Otaku Newz Issue #2

Issue #2

Konnichiwa! Welcome to the second issue of Otaku Newz. I want to give a special shout out this week to my friend and fellow writer, potatoegirl31--she designed and created the lovely graphic that now represents our little group!  



Vampire Knight Plushie Review
by potatoegirl31



Do you love Vampire Knight? Have you ever wanted to cuddle any of these cute and cool Cross Academy students? Well, now's your chance! For a couple years now, you can get Zero, Yuki, Kaname, Ichijou, and Aidou as darling little plush dolls! I have ordered all of mine on Amazon.com, in which they come tucked into a plain unmarked plastic bag, and then put either into a box (if you ordered other things to get free shipping) or a bubble-lined envelope. They all have a very pretty paper hang tag (which I recommend cutting off and saving). They are made by Great Eastern Entertainment Co. Inc., and as far as I know, are the 'real deal. (Unlike some other series, which are hard to tell the bootlegs from the real ones. I'm lookin' at you, Gift!)

Materials: They are made with the typical thick felt (with a plush velvet texture) for the hair; a thinner felt cloth for the 'skin'; a fuzzy-textured, polyester-backed fabric for the clothing; a smooth nylon-y fabric for the shoes; feet have cardboard at the bottoms (sewn inside of course!); Yuki and Zero have soft vinyl armbands. Zero also has a felt gun glued to his right hand.

Pluses--THEY ARE SO ADOWABLE!!! These cuties are based on the chibi design found in the Vampire Knight otome video game for the DS (seen in the character selection menus) and the plushies are quite faithful to that design. They are soft and cuddly (and get more 'squishable' as they get more love!) and have such 'touchable' felt hair, which has a fluffy velvet-y texture. They each have a unique pose, which fits their character well. The felt hair is cut and shaped well, and has more 3-D-ness, as opposed to the Hetalia plushies. Aidou's tousled mop is particularly done well! There are 7 separate pieces in addition to the base, for him.
Also, the colors are much better in real life than what you might have seen on the online store/catalog pages (particularly Kaname!)

Minuses--
The biggest 'minus' is that, well, I wish they were bigger, like, maybe 11 inches instead of 8 (the size of the 'bootlegs')...so that they would be EASIER TO HUG! They could do without those hang-strings on the tops of their heads, but you can easily cut them off. The biggest minus of all, though (but I noticed this only on Aidou and Ichijou) is that the black lines on the uniforms are wearing off, and looking quite faded and fuzzy now. These lines were applied more 'cheaply' with these two, they seemed 'painted' onto the felted cloth. The other three (Yuki, Zero, Kaname) have more durable 'lines' which seem to be a soft 'plastic-y' applique (like the eyes) which held up much better to handling. Yuki has buttons down the front of her jacket (the buttons are not supposed to show!) My Zero has a small 'gash' cut into his armband, sadly. One last minor thing, Aidou and Ichijou lack the little white 'shiny' dots on the eyes, but that is easily fixed with a careful touch of a white paint marker!

In all, the minuses are all fairly minor. Someone good with paint markers can fix most of these. They average, in price, at $12-13 US dollars, and I feel, are worth buying! (:

My rating: 4 out of 5.
(but perhaps I should take away half a star for Aidou and Ichijou?
naaah, Aidou is so my favorite! *huggles him*)



Fall 2013 Anime
by ukulelecrazy


For those of you looking for something new to watch, I put together a list of some ongoing anime series which are airing right now.  Here they are!


~Non Non Biyori~

“The closest book store sells Jump every Wednesday, the video rental shop is ten stations down. Vegetables are left out for sale, and no one’s ever even seen a lock on a house. That’s the country life they live, but these five girls at Asahigaoka Branch School are enjoying it! Enjoy the leisurely, laid-back life of these unique girls!”

Genres: School, Slice of Life, Comedy

There are currently five episodes of this anime. It appears unique from the typical school anime because the characters are in elementary and middle school rather than high school. The story features Hotaru Ichijou, who has moved with her family from Tokyo to the middle of the country. Her new school has a total of five students. (!)

Fans of Non Non Biyori also liked: Yuyushiki, Kiniro Mosaic, Little Busters!, and Tamayura: Hitotose


~Beyond the Boundary (Kyoukai no Kanata)~

“There is a girl who is the last surviving member of a ‘certain clan’ and a ‘half-youmu’ boy who shouldn’t exist... This is their story.”

Genres: Supernatural, Slice of Life

This is a dark fantasy featuring a high school sophomore named Akihito Kanbara—he appears human, but he is actually half youmu, and invulnerable to injury. Akihito meets Mirai Kuriyama, a highschool freshman girl who has the ability to manipulate blood. After their meeting, disturbing events begin to unfold . . .

Fans of Beyond the Boundary also liked: Bakemonogatari, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai, and Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East


~Golden Time~

“Banri Tada is a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo. However, due to an accident, he lost all of his memories. During his freshman orientation, he encounters another freshman from the same school, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, and they hit it off at once. Without any memory of each other, their lives become more and more intertwined as if set by the hands of fate. But what is their fate, and will it lead to happiness or another memory to forget…”

Genres: Romance, Comedy, Seinen

This is a story by the author of Toradora!, Yuyuko Takemiya. The main character is Tada Banri, a new student at a private law school in Tokyo. He finds himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, and at that moment, he runs into another lost freshmen: Yanagisawa Mitsuo. They get along right away. Later, our main character runs into an old childhood friend. (love triangle??)

Fans of Golden Time also liked: Toradora!, Lovely Complex, and Hachimitsu to Clover.


You can find all of these new series on Crunchyroll: www.crunchyroll.com/ (I know you’re just dying to watch some of them!)
Sources: The descriptions in quotation marks for each anime were taken from Crunchyroll



FanArt Showcase
by littleauthor12
 


You'll find the artists of these works by clicking on their piece.


Unseen Anime--Amnesia
by littleauthor12

This section is for those unappreciated anime that I think are good but don't have much of a fan-base. I was going to originally do a different anime but I have not finished it yet. I was talking with one of the people I'm showcasing in Fanart Showcase and they mentioned how they wished the show was more popular. I personally love the show. So without further delay, Amnesia.



Amnesia is a mystery/ fantasy/ romance/ reverse harem where the main character heroine has, well, amnesia. Her amnesia is thanks to a fairy named Orion running into her and jumbling up her memories. Orion is now stuck to her and tells her that if she must not let anyone know of her amnesia otherwise she'll never get better.

Pros:
I'll tell you now, I don't dilly dally, I get straight to the point. With Amnesia, one of my favorite things about it is the clothing. Go search up Amnesia characters on Google images and then show me some cooler anime clothing. Yeah I don't know about you but I think it's awesome. Next, the love interests. (Excluding Kent, they're all pretty original and interesting. Sorry Kent, will get to you in the cons.) Out of all the love interests I have to say my favorite is Ukyo, but I can't say why because spoilers, sweetie. The whole concept of the show is new to me--I mean, have you seen many anime characters with amnesia, let alone main characters? Of course, last but not least, I have to compliment the opening, "Zoetrope", the ending, "Recall", and all the rest of the soundtrack. All of the music from this show gives of this sad/creepy feel which is quite fitting I think.

Cons:
One of my major complaints is that they didn't end it very nicely; as not to spoil it I won't go any further. Complaint number two: Kent, now don't take my opinion seriously, because I'm sure I'd like him better if they gave him more then one episode to explain himself. I don't know about other people, but I found Kent boring. Maybe if we got more time with him I wouldn't see him as brick wall. And true story, without noticing, I skipped his episode while watching this show. I should complain about Orion here, but face it, most anime have characters like him so onwards. If you asked me what I thought of Toma I would say I didn't like him, but I know tons of people who do so watch and find out for yourself.

To finish it off, Amnesia will forever live in my memory as a good show with a creepy side to it. Oh you want one of those star things? (ratings) I say three and a half.


Cosplay Lovers
by OriginalKazumiChan

Hello everyone today I am going to introduce you to some amazing cosplayers. Not only will you get to see their costume of choice but you can always go back and take a look at their amazing profiles. I am very excited to introduce you to these amazing cosplayers. So far there is going to be a short list of three cosplayers, and I sent them all questions that I thought would be good to start off with. If you have any other questions please send me a note, and if I enjoy your question or think that it would be a good idea then you just might see your questions answered. Oh and for the first one I asked everyone the same question, expecting different answers for each person.
(Due to the length of this issue, we'll be featuring the first interview this issue, and you can look forward to the next two in Issue #3! My apologizes for any inconvenience.)

Now then we should get started. The first person who I asked to let me interview is a great person and tries very hard to make her costumes look great <3 I asked her ten question and was happy to see what she wrote.
The link to her profile: jibril-cosplay.deviantart.com/

Jibril was very open with her feelings when it comes to cosplay; she loves cosplay because of how it pushes her to learn and practice new things, like sewing-quality (very important for her), Charisma, and self-consciousness. She is proud to say that she has done 35 cosplays. Jibril says that she doesn’t know for sure just how many more cosplays she is planning to do; she finds many of the designs brilliant and would love to wear them, but so far only has four more planned.  

~Tips/Tricks~
• Jibril says to start with easy paper-patterns that you can buy at the store. She also started out by cutting up her everyday clothes for the patterns and found that it also made it easier when she first started out.

When asked about her favorite cosplay that she has done she was excited to show me her Lia de Beaumont from Le Chevalier D'Eon! She loves it so much. (photo VV) Jibril has never bought a costume up until now--she says that all are self-made, and she takes great pride in the work that she does.



~Tools used every time~
• The sewing machine is one of the tools she uses to make her costumes. She is big on detail for the costumes, for example, embroidery or oil-painted motives.
• As for the tool that she uses almost every time she makes a costume, she says, “It’s hard to say, it depends on the character design.” These are what she uses often when it comes to photos or visiting a convention: make up, nail enamel, and fake eyelashes.

I also asked her what was one of the funniest things that has happened to her when wearing a costume, and this is her story:
“There were a lot because it's a really great and funny hobby. For example there was a little child that saw me in my Michiro Kaiho Cosplay and ran to his mom to tell her. Look, look there is a beautiful Girl but why is her hair so dirty, it's green!? That was so cute.”

And so that ends Jibril’s section! This concludes this issue. I was super excited to write this and help others with their cosplays. And remember to let all the cosplayers know just how much you like their cosplays. I know I said that there will be a vote, but decided that some people’s feelings might get hurt, so sorry, but we will not be doing that. But you can always go to their profiles to look at all their wonderful cosplays. I know I did, and I loved every moment of looking through their galleries. Once again please remember to keep all comments nice and polite. I would like to thank all of our cosplayers for taking the time out of their day to answer questions.
I have to say sorry from me because some of the people doing this have a hard time with English and I want to say sorry if I portrayed anything wrong.

(Remember to look for the more Cosplay Lovers in the next issue!)



An Oldie but a Goodie
by Syleria11

This week I am going to talk about the anime/manga series Trigun. Though it might not be that old, it is still a great and funny series that really needs to be recognized, so I will tell you a little about it and I really hope you all check it out.



Trigun is by Yasuhiro Nightow, and the 1st manga series run time is 1996 to 1999 with 3 volumes. The anime series was made off of this first set, and then they came out with Trigun Maximum manga with a run time of 1998 to 2008, and it has 14 volumes. The anime aired April 1, 1998, and ended September 30, 1998 with 26 episodes. The anime was on Adult Swim a few years ago. There is also a film that came out April 24, 2010, and is 90 minutes long. The film is called Trigun Badlands Rumble. There is also a game for the PS2 called Trigun: The Planet Gunsmoke. I have never played it but I am guessing it is good cause the rest of the series is so great.

Plot: Known for its Space Western theme, Trigun is about a man named "Vash the Stampede" and the two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees who follow him around in order to minimize the damages inevitably caused by his appearance. Most of the damage attributed to Vash is actually caused by bounty hunters in pursuit of the "60,000,000,000$$" (sixty billion "double dollars") bounty on Vash's head for the destruction of the city of July. However, he cannot remember the incident due to retrograde amnesia; he is able to recall only fragments of the destroyed city and memories of his childhood past. Throughout his travels, Vash tries to save lives using non-lethal force. He is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who, like Vash, is a superb gunfighter with a mysterious past.



As the series progresses, we learn more about Vash's mysterious history and the history of human civilization on the planet Gunsmoke. The series often employs comic relief, and is mostly light-hearted although its tone shifts toward darker and more dramatic situations as the series draws to a conclusion. The story line also involves moral conflict pertaining to the morality of killing other living things.

I absolutely love this series and recommend it to any otaku; the characters are all loveable and the main character Vash is just amazing. He is this awesome gunslinger that doesn't like to kill people, even the bad guys, and  he will doing everything in his power to make sure the bad guys live but are brought to justice. He acts all crazy when in the face of danger, and he also acts like he doesn't know what he's doing, but when it comes down to it, he always pulls through. He's not human. I can't remember what he is, but he loves humanity, and unlike his twin brother Knives who wants to destroy humanity, Vash loves to get drunk and also loves the ladies. The 1st half of the series is all crazy funny with lots and lots of Vash crazy antics. But as the story progresses it gets serious and we learn about Vash and his past, and that's when his brother Knives comes in.

If you want to learn more about the series, go to: trigun.wikia.com/wiki/Trigun_W…. There, you can read and learn about the story and the characters.
If you would like to read the manga, go to: www.mangahere.com/manga/trigun…. Here, you can read both Trigun and Trigun Maximum . Plus you can read the little manga they have for the movie.
If you would like to watch the series, then I think you can watch it on Netflix. But if they don't have it there you can go to Hulu or you can watch it here: www.animepalm.tv/trigun-episod…. It is also on Youtube I believe.
I hope you all do get a chance to watch and read this amazing series if you haven't already, of course. And please tell me what you think of it if you do. Thank you so much and until next time happy reading/watching.


Black Butler Season Two Personal Review
by KittyCatManiac

Season two starts out very confusing. If you have not finished season one yet, don’t worry, keep reading! I will not be spoiling things, although I will explain my opinion on certain things but try to keep them vague.
So anyways the second season starts out so confusing. They trick you into thinking that the new season is going to be about two whole new different characters. This made me very upset. I thought that I would not know what became of my Ceil! That is one of the only things I would change about the second season: things definitely need to be explained more. But do not worry because in episode 5 they do explain some things, and again in one of the last few episodes. But it does take awhile to fully understand what has happened and what is going on.

One thing that I loved about the second season were the new characters they introduced. Because, although I love my Ceil and Sebastian, the anime was due for some new characters.
Alois is wonderful. At first I hated him, despised him. But then as the anime went along I developed a strange kind of love for him. By the end of season two I must say that Alois Trancy now holds a permanent place in my heart. (:
Claude is Alois’s Butler and at first, once again, I was not too fond of him. I must admit that even after finishing the season, he still doesn’t quite appeal to me. The reason being that he is just so sub-par to Sebastian. Everything Claude does, Sebastian can do better. But please, no hate from team Claude!
The last character that I wish to speak about is Hannah. Hannah has gotten a lot of hate, but I personally love her! I liked her from the beginning. Well more like pitied her... But as the season goes on her character is more and more developed and you don’t just see her as just the weak maid.

The beginning theme is pretty enjoyable. The song is not my favorite but the scenes and pictures they put in it are to my liking. The end theme is a very peaceful and beautiful song. There is not much going on in it. A lot of butterflies are flying around and there is a wonderful illustration of Ceil lying beautifully on the floor at the end of the song.  
As for the ending: honestly I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m keeping this short.  The one thing I will say is that I can’t decide if I liked the ending or not.  Because a part of me is saying that what happened is what I wanted to happen. But now... I’m not so sure...  I must admit that I did get tears in my eyes countless times during the last episode.

Overall, including season one and two I would rate this anime 5 stars! I truly loved every single episode.  Anyways if I go on any longer this review will end up being like ten pages long! Thanks for reading! (: If you have finished Black Butler, and are an obsessive fan, then note me! I would love to talk to you and discuss all things Black Butler. 

P.S. I would like to mention that I absolutely loved that the very last episode was called Black Butler... So fitting... Who else agrees?