Thinking of Cosplaying at Anime Boston 2016…

I thought about doing it last year but due to how crazy things were for me around that time, those plans were put on hold. Seeing as pre-registration for AB2016 could come as early as late October, it’s worth thinking about now before things get crazy in the first 3 months of 2016. I originally planned to announce this as a video but didn’t feel the efort would have been worth it.

So who or what would I cosplay? I’ve narrowed it down to these:

Or this:

 

Or even this:

Or finally, this:

In all four cases, I would be buying the costume. I wanna throw that out there before folks get too excited. For those who don’t recognize the second one, it’s Izanagi from Persona 4. I’m pretty muscular though not ripped though regardless, I’m expecting a tight fit: I’m 6’1″ and weigh 230 lbs. Don’t let my weight fool you: I’m more muscle than body fat, believe it or not.

Even so, I’m leaning toward Attack on Titan or Robin from Fire Emblem since they’re ambiguous and would require the least amount of alterations. For example, I don’t necessarily need to buy a wig for either cosplay. While yes canonically Robin has white hair, in-game it doesn’t really matter since you can customize his (or her) appearance. I also say that because I will be bald and a wig won’t matter =D

Since this will be my first time cosplaying, I will only buy one costume. I plan to buy all the components between December and March: Halloween is next month and that means the prices will go up until after it’s done. It’s called being a smart shopper. LOL. Of course, I COULD just buy the components at Anime Boston but I’d rather take care of things in advance.

I’ve updated my Top 10 Favorite Anime List

Here is the link.

 

For those who want to see the list as it is now, here it is:

1. Clannad
2. Death Note*
3. Attack on Titan*
4. Persona 4
5. Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple
6. School Rumble!
7. Ah! My Goddess!*
8. InuYasha
9. Shuffle!
10. Ouran High School Host Club*

*  Denotes I also have Manga this Anime is based on

…As you guys already know, I have all of the volumes for Death Note. Come Anime Boston, I will have all of the volumes for Attack on Titan. See the updates for a bit more on each Anime. I think I have written a review for all of them as well and if not, I will get to it after Anime Boston.

I am now registered for Anime Boston 2015

 

…Just wanted to let folks know ^_^

I will now begin working on the powerpoints for the panels I plan to do. For now, I will submit applications for the following panels since the powerpoints for them are either done or will not take more than a single night to make or update.

These are the panels that, if I had to do any of them tomorrow, I’d be good to go:

• Clannad: The Place Where Wishes Come True (90 Minutes)
• Panels: Best Practices (60 Minutes)
• Persona 4: Pursuing My True Self (60 Minutes)

My Pokemon Panel is about 15% done and that’s basically the demo itself (LOL!). I haven’t started the Tales of Symphonia one yet. I’m saving doing ALL of that one for Christmas Break. I’m gonna do it all in one sitting this time so I have no excuses later XD

This will also be the last time I do my Persona 4 panel. I got Persona Q: Shadow Labyrinth for the 3DS. I get the sense it was one last game for fans of Persona 3 and 4 so…yeah. Ah, well can’t be helped.

Oh, well.

As an added bonus to those who come to my Best Practices panel: I will announce the panels I plan to do at AB2016 ^_^

Despite the Slow Start, My Summer Anime Marathon is going well

So far I’ve watched Clannad + After Story, Persona 4 and School Rumble in the two weeks since I was was released from the hospital. A short time ago, I started the first season of Ah! My Goddess! on DVD. I’m on track to meet my goal of watching 8 Anime by August 20. After this one I’ll be halfway there ^_^

The next Anime on my to-do list is the Anime I bought earlier this month: Death Note.

After that one, I’ll switch from DVD to the Digital Anime sets I own: Spice + Wolf (Xbox 360), Rosario + Vampire (Xbox 360) and Blue Exorcist (PS3). If I have time after that, I’ll watch Ouran High School Host Club (Blu-Ray) to close out the summer. Can’t wait to get Attack on Titan (English Dub) when it’s eventually released.

Are you watching Anime right now? Comment on the Anime you’re currently watching as well as your favorite Anime overall.

Had your fill of Toonami’s Weekly Lineup? Looking for More Anime? Here’s a few places to start looking!

I’m at that age where I’m old enough to remember watching Gundam Wing, Dragonball and Sailor Moon in the early 1990s, Dragonball Z a few years later, Fullmetal Alchemist, Code geass and Death Note about twelve years ago and more recently, the likes of Soul Eater, Blue Exorcist, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Bleach. What all of these Anime have in common is at one time or another they all aired on Cartoon Network and/or its anime block, Toonami.

Back in the day, you only really had Toonami and 4Kids to get your Anime fix. Things are very different now. As an added incetive, outside TV and Hulu there are no commercial interruptions so…yeah. Here’s two places I reccommend to get started:

This should come as no surprise given I reviewed it in January. For those who are unfamiliar with it, it’s basically Netflix but just Anime and Korean Dramas. Like Netflix, programming is on demand but like Hulu, new episodes are made available right after they’ve aired on TV in Japan.  Even though I’m a Dub Man and the Anime CR provides is all Subbed, no other provider comes close to the sheer volume of Anime they have to offer.

Crunchyroll can be streamed through both Microsoft and Sony Consoles as well as the Vita, iOS/Android devices and of course, your computer’s browser. CR is 100% free to watch on your computer but if you want to stream it, it’ll cost you $7 a month which is a buck less than Netflix for prettymuch just Anime.  The original content is easily worth the monthly subscription in my book.

 

As the first streaming service I ever used and as much as I hate to admit it, Netflix has its usefulness in regards to Anime. While the streaming giant has been quietly making original content in recent months (Orange is the New Black and House of Cards), it has also been acquiring exclusive licensing deals with various media providers. One such deal brought the entire Pokemon series to Netflix. At the moment, The Indigo League and The Unova Saga as well as the Reshiram and Zekrom movies are the only Pokemon-related stuff they have so far but those ALONE will easily take a few weeks to go through. The rest are set to be added over the coming months.

Moving on, almost all of the Anime I now own I saw for the first time on Netflix: Clannad, School Rumble, Ouran High School Host Club and Samurai Champloo to name a few. The small but respectable selection of Anime they have is a great place for folks to cut their teeth on Dubs without having to deal with the Ads on Hulu. Netflix also has Attack on Titan Subbed, which recently started airing on Toonami.

Like Crunchyroll, Netflix streams on both Sony and Microsoft consoles as well as the Vita and the 3DS family handhelds and all the rest. It’s $8 a month which isn’t bad. I actually have both CR and Netflix so…yeah. As a reminder: When streaming both CR and Netflix there are NO ADS =D

 

That’s just to whet your appitite.

So now you wanna buy some Anime but not ready for the DVD/Blu-Ray sets yet? That’s ok. I know a few providers that can help you get your Anime fix and the prices are obscenely cheap:

 

 

These were the first places I bought Anime from starting about seven years ago with Xbox Live’s PC Client Zune. The first Anime I bought was Ah! My Goddess! Unsurprisingly, I went on to own both seasons, the movie and two thirds of the Manga volumes (LOL!). This brings up the all-important question of cost. It really depends on which route you go. If you wand Standard Definition (SD) it’s $2 per episode across the board and $3 for High Definition (HD) episodes. While yes, HD is better quality the files are also MUCH bigger and in the cases of the consoles they can really eat up your storage if you’re not careful. For movies, the cost is $8-$10 though with those that have HD versions available it’s $12 or $15.

Both iTunes and Xbox Live/Zune allow you to buy whole seasons if you want. If a season is airing, you can buy a Season Pass which gets you all the episodes of a season in progress so far plus the rest of the episodes made available for download as early as an hour after they’ve aired on TV. You can also just buy all the episodes of a season at a flat rate after all the episodes have aired.

I reccommend one or both personally in regards to Anime. Most Anime seasons are 12 to 13 or 24 to 26 episodes long so…yeah. On average, Buying a whole season on average runs between $18 to $32 on both Xbox Live/Zune and iTunes (the Playstation Network doesn’t currently offer whole season purchases). I wouldn’t pay more than $30 personally for a digital copy of an Anime season or series. The most I paid was $24 each for both seasons of Spice & Wolf, Ah! My Goddess!, and Rosario + Vampire as well as Shuffle! (I bought the DVD set last year at Anime Boston) which I bought on Xbox Live three years ago. Each episode (Standard Definition) was $2 so more often than not, I got a real good deal on a season package. I paid $24 for the Shuffle DVD set in case you’re wondering.

 

…I’ve talked about Xbox Live/Zune almost exclusively but there SEVERAL benefits to buying your Anime on iTunes and The Playstation Network, more so if like me you have quite a few of their portable devices =O

For starters, once you buy anything from iTunes you can download it on all of your devices right away. Cross-buy and cross-download is also possible so for example if you buy Wolf Children on your PS3, you can download it to your Vita or PSP at no extra cost. Don’t wanna wait for it to download? You can stream it while it’s downloading in the case of Xbox Live/Zune and iTunes. In all three cases, you can que multiple downloads simultaneously.

Of course, the smart way to distribute your stuff after you’ve bought and downloaded it to your PC/PS3 is to use a Sync cable so you can get it on Portable device in seconds and not minutes or hours.

Whew…now we’ree getting to the third and final layer. In case it isn’t obvious: I am only providing LEGAL OPTIONS to get your Anime. Of course, there are illegal means but if you wanted to go that route, you probably wouldn’t have read this much (LOL). Support your favorite anime and BUY it!

 

That said, the final layer is of course DVD and/or Blu-Ray. While yes, Digital Purchases are the future there’s nothing wrong with wanting to own a physical copy of your favorite anime and anime movies. I have 14 Anime DVD and Blu-Ray sets (I count multiple seasons as part of a set personally) and 6 Anime movies myself so…yeah. I got most of my Box Sets during Anime Boston and have actually made it a tradition to buy two Anime Box sets at Anime Boston. For example I got Ouran High School Host Club and Fate/ZERO this year and Samurai Champloo and Shuffle! last year.

You really can’t go wrong when you buy your Anime on DVD/Blu-Ray: No DRM, no internet connection, no monthly fees, no ads, nothing but the Anime. The best part is you can decide if you want to watch it with the English Audio (default setting) or the Japanese Audio. With the other layers you’re locked into one or the other.

As for the price, that depends on where you look and how rare the Anime you’re looking to buy is. For example, Code Geass Season 1 goes for $49 while Season 2 costs $72. Persona 4 Blu-Ray is about $27 for each season (they split it in half for the home release presumably to bring the price down and double profits at the same time). Samurai Champloo (complete series) goes for $28 on DVD and $30 on Blu Ray.

Some sets are simply rarer or more common than others. Much of it has to do with licensing and/or the original distributor going under, ending the production of new DVD/Blu-Ray Sets. This is what happened to Code Geass. Those who paid attention will have noticed this Anime never reaired on Cartoon Network/Toonami. The reason for that is the company that held the license went under while the series was wrapping up on Toonami so it was never reaired. It’s also the reason the DVD Sets are so rare and costly XD

 

Ok that’s it for now. Up next, I’ll throw out my reccommended picks for folks who are not fans of Anime =D

My Manga collection will get a little bigger tomorrow

 

I rechecked the schedule for Sunday and I will have two very small windows at which to make my Manga purchases. One is right when the Dealers’ Room opens and the other is between my panels. As of this writing I still don’t know if the $96.50 I’m expecting has been deposited into my bank account yet but even if it doesn’t I have the $75 I earned last night =O

If I get the money from my PayPal account today or tomorrow I will buy an Anime Box set in addition to some Manga volumes. If now I’ll just get Manga. Here are some of the Manga series and volumes I’m looking at:

• Attack on Titan Vols. 9 to 11, Junior High School and Before the Fall: Junior High School is a satirical take of the smash hit. Before the Fall is a prequel to the main series and presumably explains how the Human/Titan Hybrids came to be. The Anime series ends after Anna the Female Titan is dealt with, which is Volume 8 of the Manga. The series continues in Volume 9. I assume there will be a Season 2 of the Anime once enough volumes have been written.
• Blue Exorcist Vols. 1 & 2: When I start a new Manga series I always get the first two. The Anime recently premiered on Toonami.
• Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Vols. 1 &2: Same as the above but it currently airs on Neon Alley and Hulu Plus.

That’s basically it. If I get the money I will also get a new volume or two from the following series:

• Bleach
• Naruto
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Fullmetal Alchemist
• Spice & Wolf
• Rosario + Vampire
• Oh! My Goddess!

Of course, this rides on weather the money I’m expecting arrives today or tomorrow. As for what Anime Box sets I’m looking at, here’s what I’m looking at:

• Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Season 1
• Kids on the Slope
• Angel Beats
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Ponyo
• Spice & Wolf Blu-Ray/DVD Combo
• This Ugly Yet Beautiful World
• Pokemon: Indigo League (83 Episodes!)

 

…Mind you, I’d probably only have enough money to get one of the Box sets. The price range is $35-5 for them all. Personally I’m leaning toward Kids on the Slope and Angel Beats, which are both 13 episodes long.  I know I can get Kiki’s Delivery Service and Ponyo easy enough at a Best Buy. Ditto for Spice & Wolf. I know I’ll have to buy Nura: Rise of the Yokai CLan, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World and Pokemon: Indigo League from Amazon.

Since AB 2011, I’ve always made sure to buy two Anime sets at the con. I got Ouran High School Host Club yesterday. One of the above listed titles will be the second =D

 

 

All Five of My Anime Boston Panels have been Waitlisted

Late last night I got the bulk email from Anime Boston’s Director of Programming and Panels Lou Arruda letting me know all of my panel submissions have been waitlisted. At this stage Lou is trying to slot in all of the Guests of Honor before moving on to General Panels. There’s a full month before the con left but the final schedule is usually set by the week before the con.

I’m confident my chances of getting some of my panels accepted are good. As of this writing only my Ace Attorney and Clannad Panels are good to go. Due to a number of distractions during the past week I failed to get any prepwork done on my Persona 4 and Tales of Symphonia panels. Even though I said five panels I have requested my Fire Emblem application be withdrawn so that I can focus on getting my Persona 4 and Tales of Symphonia panels ready.

Already, I know what panels I’m going to do next year. As of this week you can expect to see these panels at Anime Boston 2015:

• Clannad and Persona 4: Hearts of Courage (90 Minutes): I’m going to combine both panels into one super panel due to the overlapping themes. Should be interesting with the dueling contrasts ^_^
• 20 Years of Pokemon: Give us an MMO Already! (2 Hours): It’s arguably the most biggest Video Game franchise ever. The massively fun plans I have in mind for this one…whew. I’m expecting alot of folks to try to do a Pokemon panel next year especially so I’ll really be crossing my fingers on this one. It will also be the first panel I do that’s actually two hours long. It’s Pokemon we’re talking about so filling two hours won’t be too hard: I’ve set aside 60 minutes for trading and battling in two 30 minute blocks. Bring your own 3DS or two!
• Panels: Best Practices (60 Minutes): I’m going to host an open mic session where those who have run panels either at Anime Boston or at other conventions can share best practices.

That’s it.

The main event next year will be Pokemon just like this year is Tales of Symphonia. Should be fun. When I know which of my panels have been accepted/rejected I will announce it here first!

My Favorite Anime of 2013

Persona 4: The Animation

This should come as no surprise. Persona 4 ties with Clannad for my all-time favorite Anime. The similarities between both Anime is striking: Both are based on a video game (Clannad was originally a visual novel, which is a type of video game in Japan). Both have a main character who creates bonds with most of the other characters (Tomoya and Yu). High School students make up the main cast. Both have life lessons anyone can take from them.

I think Persona 4 the video game is one of those games a fan would play no matter how many times it’s re-released. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Persona 4 ported to the PS4 with the first episode of the Anime for example. The Anime does have a couple original tracks not found in the Anime. This one that plays during the team’s battle with Ameno Sagiri is my favorite:

It’s interesting to note Persona 4 The Animation (I won’t say P4A since there is a game titled Persona 4 Arena that uses that acronym) is not available on Netflix or Hulu Plus. The only way to legally watch it is to buy it. I first learned of the Anime from the trailer included with Persona 4 Golden and bought the whole series via iTunes in September. Then I bought the  Blu-Ray set earlier this week. Speaking of which: I noticed only the Blu Ray release includes Episode 26, which features Yu fighting Margaret and the battle with Izanami. For some reason this episode is not included with the iTunes, PSN and Xbox Live releases of the Anime.

 

 

My Panel Plans for AB2014

Before I start, preregistration is now live. Register by the end of November and save $15!
AB2014 will be my 3rd year as a panelist (WOOT!). This time I am looking to do four panels, two of which I am looking for someone to do the panel with this time around.

Of the panels I’ve done in the past, the following I can say for sure will definitely be back in March:

1. Clannad: The Place Where Wishes Come True (60 Mins): I will play clips from the Recap Episode duriing the panel. The quiz will not return but I will throw in some random facts about Clannad throughout the slideshow. As before, this panel will definitely be Saturday night.

2. Court Records: Ace Attorney (60 or 90 Mins): It will be more or less like how I did it last year plus info on Dual Destinies and extra info on the Ace Attorney movies (worth checking out in my opinion, mind you). If I can’t get someone to do this with me it will be 60 minutes and it will be late Sunday morning.

That’s it.

I’m looking for one or two people to help me do the Ace Attorney panel. If I can get help it will be 60 minutes, allowing me to commit 45 of those 90 minutes to a mock trial Ace Attorney style. It stole the show last year and it would be so much easier for me to do it next year. Cosplayers preferred but not required =D

If I can’t get help I’ll still do the mock trial it will be much shorter than the one I did last year.

As for my Fan Fiction Panel I will do it only if someone agrees to do it with me. I have no idea how I made it through the 90-minute marathon last year but I made it! I’m not in a rush to go through that alone again, though (LOL!). I am going to ask Lauren G., who is also a member of AB staff if she’d be interested in doing it with me but I wanna ask other folks too just in case. If I can’t get someone to do this panel with me I won’t do it this time. I’m expecting to do another panel afterward and would rather avoid a repeat of this year where I was scrambling to go to my next panel and get set up.

Before I talk about new panels I might do please keep in mind that panelists need to be pre-registered in order to run a panel at Anime Boston. I am going to ask the same of those interested in doing a panel with me. Please be registered for the Con by December 31 at 11:59PM. If you are interested in being a Co-panelist with me please email me at bthomas04@gmail.com or PM me. PM me only if you know for sure you’re up for it.

Now for the new panels:

* Persona 4: Pursuing My True Self (60 Minutes) will cover both the Anime and the Video Game, both of which I have (I have the Vita version of the video game). I will play clips from the Director’s Cut version of the first episode of the Anime during the panel. I will also have screenshots from the Vita version as well. I’m hoping to slot this panel on Friday afternoon or early Sunday morning.

* Flights of Fancy (30 Minutes) will cover the Anime and Manga series Ah! My Goddess! I will also field some questions from the audience of what they would ask for if given their very own wish. If I go forward with it, it will be Friday morning or around Opening Ceremonies (before or after).

* Chaos Theory: Fire Emblem Awakening (60 Minutes) focuses on the game and some of its inconsistencies. I will also take a shot at revealing what I think would be the canon pairings. If I were to go forward with it, it will be early Sunday morning or Friday afternoon.

So out of the above I am leaning toward doing the Persona Panel. My Clannad and Ace Attorney Panels will definitely happen and likely the Persona one as well if I can. If I end up not doing the Fanfiction panel I will do one of the other ones instead and save the one I don’t do for next year.

Review: Persona 4: The Animation

Hopefully some of you saw the review I did of the game this Anime is based on. If not, go see it after you’re done reading this. Unlike most of the Anime based on a video game I’ve seen up to now, Persona 4 (henceforth P4) can be followed by anyone weather or not they’re familiar with the game it’s based on. With the way the Vita version I reviewed is presented, I actually thought the Anime came first (LOL).

Notice I said VIta version. Persona 4 was previously released on the PS3 and the PS2. My understanding is the same team that worked on the Anime and the PS3 game basically built the Vita version from scratch. I left quite a few things out of my review of the game but I am including them here since I’m focusing on the storyline in my review of the Anime.

For starters, the Anime itself is 25 episodes long spanning two seasons. There is an extended cut version of the first episode included with the first season. Now for those who’ve only played the game you may be wondering how much of the game made the cut.

Just about everything did:

• All of the kidnappings happen in the same order they do in the games. The only change is the space between their rescue and recovery, which is skipped over to when they’re fully recovered.
• Everyone the player character encounters in the game except Marie (who is exclusive to the Vita version of the game) made the cut and has multiple lines.
• Like in the game Narakami uses multiple Personas, most notably while fighting Naoto’s Shadow and the final boss (not naming due to massive spoilers).
• The attendant makes the cut though he isn’t heard from after he’s introduced.
• Yes, the “Beauty” Pageant made it in, too. (WOOT!)

One interesting (or not?) change from the games presumably done to keep the Shippers happy is they didn’t pair the main characters. Narakami x Rise, Narakami x Ai and Kanji x Naoto were teased but that’s as far as it went. As I mentioned above the Vita version of the game introduces a new character who, once you’ve capped your bond with her gives you an extra ending. She is not included in the Anime presumably because the Vita version came after the Anime was done and The Velvet Room only appeared for about a minute at the beginning of each episode.

They didn’t hold back when they converted the game into Anime. It’s obvious to me they had fun putting the Anime together. Even if you played the game(s) first you’ll fall in love with the characters all over again. Like I said though, the Anime is essentially the same as the game in terms of content. I’d be fine letting a mature 12 year old watch it by themselves though.

Overall I give Persona 4: The Animation a 10 out of 10 for the same reason I gave the game the same rating: Everything together from the music to the storyline is executed flawlessly. Even the “ok, we’re going to skip ahead here” moments are subtly touched on without making a big deal out of it.

For me, the main selling point of both the Anime and game(s) are the lessons learned.

Let’s go over a few of them:

• Everyone has a side (except Narakami, LOL) of themselves they don’t want anyone else to know about. A tutorial on the Theory of Persona is actually included in the Vita version (as well as the previous Persona games) that goes into detail on what a Persona is and how everyone subconsciously uses one for every single person the interact with. I’m talking about the real word itself, not the game and anime stuff.
• For just aobut everyone (except Narakami), your most powerful enemy is actually yourself. The boss music in the Anime and games is called I’ll Face Myself for a reason. The characters are facing their own worst nightmare: A physical manifestation of their fears and anguish. For those who defeat their shadows and in turn gain the power of Persona, their Persona takes on the form of how they view themselves as heroes.
• The characters all have aspects of themselves or their lives they’d like to be free of (except Narakami), hence why they deny their Shadows as a part of them at first. In refusing to accept their innermost thoughts and feelings made manifest they’re nearly killed. After they accept their Shadows as a part of them, yes they gain the power of Persona but more importantly, they’re stronger as individuals because of it.
• With the Dojimas, Ryotaro was so obsessed with finding the guy who killed his wife he neglected Nanako. Thanks to Narakami Father and Daughter were able to come to an understanding about their feelings for each other and their deceased loved one.
• Kanji and Naoto both have a complex about their sexual identities. With Kanji, he’s your textbook jock but he like cute things. With Naoto, she’s a girl who pretends to be a boy so she can be the cliche boy detective genius. After they face their shadows they come to accept these respective aspects about themselves.

…Whew, that was very tech-heavy!

Now as to the question of what would happen if I faced my “Other Self”, I’m strong enough to say I’ve been there already and at the moment of truth I accepted reality. Are the stuff about me I don’t want anyone else to know? Nope. The only thing that comes even remotely close on that list I’ve already put out there in both my Fanfics and Original stories.

Let me shrink that last paragraph into 5 words: I have nothing to hide. I’ve already proven it earlier this year. Yes, there are some things that just shouldn’t be shared but you get the idea. If someone else announced them to the world I’d be mad at whoever did it but I’d accept it as the truth. I’m even going to do a video to prove it.

Watch my main blog for ther video sometime next month.