Anime picture: Asahina Tsubaki + Azusa

From pixiv.

Anime hot guys problems Part III

Aside from having neck pain and back pain, they also suffer from headaches.

Part I
Part II

Who's your type? [v.Boys]

Girls version here.

[Life] Afternoon Coffee

Forgot to upload this yesterday. Having coffee at Max Brenners with MegaBubbletea.

Who's your type? [v.Girls]

The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku -DEAD END- (Piano)

Pure amazement, those arpeggios.

[Lyrics] 14 to 1 (Fuuto 風斗 ver.)

Knowing Fuuto's personality, I was expecting some cheeky/tsundere lyrics, and I was not disappointed!

Description: Kanji lyrics, Romaji lyrics and English translated lyrics of 14 to 1 (Fuuto ver.).

Note: Lyrics taken from booklet. The parts in brackets ( ) in the English translation are there to help the meaning flow smoother.

The key thing to note in Fuuto's version is that, as per his character, he says things pretty bluntly and straight forwardly, which may, at times, sound rude.

[Lyrics] 14 to 1 (Yuusuke 侑介 ver.)

This song was an absolute torture to listen to! Yuusuke is tone deaf. z_z
I blame the character not the seiyuu. Hosoya actually has a pretty nice singing voice, try Kimi no Iru Machi's first ED song.
So let's just get this translation over and done with, so I can move on to translate Fuuto's version, which is much smoother to the ears.

Description: Kanji lyrics, Romaji lyrics and English translated lyrics of 14 to 1 (Yuusuke ver.).

Note: Lyrics taken from booklet. The parts in brackets ( ) in the English translation are there to help the meaning flow smoother. "lit." means literal word-for-word translation.

The key thing to note in Yuusuke's version is that he uses "だ" to end his sentences, which is a more direct form of talking, ie. the way you would talk to your friends and family (without formality), as opposed to using the polite form "です". 

KyoAni over the years

What's your favourite style/anime?

Kyoto Animation styles over the years.

What does 'the fox' say? v.Pokemon

Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!

When Pokemon and Natsume Yuujinchou crossover

Meganebu! main theme

Um, if anyone is interested these are the notes for the main theme of Meganebu. (/too lazy to write the harmony parts)
...I'm not _that_ addicted to the anime....

Pumpkin's Palette: Mochizuki Koichi (望月鉱一)

As promised I would draw some Meganebu fanart.
This is inspired by episode 3. It was a rather sad episode.
I reverted back to my old shading style.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Eguchi Takuya + KENN

At an event today.
I wish I was in Japan.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Yonaga Tsubasa

aka: Wing (because Tsubasa means "wings")

Pokemon XY - Episode 1+2 [v.P]

The new Pokemon anime series, Pokemon XY, was aired last night.
I'm extremely grateful for subbing-translation teams working hard to get this anime out! (There's no English subs out yet, I watched Chinese subs.)
There was a special double episode airing.
I really miss watching Pokemon. It was one of my main childhood memories - eating breakfast while watching Pokemon.

Hnnnnn you adorable little thing.
The animation/art has improved!!

New UtaPri event: Shining Theatrical Troupe!

Shining Office has announced yet another UtaPri event this morning!
This time our princes will star in a theatrical troupe! The troupe consists of three groups: Masquerade, Shinobi and Joker.

Things to look out for in this event:
1) Twitter: Between 18/10/2013 to 28/02/2014, the twitter accounts of Shining Office, including the idols and sensei's, will come alive again, and they will be sharing their daily routines with their fans.
2) New music/songs
3) New drama CDs
I'm sure there's more to come, so be sure to keep an eye out on the official website.
[Update: 2013.10.18.12:17]
The "Ninjas" are: Otoya, Masato, Syo and Cecil.
Their song title is "The invincible way of the Shinobi (ninja)" (天下無敵の忍び道).
The "Jokers" are: Ranran, Camus, Ichinose and Ren.
Their song title is "Joker Trap".
And the "Masquerade" are: Reiji, Ai and Natsuki.
Their song title is "Masquerade Mirage".

(Ps. I'll update this post a little later when more info is released.)

Cosplayer appreciation post: Reika

Reika is an amazing Japanese cosplayer. She did all of these UtaPri cosplays herself! (You really can't tell that these are all the same person!)

She makes all of her own costumes and props. 

She's been invited to numerous overseas events, and hopefully one day she can make her way to Australia! Last weekend, she was at Taiwan.

Her singing is pretty good as well.

You should check out her SnK cosplays too!

Seiyuu appreciation post: Eguchi Takuya

[Download] Shingeki no Kyojin OST 2

Woke up to this sweet baby this morning!
Amazing music as always by Sawano.
Download here.

[Life] Time to throw my creativity into the new anime season

Friends, I have decided. The fandom/anime I will throw myself into this season (ie. create fanart and what not) will be MEGANEBU! So keep an eye out for my future works. :)

Meganebu! is one of those animes that you will either love or hate. 

The story is so ridiculously stupid (It's about 5 highschool boys who wears glasses and their interactions with each other; the story summary sounds boring, but they include jokes and emotional backstories), the art is so blinding (in terms of the colours used and drawing style), and everything seems so random.

Nevertheless, I fell in love with this series at first sight, and I think this anime deserves more love.

It's the faceless and nameless people that the producers were too lazy to draw.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Yusa Kouji

Love the blue streaks in his hair.

Supplementary bishie post - Uroko-sama (Nagi no Asukara)

Oh look, just as I pressed the post button, Blogger's picture uploading function decides to work again. 

So you get double posts from me tonight.

Here's a screenshot of Uroko-sama (voiced by Tori-chan) from the anime Nagi no Asukara. 

[Life] This is a blog post

While I was afk at dinner tonight Megabubbletea messaged me, asking me if I could make a post on our blog today because he won't get home until much later. Of course I was happy to post. Unfortunately, Blogger is being stubborn tonight and won't let me upload pictures (I'm too lazy to learn html codes). So tonight you get to read this block of boring text instead of seeing pictures of bishies.

Let's see, what to talk about... Ah yes, I was chatting with Serah today and asked how her cosplay costume making was coming along since the event is about a month away, at which point she exclaimed: "Oh bugger(?), I forgot to ask <insert name> for her sewing machine. I should go do that soon."

Ack, I'm out of topics. Oh, hmm, well I'm currently seeking Namiwaka Daisuke's latest single "Jump Out Loud" and my searches haven't been successful, so I would be really happy if someone can find a source for the CD and let me know about it.

Ah yes, did anyone watch the Makai Ouji Niku Nama on Friday night (just passed)? It was really funny watching 5 men (Kakki, Terashi, Egu, Matsuoka and JunJun) spend under 1.5 hours eating yakiniku and drinking beer. Kakki downed 4 cups of beer within the first 45 minutes. Terashi ended up feeding Kakki his first piece of meat. Matsuouka was really quiet as usual and mostly focused on cooking meat for JunJun. Egu didn't eat much, despite him yelling out that he was really hungry. 

Alright, this should be a long enough post. And since the latest Magi episode finished downloading, I'm off to watch Magi!

Tata~~

pumpkin_so77

What The Fox ACTUALLY Says!

Remember this post by Megabubbletea about a week ago? The "random" music video that sings about the noises that a fox makes. Well Animalist News tells us what the fox really says.

Miyano Mamoru teaches fans how to dance to Supernova

Last week Mamo held a live concert at Budokan. Many many fans and fellow seiyuus went to attend. In this video Mamo teaches the dance for Supernova so that fans could dance along with him at his live.

How many anime references can you spot in this week's Outbreak Company?

Too many titles!!

Note that at the back the magazines are called "Step", a rip off the shounen manga magazine "Jump".
Clearly, a rip off Miku.

Hataruku Maou sama, Railgun and Yondemasu yo azazel-san.

Clear a rip off Shingeki no Kyojin.

Suzumura Kenichi's upcoming single PV preview released!

SuzuKen is releasing a new single at the end of October and Lantis uploaded the short PV for the upbeat song 「All right」 on Youtube. Check it out!

DECO*27 celebrates 5 years anniversary with Ai Kotoba II

Famous Vocaloid composer Deco*27 thanked his fans for their continual 5 years support by releasing a new song on his Youtube channel, Ai Kotoba II.

Part of the accompaniment and melody plays upon the nostalgic tune of Ai Kotoba.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Taniyama Kishow

Here's Kishow striking the SnK pose in front of a titan face.

Picture taken from Kishow's twitter.

Kishow voiced Jean in Shingeki no Kyojin. 

Seiyuu appreciation post: Shimono Hiro

Have you watched the new Autumn anime: Unbreakable Machine-Doll? Shimono does a really good job voicing the main male character.

[Download] Free! - Iwatobi Channel Vol. 2 (イワトビちゃんねるVol.2)

Someone asked me to upload this CD. So here it is. The second Free! Radio CD, with booklet.
Download link: here.
Feel free to ask for other materials you want, and I'll try my best to share them with you.
Just give me a shout in our blog's comment box, or my twitter.

The difference between Cosplay makeup fails and wins: Contouring

Cosplay update: I've been AWOL for awhile, collecting stuff, making stuff and trialing stuff for my second cosplay (hopefully a win). I've taken quite a lot of photos of the costume creation process, makeup trials process etc etc. But not wanting to spoil mah super surprise post, I've just decided to gather all this and last months stuff into one super big post on the whole process. Hopefully I'll be able to help some people out...

Anyhoow I'm here to discuss the findings of my most recent makeup trial. Contouring. 

I know, I know, I've talked about it before, but hopefully this photo will convince you of the necessity of contouring your face up for a photoshoot or a cosplay.

Crud. It's a little blurry, but if you note my make up-ed side of my face, you'll see much more shadows and it looks more three dimensional. (Plus my eye seems to have grown a size. BTW Great eye makeup tutorial here: http://wenqiann.deviantart.com/art/Cosplay-eye-makeup-tutorial-351629070)

Anyway, point is. No matter how awesome your costume is, the finishing touch is the makeup.

Stuff to contour with:

-Bronzer

-Eyeshadow

-Actual contour-highlight palettes

Contour/Highlight Tick-off list: 

-Nose bridge: (Contour both sides and highlight the middle)

- Just under the cheekbones for a slimmer looking face.

-Highlight your chin

-Highlight under your eyes.

-Highlight the middle of your forehead.

-Highlight Brow bone

Cosplay update: Sneaky peek +Wig

Megane bishies. Who's your type?

The five main characters from the new anime, Meganebu!

Kimata Hayato

Kamatani Mitsuki 

Hachimine Takuma

Minabe Yukiya

Souma, Akira

We are megane-bu~u~

Pumpkin's [WIP] palette: Teiko Airlines part I.

Another 4 hours until KuroBasu season 2!!
I'll eventually draw the whole "Teiko Airlines"... maybe...

(Clearly, this is a spoof off the UtaPri Shining Airlines project.)

Seiyuu appreciation post: Eguchi Takuya's drawing skills

The latest Pokemon anime, Pokemon:The Origin, was aired a few nights ago, and seiyuu Eguchi Takuya is part of the cast voicing Green.
Last night he uploaded his Pikachu sketch on his twitter.

Well... he may have excelled in his career using his voice, but his artistic skills is somewhat lacking.

【Attack on Titan】 DIE YOUNG (SONG PARODY)

I came across this video while scrolling on Google+ and it is hilarious. Thanks to whoever posted this video on G+ and thanks to the awesome group that created the video!

WARNING : CONTAINS SPOILERS!



I was planning to post a couple of reviews this weekend, but I may not have time due to school and life. Please be patience :D

How to tie a tie: the trinity knot

Megabubbletea shared this post on to my news feed, it looked really cool so I decided to try it out tonight.

My attempt at the trinity knot.

And the complete outfit for tonight (excuse my toiletries).

Alrighty, time to head out!

Seiyuu appreciation post: Kaji Yuuki

New UtaPri Project - Shining Airlines

All your favourite boys in smart (sexy) attire - Pilot uniforms!

A tilt of their captain's cap, a wink and a kiss, what better way to wish you a safe and pleasant journey!

The UtaPri website updated tonight with its new project Shining Airlines, which will be presented at the Animate Girls Festival 2013 (02,03/Nov/2013). 

Yes, sadly, this is a Japan only project, where the merchandise displayed on the website will be sold. Though they say that other merchandise will be available at a later date.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Shimono Hiro and Taniyama Kishow

Anime Review - Shingeki No Kyojin : A Giant Success

Synopsis: 
Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans.

Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a colossal titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind.
(Source : MangaHelpers)

A Creative Story : 8
Although Shingeki No Kyojin takes a ridiculously long time to unfold its story past the fifth episode, the story is quite a tearful one. As much as I want to say that this type of story (where humanity's existence is in peril and only a trio of characters can save the world) is cliche and omnipresent in the anime world, I can not. The reason being that in this story, nobody is safe. Everyone is at least a hair's length away from death. Even the strongest characters are physically or emotionally injured in some way, making this a unique anime that accurately portrays the life that is lived in a war-torn state.

The negative points about the story are the developing pace and the constant, useless recaps. I know that some watchers need that recap but it cuts down the actual episode time. Another problem is the developing pace. After the first five episodes or so, the pace is significantly slower. Tasks that should take an episode are prolonged and stretched to fit over three episodes. An example, I could watch episode 22 and I would only be slightly ahead of the story that was aired in episode 18. This was constantly frustrating since there wasn't really a story to follow in some points.

Fantastic Art : 10
Shingeki No Kyojin's best feature is the art, along with the soundtrack. People have commented on the art style, saying that the bold lines on the characters and scenes are a little unusual, but I find it eye appealing. I love how the creators weren't afraid to draw bloody gore; they didn't sugarcoat any of the violence during this calamity. A final feature that I admire about this anime is the artist's ability to draw the Titan's anatomy so well, since I suck at drawing human anatomy :D

Jean, Bertholdt and Annie

The animation in Shingeki No Kyojin is spectacular. From the first second of the opening, and to the last beat of the ending song, the animation is consist throughout, and there is no drop in quality. Even the 3D maneuver gear had no visible flaws. One could simply stare with their open mouth as Levi would go into Sonic mode to kill the Titans or see Mikasa expertly maneuver herself around on the ground. The various angled scenes add a certain type of intensity and excitement in every mission or battle, really capturing the viewer.

To the creators/animators who took the effort and time
 to perfect the animation, thank you very much!

Intense and Catchy Soundtrack : 10
I fell in love with all the opening and ending songs for this anime. They were well selected and ear pleasing, very energetic and intense. The inserted songs are also fantastic, not asking for too much attention but enough to add dramatic effect or intensity to a scene. One of the best soundtracks that I have heard during the spring and summer season.

Well-Developed and Realistic Characters : 9
Throughout this anime, the protagonists face numerous challenges and hardships that they must overcome in order to survival. And when they do, they don't remain the same character anymore, but have changed, even on a fundamental level.

The characters themselves were very realistic. Fear is a major theme in this anime and the characters reacted according to that fear. An example would be in the first episode when Hannes attempts to slay an approaching Titan in order to save Eren, Mikasa and their mother. Facing the Titan, you would expect that Hannes will be able to slay the beast and save the kids, since this is anime and everything is possible. However, this particular anime takes into consideration that humans panic, get cold-feet and runaway. They didn't try to hide this fact at all and it makes the anime all the more realistic.

Enjoyment and Tears : 9
You know the common anime phrase, "Main characters. Main characters die everywhere"? This anime basically took that line to the next level. I won't go into detail but there was a moment in the later episodes that took my heart, shattered it, and literally keep rubbing it into my face whenever I would see Levi's face. Although it is a cruel technique, it made the anime more enjoyable for me since I could connect to the characters on an emotional level.

The one negative that I have to say about this anime is that it took way to long to go from point A to point B in the story. Detail is good, but having a consistent pace throughout the anime is better. The first five or so episodes left you satisfied and longing for more. After that, however, each episode was filled with previous fillers and recaps, shorten the episode's time and leaving annoying cliffhangers.

Overall : Great (9)
Seemingly over-rated, Shingeki No Kyojin is a terrific anime to watch, containing an interesting story, amazing art, stunning story, and well-developed characters. Certainly not the best-anime-that-has-been-created-ever, but it sure is close.

Gotta go fast!

Until next time.
Nankurunaisa
sana_salim