atashi no burogu

Madoka Magica AMV

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:17:00 +0000

It's been quite a while since I last posted, so I apologize for that. I've been busy with school and work, which didn't leave me enough time to spend blogging. The other day, I decided to make an amv (anime music video) based off the awesome anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It's a really good anime; I will be reviewing it as soon as I have the opportunity. Anyway, this is actually my second amv. The first was a Black Rock Shooter amv I made a year ago, but it wasn't all that good, so I never really told anyone about it. The artist is Ellie Goulding and the song is "Human".

Enjoy! ^-^

My 3rd Nendoroid

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:16:00 +0000

Thanks to a sale on Hobby Search, I managed to get my third Nendoroid, Takane Manaka, for only $20! Although she's a bit simple compared to my other Nendoroids, she's still utterly adorable <3 It took her a while to come in due to shipping her as a SAL package (around 3 weeks). But at least it saved me a few dollars (I hate that EMS shipping can cost over $20 T.T) On a good note, I filed for taxes and will be getting a nice amount allowing me to buy more wonderful figures! I have a few in mind that I want to buy (some of you may already know which ones after looking at my Christmas wishlist ^^;). Anyway, here are a few quick shots I took of her <3

Definitely my favorite pose ^^

My "virtual girlfriend" hehe ^^;

Vindictus: A Closer Look

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 03:43:00 +0000

Customizing my character in the "Avatar Shop"

First let me start off this post by wishing everyone a happy new year! I know I'm a few day's late but it's been crazy for me these past few days and I'll spare you the boring details. For now, I'd like to talk about an MMO I've recently started playing called Vindictus. I haven't made any video game relate posts so I thought this would be a good start.

For those familiar with Mabinogi published by Nexon, Vindictus is a prequel to this game supposedly set 100 years before any of the events that happened in Mabinogi. I'm not too familiar with the storyline, so I wont get into that. Vindictus was released on January 2010 in Korea and on October 2010 in North America, making it a fairly recent game. It runs on Valve's Source engine, which is what really makes this game stand out from other free-to-play MMOs.

For now, we only have 3 characters to choose from: Lann, Fiona, and Evie. Other characters are scheduled to be released later in the future. The characters are gender fixed, which a lot of people aren't too thrilled about. Lann is a male character that uses duel-weapons like swords, Fiona is a female character that uses a sword and shield (like Link!) and Evie is the magician of the group that may either use staffs or scythes (as you may have guessed, she's female as well).

Evie, the magician class, defeating a monster.

The game starts you off in a medieval village called Colhen, where a you begin your adventure as a rookie. One thing I'm not too keen on is the fact that it's not an open world game. There is only one town that has access to a dock where you can take a boat to the dungeons you need to be at in order to complete your missions. The dungeons themselves are very straight forward and linear (almost like FFXIII) with very few light obstacles (a wooden door you may need to break open to continue to the next area) in the way. It's not too complicated, any idiot can clear a dungeon without too much trouble.

I think where the game really excels is it's combat system. Your main goal is to kill anything that stands in your way and defeat the boss at the end of every dungeon. Every character has their own set of skills that makes defeating enemies and clearing dungeons so much fun. You generally go in with a group and slash your way towards the boss. It's heavily based on co-op but you can still solo dungeons on your own if you'd like, it'll just take you a bit longer to complete.

Everyone working together to defeat a boss.

One thing I like about the game play is that it's really not about how strong you are or what level your up to. Like I said, it's a lot about working together, so whether your strong or not, you need help from others with certain dungeons. Damage isn't big, just as long as you kill the enemy and move on. This makes playing fun without having to feel self conscious about some obnoxious high leveled douche who boosts about his character being stronger than yours and calling you a "n00b". Speaking of leveling, the experience rate (in my opinion) is fast and you level at a good pace. Honestly, you're going to have too much fun to even realize that you're leveling. I played for the first few hours before I realized I was level 10 already. Unlike many MMO's, there's no feel of "grinding".

Great graphics!

With a good graphics card, the graphics for this game are amazing. Thanks to Valve's engine, the game looks almost too good to be free-to-play. The environments are crisp and incredibly detailed, and the objects are interactable (you can literally grab a pot sitting on a table and start smacking a monster to death with it). The playable characters look great too, making you feel good while playing. The weapons and equips also look great and what makes it even better is that they are easily crafted by the NPCs in town, which means no having to dish out real cash for a good looking outfit (although they still get you with that when it comes to hairstyles and underwear).

The characters even express emotions when in battle such as anger and fatigue. Customizing your character can be alot of fun in itself. The "Avatar Shop" lets you pick different sets of underclothes for them (because believe it or not, their armor breaks as you fight bosses, exposing their half-naked bodies XD) along with different hairstyles, make-up, tattoos, etc; for a price of course.

There's more to be said about this great game, but this is all I'm going to talk about because it's what I personally think defines the game's best qualities. It's a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a new MMORPG to play. Also, there's still a bunch of content and characters to be released in the US in the future, so don't think the fun stops here ^^

Fun in the Snow~

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:41:00 +0000

A few days ago, a blizzard hit NYC and completely covered it in huge piles of snow. I decided to take advantage and snap a few shots of my two girls (Azusa and Miku). Well, that failed horribly -_-; I've walked in blizzards before but this one was too intense! I could barely keep any of my Nendoroids standing and my fingers were frozen, making it difficult to pose them. Plus, to get good shots, I had to literally lay on the snow with my camera to snap a photo at their level. My whole body went numb @_@

I laugh at myself because I'd always see other otakus take lovely pictures of their dollies and figures and think "Meh, I can do that." I really didn't expect being a figure photographer would be so challenging. I don't know how they do it, but now that I've had a taste of it myself, I applaud those who take such amazing pictures in different types of environments and weather scenarios. *claps*

This is my sad attempt at taking photos of them in the snow. Most of them don't even count because I actually took them indoors by my room window ;___; I also hated the fact that I was going to take shots of them without something to keep them warm. So I dug through my arts and crafts box and found myself some felt which I used to make them mini scarfs. At first I thought it would look stupid, but after taking a few shots, I was surprised at how nice they came out. They really look nice and warm!~

As for how my Christmas went; it was pretty nice. Spent it with my mother and a friend eating some honey glazed ham and drinking coquito (a yummy holiday drink made of coconut milk with some white rum). It was really peaceful. No presents though ;_; So I did myself the favor and ordered a new Nendoroid! Takane Manaka from Love Plus. She's super adorable and on sale for $20 at Hobby Search! I can't wait to make a cute little mini scarf for her too. What color should I make hers?

Merry Christmas!!!

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 20:56:00 +0000

Just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and I hope that you all enjoy yourselves on this very special day! I hope everyone got what they wanted and if not...well there's always next year! (I'm just waiting to file my taxes, that's when x-mas really begins for me ^_^) Have fun and stay safe!!

My Room

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Just entered Danny Choo's giveaway at figure.fm. I'm pretty embarrassed after looking at other people's awesome rooms filled with all those figures, manga/anime collections, video games and posters while mines is so bare ^-^; But my collection is still growing and I will admit; I love my cozy room. Decided to post it up on my own blog and maybe as I get more merchandise I can take more pictures in the future and compare them. For all those who entered, good luck!

My tiny room. There's barely any floorspace so I have a bed that can fold up as a couch.

My desk. I used to have a laptop but replaced it with a more powerful PC. It's brand new.

My lovely girl, Mei-chan. She loves sweets ^^;

My drawer with my 32'' Sony TV. I have a Wii and a PS3 accompanied by Mikus XD

My games are all hiding in one of the drawers. Can't display them due to lack of space D:

My window and plushie collection.

Christmas Wishlist: Figures

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:49:00 +0000

Christmas is approaching fast and I just realized something: I'm completely broke (~_~); Due to Black Friday sales, I waisted all my money on building a new PC, so I have no money left for goodies, presents for family members, and probably even this month's rent...*sniff* So hence the word "wish" in wishlist. I only wish I could afford to buy any of these upcoming figures. I laugh at how I could spend browsing Hobby Search for hours, listing my favorite figurines I'd like to own one day. I thought I'd share with you which ones they are.

Which figures are on your Christmas wishlist?

Dark Magician Girl by Kotobukiya

This one needs no explanation. Just look at her! This is an amazing sculpt. Her pose is alluring and cute. She's animated and has a lot of personality. Her colors are vibrant, making it almost hard to get your eyes off her. Plus, she comes with another facial expression and a Kuribo keychain. As a Yu-Gi-Oh fan and Spellcaster deck owner, I instantly fell in love with her. She's already up for pre-orders and is at a scale of 1/7 priced for 68,000 yen. Her release date is March 2011.

Dead Master by Good Smile Company

Dead Master from the Black Rock Shooter Project looks absolutely amazing as this figurine. It is the "animation version" for a reason. She is frozen in time in the middle of a jump, which is beautifully displayed. The ruffles in her dress and movement of her legs shows this "animation" perfectly. Seems like she's in a rush, but still has enough time to give quick smile to her audience. The base holding her up is another thing to note. Her skull minions are very well detailed. The spikes and chains shooting upwards from the broken checkered floor bellow her just add to the charm. She is 1/8th scale at around 9,334 yen. Already up for pre-orders, the figure is scheduled to be released on March 2011.

Senjougahara Hitagi by Good Smile Company

From the anime Bakemonogatari, this lovely figure is based straight off of the anime's official art. This pose is truly unique. She has her back turned from the viewer, rarely seen in figurines, and a lifted skirt with several various 'sharp' objects dropping to the floor. This is where the real charm is. The school supplies look almost as if they are magically suspended in the air. This is amazing craftsmanship and creativity on the sculptor's behalf in order give out this "optical illusion" so to speak. It also defines the character well, displaying her secretive nature with a smirk and turned back. I REALLY want this figure X3~ She is a 1/8th scale figure around 9,334 yen at Hobby Search. I heard she was originally scheduled to come out October 2010 but was delayed to January of 2011. Wonder why...

Nendoroid Kirino by Good Smile Company

Oreimo has become quite the popular anime this season and I must admit, I couldn't resist it either. Kirino is now a Nendoroid thanks to our friends Good Smile Company, and she's also made my wishlist. I absolutely love the way she looks, and with so many pieces and expressions to play with, I could imagine all the fun I'd have if I owned her. Kirino is around 3,334 yen and scheduled to come out Feburary 2011.

figma Mirai by Max Factory

At last, Danny Choo's mascot character Mirai has been created into a figma and she looks great! I'm normally not a fan of figmas, but if I was to ever own one, she would be the one. She comes equipped with several pieces, such as a small digital camera, a laptop, and a mini dollfie of herself for her to hold on her arm. She's just like Danny! I love all the possible poses you can make her do and as a fan of Danny Choo, I'd really like to own one myself. I'm also looking forward to a Nendoroid version of her. Let's hope it comes true! Mirai is scheduled to come out June 2011 costing around 2,667 yen.

Meeting the Angry Video Game Nerd

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:59:00 +0000

Finally, a video game related post (well, not really). Some people may know him as the Angry Video Game Nerd or AVGN. I call him by his real name, James Rolfe, who is the creator of the AVGN and several other hilarious videos. Well, lucky for me, I live in NYC right next to our neighbor New Jersey, and James just happened to be stopping by. Wouldn't of missed this opportunity for the world!

Arriving at the magical land that is Clifton, New Jersey.

Digital Press, a retro video game store that was hosting the event.

The main event!

The games were a little bit pricey, probably because James was there ^^;

Some really cool bobble heads.

James entering the store. With his back turned, it's kinda hard to believe it's him ^^;

Getting closer! We got to the store an hour before so we didn't have to stand on the enormous line outside (pics below)

Brought my copy of Majora's Mask for James and Mike to sign (drawing a doodle of Link in the back ^o^)

And of course, a picture of us with The Nerd :)

Once we left, the line was wrapping around the block o_o; I heard people stood on it for hours just to see him.

My cartridge signed by both James and Mike ^^

Best doodle ever :D

K-ON! English Voice Actress

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 04:45:00 +0000

Upon looking up K-ON! on Wikipedia.com, I was pleasantly surprised to find the names of the English voice actresses chosen to do the voices of the Mio, Yui, Mugi and Ritsu. This is actually old news, but I felt like blogging about it because I'm very excited about the upcoming English dubbing.

I know many people out there dislike English dubbing, and I must agree, there has been some terrible dubbing in the past, and nothing beats the original Japanese voice acting...NOTHING. But dubbing has come a long way. Looking back to when I was younger, companies that would license anime and air it on television tried soooo hard to remove any trace of "Japanese" it would give off. The names of characters were converted to a more suitable, "Caucasian" name (for example: Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh!'s original Japanese name was Jonouchi and Ash Ketchum from Pokemon's original name was Satoshi).

In some way, I understand changing the names of some characters. This was to allow children to relate to the characters better and also be able to pronounce their names easily ^^; But changing the entire dialogue of the anime and making it into something that it was not, that's when dubbing was getting out of hand *cough4kidscough*

Err, anyway, although dubbing has been horrible in the past, it's becoming better and better in my opinion, and I think companies are learning from their mistakes and listening to anime fans. They are keeping the content true to it's meaning and certain companies such as Bandai Entertainment have done excellent jobs with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Gurren Lagann, and hopefully now K-ON!

Moving right along, as soon as I found out about the English voice actresses for the K-on girls, I quickly looked them up.

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Yui will be voiced by Stephanie Sheh.

"Her most notable roles are Orihime Inoue in Bleach, Eureka in Eureka Seven, Mikuru Asahina in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Wendy Garret in Gun X Sword, and Hinata Hyuga in Naruto." -Wiki

Although I think her voice is a little off from Yui's Japanese voice, I still think she can do it. She's a professional, and professionals know how to change their voices on target. I can't wait to hear her version of Yui!

Mio will be voiced by Cristina Vee.

I absolutely love the fact that they picked Cristina Vee to do the voice of Mio. I wasn't familiar with her myself until I heard her incredible voice acting on her You Tube channel. She's done several fan dubs of different animes and Disney songs, and managed to get herself out there doing so. If you'd like to get a taste of how she sounds like as Mio, check out the video of her singing her own English version of "Don't Say Lazy". That's probably what got her the job.

Ritsu will be voiced by Cassandra Morris.

Cassandra Morris is a voice actress I hadn't heard before so I tried finding out what other anime characters she had done the voices for so I can get an idea of how well she would sound like as Ritsu. I looked back and saw that she does the voices for several characters ranging from Pokemon to Yu-Gi-Oh! She's also very good at doing the voices for male characters. Since Ritsu is a bit of a tomboy, I think she'd do a great job at voicing her.

Mugi will be voiced by Shelby Lindley.

I don't know much about this voice actress myself, and apparently she's a bit new to voice acting anime characters. Her website lists the things she have done, and it looks like she is very talented. I would love to hear her voice as Mugi. That's all the info I've got on all the voice actresses so far. I'm still waiting to hear from Bandai regarding the other characters such as Sawako-sensei and Azusa. What do you think of the chosen voice actresses?

My Top 10 Favorite Anime

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:09:00 +0000

The question "What are your favorite anime series?" always rises when going to conventions and being surrounded by otakus. Strangely enough, I actually have a hard time answering that one. I've watched so many that I've never put them in any particular order or preference. There were just the ones I liked and ones I never found favorable. Still, I think there is always at least one anime you like over others, and it shows when you are either buying merchandise or speaking to a fellow anime enthusiast.

After giving it much thought, I've managed to come up with a list of my personal top 10 favorite anime. It was difficult at first, because I had so many that I liked, but I didn't want to make a top 20 or a top 50 for that matter. Again, it is a personal list. I am not saying the anime I've chosen are the best ones of all time. I just feel like the anime I've picked touched me in a way that others could not. Some are nostalgic, funny, action packed, dramatic and just plain random.

I'd also love to hear from you guys! What are your top favorite anime series?

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#10 Lucky Star

Lucky Star, an anime about the every day life adventures of several Japanese school girls attending high school, was recommended to me by a friend who found out I liked Azumanga Diaoh. "You should watch Lucky Star if you liked Azumanga, you'll love it!" Taking her recommendation into account, I sat through the first episode and fell completely in love with the series from the start.

Visuals: The first thing that came to my attention was the art style. Never had I seen such cute...almost edible looking character designs! It was like nothing I had seen before. The colors used for each character stood out in a way that made you want to keep watching in awe. It was like pure eye candy. That's it, it was candy.

Relatable: Konata was a character I completely related to. She loves video games, anime and manga, and is constantly distracted by them, especially when exams are right around the corner, so she has no choice but to do last minute cramming. Staying up till 3-4 in the morning playing mmorpgs is something I did all the time, and couldn't help but laugh when I saw this fictional anime character doing it to. She's a complete nerd and I only wish I could find a friend like her in real life!

Hilarious: At first, I had a hard time catching on to the jokes that were made, especially because the girls would ramble on about things that were completely irrelevant. But as I continued to watch each episode, I found myself laughing more and more at the silly parody jokes (Konata's cousin driving Initial-D style) or the American foreign exchange student who thinks Japanese culture only revolves around Maids. Also, at the end of each episode, they play a small segment called "Lucky Channel" which is hosted by Akira, a cute, energetic school girl with an awful temper and her assistant Minoru, who is normally threatened and even physically abused by her. This anime will really make you laugh!

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#9 Trigun

Trigun, the story of a man named Vash the Stampede who is wanted for sixty billion double dollars, is number 9 of my list. When I first caught a glimpse of Trigun on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, I was fairly impressed. The dubbing was actually very good, and the characters incredibly likable. I continued watching every each episode diligently and came to love it.

Hilarious: One thing I loved about Trigun was the humor. At first, I thought it would be a stuck up, serious anime filled with nothing but action. But when Vash made that face in episode one after almost being blown up by bounty hunters, I knew it would be funny. Along with its complexity and emotional characters, Trigun always knew how to lighten up the mood and make you laugh out loud. The way the two insurance ladies chased after Vash in order to cause less damage and his partner in crime, Wolfwood, who was ironically a priest skilled at yielding guns, added to the story's humor as well.

Action packed: It was a real relief to watch an anime that wasn't a high school drama where there would be one male protagonist and over 10 females trying to win his love. The story took place in a western themed atmosphere, where there existed bounty hunters and cowboys. The action scenes were amazing to say the least. It flowed smoothly and wasn't overwhelming either. The things Vash would do to avoid taking someone's life made the action even more interesting, where he didn't just use his gun just to kill people off, but used clever techniques to win a battle without having to end anyone's life.

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#8 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

The popular anime, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, is number 8 on my list. I found out about Haruhi after attending New York Anime Festival 2007 and seeing so many posters and merchandised based off the anime. I was incredibly puzzled and amused when I saw people dancing in large numbers to "Hare Hare Yukai" and was convinced to take a look. After watching the series, I finally understood what the hype was all about.

Fantasy: At first, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya just seems like a normal high school drama. I really didn't know it was science fiction until around episode 3, when Yuki begins to reveal to Kyon that Haruhi isn't an ordinary girl. After finding out that she has the ability to change the world to her liking, and that others even look at her as a god, I was totally shocked. It was a refreshing idea. The anime does a great job of balancing fiction with reality and sometimes you can't even tell them apart. The fight scene between Yuki and Asakura must of been one of my top favorite scenes from the series.

Funny: Aside from the science fiction, Haruhi Suzumiya is one funny anime. Kyon is just cynical, Haruhi is extremely bossy and does anything in her power to get what she wants (literally), Mikuru is constantly being violated by Haruhi, Yuki won't show any emotions no matter how drastic the situation and Koizumi is a laid back esper who worships Haruhi. The blend of these characters and personalities makes it a great anime.

Puzzling: Another reason for loving this anime is its ability to confuse and bewilder its audience. If you watch the anime in the order it actually aired in Japan, the episodes are actually out of order. I did notice something was strange as I watched it, noticing that each episode didn't smoothly flow after the other. It was then that I found out that Haruhi was putting them in the order she pleased, and just a she wished, they were aired as so. It was hilarious finding this out and then watching them in the right order, which made more sense to me. Other things such as the time Mikuru fires an actual beam out of her eye confused me until I finished watching the series.

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#7 Outlaw Star

Outlaw Star is number 7 on my list. It is set space and based on a man named Gene Starwind with his associate Jim who go through many adventures after become the pilots of the Outlaw Star and become caretakers of Melfina, an android needed in order to guide the ship correctly. I caught episodes on Cartoon Network's late block, and it quickly became one of my most favorite anime series growing up.

Nostalgic: It has become my favorite for personal nostalgic reasons. I remember first watching it back in 2001, when it started airing on Cartoon Network, and I was only 12 years old. I was just getting into anime back then, so I was completely fascinated. It had some adult themes and even a bit of nudity (very little because they tried so hard censoring everything, even Melfina's cleavage!) which made me realize that this type of "cartoon" was wayyy different from the usual western cartoons I watched. Trying hard to stay awake until 12:30am and making sure my mom wouldn't catch me watching TV that late, were a few of my challenges when trying to catch an episode ^-^; *sigh* Good times xD

Action Packed: The action in Outlaw Star is fast paced and kept you at the edge of your seat. From the first episode, you a put in a world full of outlaws, space ships, guns and really hot girls. It is definitely a change from the normal high school dramas I normally watch which makes this anime special. The story line works well with all the action and even for such an aging anime, it still looks and sounds amazing on a large flat screen with surround sound.

Funny: As always, I have to mention the humor in the anime. It is one of my most favorite aspects when it comes to watching anime series, and truthfully, every anime series has its own humor. But in Outlaw Star, the humor is more adult orientated and less silly compared to high school dramas. For instance, as a little girl I didn't notice Fred Lou was a homosexual until I watched it over as an adult, and I couldn't help but laugh. Aisha Clan-Clan was one of my most favorite characters and supplied some hilarious comedic relief.

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#6 Azumanga Daioh

Azumanga Daioh, making it to number 6 on my list. I was introduced by a good friend of mine, who lent me the entire DVD box set for a few weeks to check it out myself. At first, I couldn't believe there were animes out there like this: plotless and completely random. But as I continued watching, my love for Azumanga Daioh grew deeper. What is there not to love about this anime?

Random: I wasn't particularly aware of this type of anime at first, where there was absolutely no plot. I remember trying to figure out what the plot was. But after watching a few episodes, I gave up and started to enjoy the anime and its randomness. It was a nice change from trying to keep up with a complex story like in other animes. I loved being able to feel relaxed and just laugh, without having to put much of my own reasoning into it. You can catch any episode, even it if wasn't in order, and still enjoy yourself.

Relatable: I related a lot with this anime. At the time, I was also a high schooler, and because we didn't have aliens or time travelers or space ships, we just made random jokes about life. We enjoyed ourselves and lived our daily lives keeping each other company until we all graduated high school. We even matched ourselves to the characters that we were reminded of the most. I got compared to Miss Osaka, someone I did act a lot like. I was the airhead in the group and made absolutely no sense of things ^-^;;

Funny: Again, it was hilarious! The everyday life adventures they have and the different personalities added the the anime's charm. Chiyo-chan was an adorable child prodigy, who was the one who made the most sense in the group, but also still acted her age. Ms. Sakaki was a large girl self-conscious of her own height, and was perceived as being cool, but in reality, loved small and cute things like cats, who all seem to hate her. There are so many girls to talk about, I'll be here all night, but they all make the anime incredibly entertaining.

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#5 Gurren Lagann

We've finally made it to my top 5 favorite. Gurren Lagann, an anime that follows Kamina and Simon who escape their small underground village into the outside world, where they meet Yoko, a girl who fights off "beastmen" with her large gun and go through many mishaps along the way. Aside from it's popularity, it is my 5th top favorite anime for many reasons.

Mecha: I'm usually not into mecha because I've ironically found it a bit boring. Giant flying robots never was my thing, and I remember when I tried watching Gundam episodes and be bored to tears. But I have to say that Gurren Lagann has done an excellent job at introducing me to mecha the right way. From the first episode, I was completely fascinated by the different mechas involved, and how each one had a personality corresponding to the person piloting it. The mecha's even had their own emotions and facial expressions which was hilarious.

Visuals and animation: I love the art and flow of this anime. It's crazy and face paced, which reminded me alot of FLCL (in fact Hiroyuki Imaishi, the man who directed Gurren Lagann, also animated FLCL). The art is is still unique from any other anime and beautiful in its own way. It's the only anime that can have both Kamina's masculinity along with Nia's cute and bubbly character design. The fight scenes are amazing and will keep you on the edge of your seat; it is practically impossible to remove your eyes from the screen.
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#4 Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura was one of my most favorite show as a kid. It first aired in the states on KidsWB in 2001 I believe. It follows a young girl granted with magical powers in order to seal cards created by a powerful sorcerer named Clow Reed. The concept seemed interesting to me so I continued watching and fell completely in love with the series.

Visuals: I mainly love Cardcaptor Sakura for it's art. As many of you already know, the show was created by a team of female Japanese artists named CLAMP. Their popular shojo art style had me hooked. I loved how the colors were used, and the individual character designs. The Clow cards themselves looked pretty darn awesome and Sakura's outfits were absolutely adorable. I looked forward to every episode just to see what outfit she would be wearing next (which was another thing I remember finding interesting as a child; the fact that in anime, characters changed their outfits once in a while when they we'rent obligated to wear their school uniforms as opposed to western cartoons where they would wear the same clothes every single time!).

Magical girl anime: I never really watched "magical girl" anime until I started watching Cardcaptor Sakura. It was interesting seeing a small, adorable Japanese school girl kick some serious ass with magic. The fact that each card gave her a unique power was so cool to me. Being able to use the basic elements such as fire, water, earth and wind along with other powers like flying, jumping high, stopping time and putting people to sleep was what made this show so amazing. The different scenarios and strategies she had to come up with when being encountered with a new card in order to seal it kept the show entertaining.

Story: The story starts off simple enough; seal away some cards and everything will go back to normal. But as each episode goes on, things begin to get a bit complicated for poor Sakura. She has to try hard to keep the fact that she is a magical girl a secret from her family; she has to face Lee who starts off as a competitor for the Clow cards and ends up falls in love with her; after sealing all the cards she then has convert them under her own name and ownership; the list could go on! That's what made the story so intriguing, even for a kid's show. However, I have to say, after watching it over in Japanese (because the English dubs were wayyyy off) as an adult, this anime is actually more mature than it seems ^^;;

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#3 K-ON!

K-ON! started airing in Japan in 2009 and I learned about it when my favorite blogger Danny Choo spoke about it in his blog. I became curious and began watching a episodes until I was almost sure this was going to be a personal favorite. It became incredibly popular over a short course of time, and before you knew it,

K-ON! was everywhere. I have my own reasons for liking the anime so much.

Slice of Life: There is something about K-on! that is different from other anime. It is super laid back, with no plot or actual story line, except that the girls want to start a light music club and perform during the high school festival. That is all you need to know. Anyone can sit back, relax and enjoy this anime with little effort. It is fun seeing the girls go through their everyday lives while all having something in common, which is their love for music.

Creative: I love K-on! for it's creativity. Each character has a different unique personality, such as Yui's child-like behavior, Mio's maturity and cuteness, Ritsu's hyper-activeness, the list could go on. The art style is also adorable in its own way, with plenty of funny facial expressions, lovely scenes, and awesome opening and ending themes. And of course, most importantly, the songs the girls sing are awesome. I have several on my mp3 player I am willing to share with you on my upcoming blog posts.

Inspiring: I'm not sure if I'm the only one who felt this way about K-on, but I was totally inspired by the entire series. The girls are strong, talented and independent, making them excellent heroines. They practiced hard together as a band and made awesome music, all while having fun. This truly inspired me to pick up an instrument and start playing!

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#2 Clannad

Clannad has made it to my number 2 spot (almost number 1) and I'm sure those who are familiar with the anime know why. It is an excellent anime filled with drama, comedy, romance, action, the works. I was introduced to it through an anime review podcast and fell in love through the first episode alone. It is such an great anime, it's sad to say I can't even cover how good it is through this one blog post alone.

Story: The story revolves around a boy named Tomoya who is sick of his life, the town he lives in, his school and his family. He wants to escape from it all, until he realized how wonderful life was when he meets a girl named Nagisa, who is weak and fragile, and repeating another year of school because of her sickness. The two characters go through a lot together, in the course of two amazing seasons. It is a deep, emotional story nicely balanced with humor and a little bit of action.

Visuals: The visuals of Clannad is amazing. The anime is crisp and clear, with lively colors and great character designs. The scenery is realistic, romantic, fun and relaxing. There are a bunch of desktop wallpapers out there with amazing official art, and I would even love to one day personally own all the Clannad art books there are to buy.

Emotional: There aren't many animes out there that make me cry, so I was shocked to find myself tearing during many episodes of Clannad. It has a way of getting to you in an emotional level, and you can truly feel for the characters and the pain they are going through. Alot of crazy stuff happens that would make you want to curl up in a ball and cry like a baby. It was expertly written, animated and directed to get a hold of the audiences' hearts.

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#1 Toradora!

I would like to proudly announce Toradora! as my 1st most favorite anime of all time. I think it truly deserves this spot. I first started watching Toradora! after watching an anime review podcast. It allowed me to check out the first episode and make my own opinion of it. I continued watching diligently, and fell completely in love with the story.

Story: I love Toradora's storyline. It starts off in a very interesting and creative way, and completely does a u-turn at the end. The anime revolves around Taiga and Ryuji, who both have crushes on each other's best friends. So once they find out (they live right next door to one another), they decide to help each other. To me, this was a completely refreshing idea! It's funny because it's usually one guy and a million girls trying to get with that one guy, but both Taiga and Ryuji are such an odd couple, it makes this anime incredibly interesting.

Taiga: Yep, I like the show for Taiga alone! I'm sure others would agree with me. First off, she's voiced by Rie Kugimiya, a famous voice actress who is known for doing tsundere roles. She is amazing at portraying Taiga as a stubborn, high-tempered girl with a secretly sweet personality. Taiga is not afraid to speak her mind and will not allow others to take advantage of her. And still, she is incredibly shy and can sometimes get caught up with words. She's just adorable!!!

Romantic: I think the romance is one of the things that made this anime my favorites. It isn't mushy romance, actually, there's only a small taste, but its so satisfying and sweet. I don't want to reveal too much because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't watched the series yet, but it is an anime about dating so yes there are some cute romantic scenes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 04:45:00 +0000

They're not eating turkey, are they? ^^;;

I know it's a little late (almost midnight over at my side of the world) but I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on behalf of Atashi no Burogu! Whether your spending time with the family eating turkey, or watching anime all day, I hope you have a wonderful time XD

I'm also keeping a very close eye on Black Friday sales because I'm planning on upgrading to a PC (the crappy Dell laptop I'm on sucks!). Spoofee.com is an excellent website that keeps an eye on great deals! Happy shopping!

Nendoroids?

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:53:00 +0000

[Taken by mishumishi. There's so many of them!]

What are Nendoroids? I had no clue at first what they were neither until I started noticing them more and more in toy/comic book shops such as Forbidden Planet and Elizabeth Center Mall in Chinatown. They also started popping up through the internet and I finally got a hold of one on my birthday as a present; it was Misa from Death Note. That's when I got hooked...

It's difficult to really describe what these things really are. I find that Wikipedia has a great description of what they are:

"Nendoroid (ねんどろいど) is a brand of small plastic figures, created by the Japanese Good Smile Company. Nendoroid figures are usually replicas of an anime or manga character and are commonly used as collectors items or toys. They are roughly 10 cm (4 in) in height, depending on the character they were made to look like. Normally they are made in a chibi or super deformed style, with a large head and smaller body to make them look cute. Their faces and body parts are movable and interchangeable, giving them a range of different expressions, postures and items to hold." -Wikipedia

[Taken by EdwardLee. Gotta love BRS Nendoroid! I want one so bad D:]

This explanation pretty much sums it up. As stated above, Good Smile Company is the creator of these figures. Aside from being hilarious chibi versions of your favorite anime/manga/video game character, they are popular because of the craftsmanship put into them. Each Nendoroid was carefully designed, sculpted and painted all by the hands of talented Japanese toy artists as apposed to being manufactured through a factory. That's why they are so nicely detailed~

[Taken by -Ayako-. This is a great way to store all those small Nendoroid pieces.]

My most favorite aspect about Nendoroids is the fact that they have interchangeable pieces, allowing one to have several poses as apposed to just one. This is where it really gets fun. You can display your Nendoroid in one pose and if your bored of that one pose, change it up the next day. The pieces are also interchangeable amongst ALL of the Nendoroids, so you can have one wear the body parts of others. Only draw back is trying not to lose the pieces. They are so small, and loosing one piece just throws the whole character off. I once thought I lost Miku's leek; which is her signature item! Without it, she just wasn't the same. Luckily, I found it after several weeks of looking, in my sock drawer (don't ask me how it got there, I really don't have a clue o_o;)

[My second Nendoroid, Miku Hatsune. She's incredibly photogenic.]

Nendoroids range around $35-$50 dollars, and even more depending on where you buy them and how rare/exclusive they are. I normally buy all my figures at Hobby Search where I'm sure to get a non-bootleg version. And trust me, you don't want bootlegs, they look horrible...They're super shiny/glossy (For example, the image bellow this is a fake Miku, while the one above is real) See the difference? Try to avoid ebay sellers and Chinese wholesale stores. Trust me, it sucks paying full price for a bootleg figurine when you could of gotten a nicer/official one.

[Fake/Bootleg Nendoroid. See how glossy she is?]

There's not much more to say about them (Even though I know some bloggers would go on and on about the subject ^^;) They make great collectors items and look amazing; who wouldn't want to own one? Plus, they're just so much fun! Enjoy the rest of the pictures I've found online, including a few of my own

[Taken by XPLMY. Posted it for the cuteness factor x3]

[Taken by broken.ombrello. Haha! Now this is creative.]

[Taken by S1Charade. A nice comparison between a regular figure and a Nendoroid.]

[Taken by neo_valkyrie. To think there are small items like these to compliment them ^^;]

[Taken by Jadenes. Nice shot!]

[Taken by kodomut. K-ON!]

[My Azunyan hiding in my mother's violets x3]

[Taken by Yukihana~. Poor Miku D:!]

First post!

noreply@blogger.com (EmiDesu) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 05:22:00 +0000

Yes, I've done it. I've created a blog. Just like every other hopeless otaku out there, I've created a blog to ramble on about my passion for Japanese culture; anime, manga, video games, cosplay, figurines, food, etc. Sad, huh?

....but if feels great! :3

*cracks knuckles*

I have a million things to talk about that I know nobody gives a damn about, so I kinda don't understand why I'm doing this in the first place. I must be really bored...I should actually be studying for an upcoming quiz (~_~); Damn microbes...I forget what's the difference between S. aureus and S. epidermidis...I'm going to make a horrible lab technologist o_o;

Err, getting off topic. I have several things I wanna blog about, including:

Anime: No, not Bleach. Not Naruto (well, maybe when I'm in the mood). I'm talking about new anime. Anime that is currently being aired in Japan. I'd like to get into a few of them and write my first impressions of them. I won't be talking about every single episode that comes out like many bloggers do. Just give you a sense of what the anime might be about and if it's worth taking a look.

Figurines: Many of you that already know me know I LOVE figurines. I'll be posting ALOT about them, whether they are new ones being released, or just ones I already own myself. I love toy photography, so I'll be posting alot of that too.

Cosplay: I also love cosplay. It's amazing the craftsmanship people put into their costumes in order to look as close to the character they are portraying as possible. I think it's admirable and I'm proud to say I'm a cosplayer as well. I will be blogging about my own cosplays and maybe even slap in a few tutorials or those who are interested. I'm not pro, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I'll also blog about other cosplayers and post up some terrific photos worth taking a look at.

Video Games: This segment of my blog may be a little short handed, due to the fact that I don't play as many video games as hardcore gamer's out there. So don't expect much. I'll probably be blogging about basic games such as Pokemon, Zelda, any PS3 games I get a hold of that seem interesting to talk about, and PC games.

Food: To be more specific, Asain food. (No, I'm not posting pictures of rice and beans and chuletas, trust me, I get enough of eating it every day of my life as Hispanic (=_=); I'll be blogging about many yummy treats (not just pocky) that maybe you've never even heard of. I also love to go out to restaurants so I'll be reviewing several of them throughout New York City.

Japanese Lessons: I've always had a love for the Japanese language, and when I finally made it to college, I took up Japanese 1 and 2. Sadly, due to my real life goals getting in the way, learning Japanese just became a small hobby of mines. But even still, when I've forgotten most of what I've learned, I still manage to have a grasp on a few words. I will be doing this for my own benefit as well and reviewing some Japanese with you guys. We'll take baby steps and work our way up; it'll be fun and interesting. I'll make sure you learn something beyond the words "desu" and "kawaii" xD

Misc: Random things that weren't listed here. Music, my real life (boring...), non-anime things, etc

So that's it, hopefully I'll keep up with this blog and make it interesting. Or I'll go to sleep tonight and forget I ever created it in the first place....*shrugs*

G'night!