one of my own she will have my eternal jealousy.
but honestly i'm really happy that she managed to get it cause getting ANY Natsume Merch that isn't Nyanko-sensei is really difficult...

also she let me take pictures of it so... yay~

LOOK HOW PRETTY IT IS
*cough*
i mean... um... this firgure was originally part of a prize set and is a little smaller then your average 1/7th scale figures.
i don't know the company it's from but my gut is telling me Banpresto.

look at the detail~

look at that face~

gotta get all the angles.

so yeah... a really nice figure, absolutely nothing can be posed but in the end who cares... it just means fewer seams.

and one day... i will have a natsume figure of my own... until that day i will send juealous aura's every time i see it at my friends place.

But sereiously thanks for letting me see it/take pictures of it.
And like me she's an artist! go check her out on Deviantart~

hm.... maybe i could sculpt my own nastume figure.... i'll add it to my 'to do' pile.

Figure Photoshoot - Asuna Nendriod

But Rai! You said you pretty much loathed Sword Art online in your review.
why did you buy merch of it?

I really enjoyed the first half.... which is when preorders for this, and nendo kirito who should arrive in a few weeks, came up. 

where the show lost me was the Elfenhiem arc.
i'm not going to go into it now i wrote a long review on it.... but the TL;dr is I hated the second season so much that i actually can't enjoy the first half. i wish i could erase my memory of the second season but i can't...

still that being said the first season had some great themes and interesting character designs.
so i don't mind owning the two nendo's i preordered while i liked the show.... but i don't see myself ever supporting this show again. 

but how is the figure?

daw she's so cute~ i love her outfit (granted it may have to do with the fact my favorite colour is Red.)

my only gripe with the figure is that the post that connect her to the base only had the one curved bitistead of the normal 2... and that means theres only really on angle you can have her at to have her standing.... which means less movement in the poses... that and her top half comes off a little easier then i would line.. but it allows for great waist articulation so thats good at least.

she comes with a lot of accesories, this one is probably my favorite BUT it was also the trickest to photograph... if i had a bigger base it would work but it's just a little too close to her to get the point across

she also comes with two other faces and quite a few arms so thats always fun... i really do like this figure i just felt like i didn't end up getting that one picture that makes me happy...
but i did take a lot of shots.

and of course my crazy close ups.

that last shot it probably my favorite.
but yeah i'll probably take soem shots of her and kirito together... aside from that i really don't want to talk about this show ever again.