It's Not a Cartoon, It's Anime

Often when I tell people (or they find out because of my key chains/desktop background/ring tone) that I'm an anime fan I get the same kind of response. "Oh, you mean that Pokemon stuff?"

NO! (Well...I do have five box sets of Pokemon and between the two of us Randy and I own all the movies on DVD, but still..) So I'm here to tell you what anime shows you should start out with if you actually want to start watching. These aren't necessarily my favourites, but they are the ones that I think are newcomer friendly and also fairly spread out around different genres so you can find out what sort of anime you'd like to continue with. These are in order.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist (Original)

Takes place in a fictional world where the study of alchemy is more prominent than the study of technology. Brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric have attempted a taboo among alchemists – human transmutation. As such they have paid for it with their human bodies and are now on a quest to get them back to what they once were. This series is funny, full of action and has very well rounded characters. This series gives a good introduction to “anime humour”, which you will need to understand to enjoy later series. There are two versions of this show, the 52 episode original series and the 64 episode remake called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Even though Brotherhood has a much better story, I would recommend watching this series first since Brotherhood glosses over the beginning character development, assuming you already know it from watching the original. This is a perfect first anime for any newcomer as it is also excellent dubbed into English.

2. Baccanno!

This is what would have happened if Quentin Tarantino wrote an anime. Set in the 1920's, Baccanno features a large cast of characters against a backdrop of a train heist. The twist is that the story is told as a set of mini stories, and these mini stories are not in order. It is up to the viewer to piece together what is being told and figure out what actually happened. It doesn't rely much on anime stereotypes as much as it does good writing and interesting characters. I watched this anime subtitled, but I have been told it is good dubbed as well. It is 13 episodes long.

3. Haibane Renmei

On the surface this anime appears to be about angels, but as the viewer quickly learns, no one really knows what the “haibane” really are. They live in a confined town and try to go on from day to day learning and discovering things about themselves and how they came to be. It can be funny at times, but it is a show I would describe as being very soft and philosophical. I would say it is best watched subtitled. It is 13 episodes long.

4. Gunslinger Girl Season 1

Set in modern day Italy, this series focuses on a group of girls who are trained to be assassins. These girls are taken from the hospital after having been orphaned, fitted with mechanical body parts if needed and moved into an agency where they learn about different weaponry. They are also assigned a partner, who is much in the role of an older brother. This partner is responsible for keeping the girl in safe and making sure she learns as much as she can. It is quite a serious show and does not have much humour. It is best watched subtitled as I don't think the English voice actors convey the emotion (or non emotion) that is needed to make this series work. It is 13 episodes long.

5. Summer Wars

Set in modern day Japan this series focuses on a family get together out in the country. Because of this, it is a good introduction to Japanese culture and customs. It has a very broad cast of characters who all interact with each other in a very believable way. The plot continues to move along and is paced very nicely with hints spread about as to what the climax will be. It has a very strong message about technology which I feel comes across very nicely. It blends humour, interpersonal relationships and a small dose of action and sadness perfectly. This is a 2 hour movie and does not have an English dub.

6. Nana

Tells the story of two girls with the same name (Nana, the Japanese word for seven) who couldn't be more different from each other. The meet on the train when they are both on their way to begin a new life in Tokyo. Nana O. is focused on becoming a rock star, while Nana K. (affectionately nicknamed “Hachi”, the Japanese word for eight) is moving to Tokyo to live with her boyfriend and hopes to get married. Nana has a lot of melodrama, but that is not the focus of this series. It is about the characters, their thoughts and feelings about being in their twenties and how their lives are not working out for them at all, even though on the surface it appears as though they have everything they have ever wanted. This show MUST be watched subtitled to be enjoyed fully as the English acting is terrible and does not accurately get across what the show is about. This is a 47 episode series.

7. Chobits

Takes place in future Japan, where computers are known as “Persocoms”. These persocoms are basically robots that look like humans. The story centres around a college student, Hideki, who is too poor to afford a persocom of his own, but luckily finds one in the trash. This persocom is quite unique and appears to be self aware. In researching about his persocom, Hideki comes to learn about the Chobits, an urban myth about persocoms that were created who have human emotions of their own. This anime is very fun and is a good bridge between serious anime and what most shows are like nowadays. It's a comedy romance written by CLAMP (an extremely famous group of women who have created many series) which was originally aimed at young men. This is a 26 episode series and can be watched either subtitled or dubbed.

8. Sailor Moon S

I couldn't make a list of anime any newcomer should watch without including THE newcomer anime, could I? However, there is a reason it is so far down on the list. While most anime fans my age would cite Sailor Moon as one of their first, I think it is best watched now with the knowledge of other anime. This is for the reason that Sailor Moon is not the greatest show and I don't want anyone to get the impression that all anime is like this one. That being said, I think that every anime fan should watch at least some of this show, if not for anything else but respect for what it did for the medium. Sailor Moon (along with DragonBall Z) skyrocketed the anime boom in North America, and anime would not be where it is today without it. However I'm not going to say you should watch all 200 episodes of this show, that would be nuts because most of Sailor Moon isn't that good. So I've picked the best season, season 3, Sailor Moon S (Super). This season is the strongest plot wise and writing wise. It feels enough like the series most people know about and also throws in some twists not normally seen. This season has the most character depth and development, and also has some of the best animation. This season was not aired in English during the original run, and was only brought over after the overwhelming success of the first two seasons in the US. Even though there is an English dub, Sailor Moon S MUST be watched subtitled, because the dub for this season is absolutely terrible. Sailor Moon S is 37 episodes long (episodes 90-127 of the entire series.)

9. Hajime No Ippo (Fighting Spirit)

This anime tells the story of Ippo, a young boy who dreams of becoming a professional boxer. The concept of the anime sounds a little dull, but it quickly draws you in as Ippo trains in hopes of one day reaching his goal. This anime is very funny and also leaves you feeling very happy at the end of every episode. This show can be watched either subtitled or dubbed and has 76 episodes.

10. Beck

Ah Beck, the last on the list. It's here because while good, it's incredibly slow moving. This series doesn't hit it's stride until its halfway point. Either way it's a great show that should definitely be given a chance. It follows the story of Koyuki, a high school student who is struggling to find his place in the world. He ends up meeting a girl named Maho who introduces him to the world of music. From there Koyuki joins a band and learns how to play the guitar. It's a very down to Earth type of show and the characters all have their own charms to them. This show has a lot of great music and is chock full of real life music references which are fun to try and spot. Despite being slow moving, it's very nicely paced and very well written. I watched this show dubbed and it was great, I'm sure the subtitled version is the same. It's 26 episodes long.

Well that's it! If you managed to read through this entire list, kudos to you! I hope you'll watch some of the things on this list and enjoy them as much as I did. All of the shows here can be enjoyed by hardcore and casual fans, and most of these shows I watched in the early days of my anime viewing or during a burnout period where I wasn't really watching a lot. These are the types of shows that keep me coming back. Until next time~

(Title reference: Line from the “Big Bang Theory”)

Cosplay Complex

With Ai-kon 2010 just a few short days away, it has been a mad rush around my place to get everything ready.

What does that mean of course? COSPLAY!

I briefly explained in my last post what cosplay is, but I'm about to go into it in more detail. Exciting, no?

It seems like this happens every year. Ai-kon draws closer and closer. In the months beforehand, I'll start to think "hey, I liked this series, I should dress up as {insert character here}" the thought will linger around in my mind but I'll never actually start to make a costume.

Until about a week before the convention. Then I'll start lurking around the message boards and I'll see all these people talking about their costumes. That's when I'll start to wish I'd got my ass in gear months ago and made my outfit. I want people to gaze in awe at my costume and to recognize the character I love so much! I want so much to be a part of that but sadly I am far too lazy and thus did not make my costume in time so I'll just have to be a normie walking around in street clothes. Alas, there will be no midnight 7-11 runs in costume for me.

Unless... I start making the costume RIGHT NOW. Yes, it's still the weekend before the convention! I still have five days to make my outfit - that's plenty of time, right? I mean, how hard can it be? It's not a complex character I want to go as, I wouldn't need to get a wig I can just style (or dye) my own hair! Yes, it's perfect I can totally do this.

That is how it begins. Suddenly I find myself at fabricland looking at a printed out picture of a character trying to figure out the best colour fabric to use. I start to think of ways I can hack the costume together. I don't need to *make* a skirt, I can just buy one at value village!

Before I know it, I've spent half the day at fabricland, value villiage and then wal-mart once I come to the sad realization that value villiage will never have what I need. I get home and I have all the confidence in the world. I can do this! So what if I don't have a pattern, I can just make one up as I go along! It will turn out just fine!

(No it won't.)

The rest of the day is spent carefully measuring and cutting out fabric. The initial sewing begins. That's when I realize I forgot about something very crucial. I forgot to take into account the fact that my hips are bigger than my waist. Or I measured my sides and forgot about boobs and now the shirt doesn't fit right.

So the process starts all over again. Thankfully, in recent years I have accepted the fact that I will inevitably screw up on my first try and buy extra fabric when I'm at the store. This saves time in having to go back because I ALWAYS use all that fabric.

That doesn't change the fact that by this time it is usually the end of the weekend before the con. I now only have Monday-Thursday evenings to finish this monstrosity.

It's usually around Tuesday evening that I realize I just won't have enough time. That's when the extreme happens folks. It's either give up on the costume or skip out on school/work on Thursday to get this thing done.

I've done that twice. Skipped college in 2007 and told work in 2008 "I NEED A VACATION DAY!!" In 2009 I didn't make a costume.

This year? Well, I'm sitting here writing in my blog as I look over at my 80% done costume. Maybe, just maybe I grew up a little (well, no, that can't really be true because after all I spent the whole weekend making a costume for an anime convention.) and realized the sad fact - I might just have to start early if I want to get it done this time.

Yeah, I count starting early as buying the fabric two days ago. One week before the start of Ai-kon.

This is the reason I'll never be able to make a very complex costume. I usually stick to school girl outfits and that tends to work out well for me. It's fairly simple, buy a white shirt, attach a collar and sew/buy a skirt. My only experience with sewing is making a costume once a year and shockingly they don't actually look that bad.

I guess after all that ranting I've got to post pictures of my past costumes now, huh?

Haruhi Suzumiya for Ai-kon 2007. Lots of fun at that convention with that cosplay, but that's for another post ;)

Miki Koishikawa for Ai-kon 2008. I only ended up wearing it for about an hour of the whole con. T_T

Sailor Moon!! Originally made as a Halloween costume when I was in the sixth grade, I wore this numerous times until finally retiring it in 2006.

(Title reference: The title of a fun anime short all about making cosplay!)

The Whereabouts of Happiness

I was going to make a reference to this in my next post, but I realized that before I did that I'd have to explain to you the origin of the plastic spoons.

I know, I know. Bear with me.

Back in the early days of Ai-kon, Winnipeg's biggest Anime Convention, it was held at the U of M. Back in the early, early days of Ai-kon, as in, the first one, it was only a Saturday and Sunday event. People were there on the Friday, but it was mostly just to buy passes.

The thing is, I was far too excited to sleep or read the program which told me what time the convention would open up on Saturday. Natrually, I assumed it would open bright and early. Because hey, who wouldn't want that?

(Probably the staff who wanted to sleep in, but that wasn't any of my concern back then.)

I had two of my friends coming to the very first Ai-kon with me. One girl who I'd met in school that year (we were in the same ninth grade class) and one of her friends who had come in from Saskatchewan.

On top of being extremely excited for the convention and spending most of our Friday evening at the U of M even though there wasn't much to do there, we had also dressed up.

I'll take a moment to explain this to you. Cosplay is the act of dressing up as an anime character. It's a staple of any convention, with people walking around in costumes, getting stopped to have their photo taken, and entering in a contest which basically everyone at the con goes to watch.

So what did the three of us dress up as? Well, not only did we dress up - we actually kinda did "cross play" which is dressing up as the opposite sex. We went as three pilots from Gundam Wing. I went as Quatre, the girl in my class went at Wufei and her friend went as Duo. We were cool.

This shouldn't really come as a big shock, as Gundam Wing is the fangirl anime. It doesn't focus on plot so much as sexy Gundam pilots. And that was a-ok with us.

So the girls showed up at my house in full costume on Saturday morning at 9am. Apparently they'd stayed up most of the night too and hadn't bothered to check the program. When we finally took a peek to try and find out what event we should do first we were hit with a shock.

Convention opens at 12 noon.

D'oh! So, what were we going to do for three hours before we could make the trek to the U of M? (This was before the days of mindlessly hanging out in the halls of the University). If you guessed wander around Fort Richmond without getting changed out of our Cosplay, you'd be right!

You'd also be right if you guessed our first stop would be the Asian Food Market. We didn't spend a lot of time there, though. Why waste all our money on food there when we needed it to buy stuff at the convention.

Eventually, we did get hungry. So we decided to go across the street to the worst mall ever. It shouldn't even be called a mall. It has a Zellers, a Safeway, a Shoppers Drug Mart and a couple of other tiny stores. It's totally ghetto, but Safeway was bound to have cheaper food than the Asian Food Market. That's right, this "mall" doesn't even have a food court.

By the time we got to Safeway, we were dying of heat. It was July, so this wasn't really uncommon. After wandering around for a few minutes, we came face to face with the ice cream aisle.

If you can picture three girls staring down a glowing grocery store aisle with looks of awe on their faces that would be great, thanks.

Of course we bought a carton of ice cream since that was cheaper than getting three little individual drumsticks, and I'm not even sure you could get individual ones at Safeway anyway. As we were about to pay, we were struck with another conundrum.

How were we going to eat it?! This problem was easily solved by buying a box of plastic spoons.

After paying for our "food" we sat down at a bench and commenced digging in. And man, was it ever good. We were so hungry that we just gobbled down that ice cream, we didn't even talk or giggle about what we were doing and how ridiculous this all was. (We really did afterwards, though.)

The icing on the cake is that we didn't even make it halfway through the carton before a security guard came up to us and told us he was kicking us out of the mall. We tried to argue with him, saying we'd bought the ice cream at Safeway, and what was wrong with eating it? He told us that this was "inappropriate use of the bench" and that we'd have to leave.

We never did end up finishing that ice cream, since by that time it was probably around 11:30 and time to start walking over to the U of M (another story in itself). I'll leave you with this - that box of plastic spoons and 20 in it, and that day we only used 3.

(Title reference: The name of the 11th episode of Gundam Wing)

Running Around Like a Little Kid...1, 2, 3 and I'm Hit Hit Hit!

As someone who has never so much as taken one class at the University of Manitoba, I sure have spent a lot of my time there.

UMAnime was the first Anime Club I attended, and I went there for about 2 years give or take. At first it was just me walking down to the University Centre, sitting quietly in the back of the club room alone and watching CardCaptor Sakura.

Eventually, it became a total 180 from that. I would go every second Saturday with my best friend and we'd meet up with two other girls there. The routine was always the same, our first stop would be at the convenience store in the University Centre (GPAs I think it was/is called) to buy junk food and then head up to the club room. The girl at the store eventually got to know us so well that she'd be able to tell us if the other half of our group had already been there or not. Because this was vital information. Even though we were about to head up to the club room in five minutes to see for ourselves.

Armed with snacks and caffeine we would sit in the back of the room and talk, draw, giggle and play card games. Oh yeah, and sometimes we'd actually watch the anime that was being shown. That's the thing about being a young anime fangirl. You don't actually watch a lot of anime so much as be loud and obnoxious. Because of this, I'm pretty sure everyone else in that club despised us. I can't imagine why. It wasn't like we left empty bottles of Peach Iced Tea laying around or often left the room loudly while walking in front of the projector.

...Moving on.

A couple Saturdays a year, the UMAnime club would hold an open house. This was basically a glorified club meeting. Instead of watching the shows in a cramped room in the University Centre, they'd show stuff in the rooms in the Armes building. These rooms were actual lecture halls and they were really nice from what I remember. (Nice for anime club, anyway.)

Of course, having the meeting in this other building meant a longer journey from the store to the rest of the action. That was okay though - there was an underground tunnel that led us straight there!

There was only one problem. The store closed around 5pm and these bigger meetings ran much later than that. So, our last trip to the store consisted of all four of us buying everything we thought we would need to get through the rest of the evening.

It's hard for four fifteen year old girls to carry that much Peach Iced Tea and God forbid we put it in our backpacks or something.

As you were probably expecting, one of us drop a bottle and it breaks on the concrete of this ghetto tunnel. I'm pretty sure we all just kind of stood there for a second, before actually doing the smart thing and kind of cleaning it up.

By kind of cleaning it up I mean we threw away the broken glass and half assed wiped up the spill. Then we skipped along on our merry way back to actually watch stuff. That mess? Nope, couldn't have been us. I mean, we actually *drink* our Peach Iced Tea, not foolishly drop it!

We spent another year or so after that going to UMAnime. I guess for whatever reason the spill stayed around for a while and didn't ever get properly cleaned causing a stain. Every time we walked past that stain we took a moment to stop and bow to the bottle of Peach Iced Tea that didn't get to fulfill its destiny of keeping us caffeinated and able to annoy everyone around us.

It was a sad life for Peach Iced Tea, I can see why that particular bottle would lose the will to live.

(Title Reference: Song lyric from Dragonfly by Smile.DK)

Crybaby Saka's Brilliant Transformation!

Hi everyone! If you're reading this it means I actually got this Blogger thing to work. Go me!

You're probably here because you found the link on my facebook or twitter account. In that case I probably don't need to do much explaining as to who I am, because you obviously already know. But in the off chance that you randomly stumbled upon my attempt at a blog I'll give you a short introduction. My name's Steph (though online I go by Saka) I'm 24 years old and I am a Web Developer from Winnipeg.

Whew. That doesn't sound very interesting does it? It's not. My life is pretty boring, but it wasn't always that way. As a teenager I was a total nerd. (Okay, still am..) You'd think that would also bring about a pretty boring middle school and high school life.

Well, you'd be wrong. I practically grew up at anime conventions and anime clubs. Getting a bunch of socially challenged nerds in one place doesn't exactly make for a boring time.

So, I'm basically here to do what people have been telling to me to do for quite some time. Tell you about my messed up, and now that I'm older, hilarious teenage/young adult years. I'm not here to whine - I already did that enough back then. I'm just keen on telling all the stories I have because hey - they're pretty funny.

I don't know how often I'll be updating, but I'll try for once or twice a week. I don't have any type of order or plan for this either. I don't know if I'll tell you in any sort of order, or if I'll just pick out random stories. Also, I do still go to conventions, so definitely expect to see some posts with the tone of "kids these days!" No, I haven't completely grown out of my obsession just yet.

Also, I'm going to try to make all the titles of my posts reference to an anime. This one in particular is in reference to the first episode of Sailor Moon. (The Japanese title, not the super lame DiC dub title "A Moon Star Is Born". And now you all realize how much of a dork I really am..)

Oh yeah, here's the part where I'm covering my ass. This blog is not intended to cause drama of any kind and should anyone I knew in the past come across it (and you probably will) don't freak out. This is just a humorous look at what our lives used to be. (Can't you learn to laugh at yourself after all these years? No? Well, that's okay, sometimes I can't either.) I promise I won't use any real names.

And that sentence above should sum up what all you outsiders (or "normies" as we used to call non convention goers ;) are in for...