October 17, 2009

Coeli's Macross Saga Part 1: Do You Remember Love?

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
I finally gave in to watching the whole Macross series - primarily because my friends from Otakai somehow managed to persuade me into watching it. My boyfriend (who is now officially part of Otakai!) has been egging me for so long to watch it but I guess he still lacks the B.I. (Bad Influence) skills regulars of Otakai are so known for.

As per their advice, I started with the movie, Do You Remember Love? just to get the feel of Macross. Now don't get me wrong. I pretty much know stuff about Macross, having played the game in the old-school NES (aka Family Computer here in the Philippines) and I pretty much know who Lynn Minmay is. I also know the characters of Macross Frontier - Sheryl X Alto FTW! - and since my boyfriend sits right next to me at the office, I am forced to listen to all their songs.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?So I watched Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (Man that title is so long.) I got pretty bored at the first part and I was almost tempted to push the stop button of my media player. I even kept looking at the time to see how long I have to sit down and watch Lynn Minmay sing. Then the amusing parts came: the Zentradi started attacking. What's so amusing about this is how they constantly shouted "Yak! Deculture!" which made me snicker every time they'd say it. If it weren't for that line, I would've stopped watching already. (Up until now, I still don't know if it's Yak or Yack.)

So I met the other characters like Hikaru and Hayase. Oh and Roy Focker and Claudia. Roy Focker's cool. Crude, yet cool. Too bad he died that way. The Meltlandi too - female counterparts of the Zentradi; they're pretty but damn as hell they're big.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?What's fascinating about Macross is how they weaved a story of how humans were created. Created, not born. That kept me watching intently. It's pretty reminiscent of Atlantis and Lemuria and all that. The stuff about protoculture and deculture and whatever culture is intriguing and I salute the creators of Macross for getting me interested over something like that!

I do however, find it funny that Lynn Minmay's singing can stop the wars. Sure, she did sing a song that was created thousands of years ago... I still find it funny nonetheless. Oh and I dislike Lynn Minmay. She's irritating and clingy and she's too girly!! Kyuun~ Kyuun~ Kyuun~ XD For the sake of the title of the movie, Do You Remember Love? is a love story between Hikaru, Hayase and Minmay. The aliens and the Valks were added there so that it can be called Macross. At least, that's what I think.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?Ohhhh yeah, I forgot an integral part of Macross! VALKYRIES. Well, I'm not interested in them at all. I couldn't even tell each one apart from the other save for the colors. VF-whatever... No way am I going to start collecting them anytime in the near millennium.

Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?I think this post probably didn't really make sense. Buuuuuut~ I'll still continue with my Coeli's Macross Saga Part 2: Macross Frontier as soon as I finish watching it~~ Siao Pai Lon~!

October 15, 2009

Eien no With - A Story for Dog-Lovers

Eien no WithTitle: Eien no With
Story & Art: Miyauchi Saya
Volumes: 1
Genre: Shoujo

(It's been a long time since I posted a review of a manga, so I'll write about one that I finished reading yesterday and has made cry a bucket-load of tears.)

Having a soft spot for dogs (me owning a very spoiled American Bulldog named Piper and a recently adopted Siberian Husky named Shin), I immediately started to read Eien no With when I saw that it was a heart-warming story about one.

Eien no With focuses on Eye - a dog trained to be a guide for blind people. The story starts when a lonely girl named Hitomi gets motivated to volunteer to semi-train a guide dog for one year. She picks out the runt from the group, seeing that he is like her in so many ways and calls him "Eye."

Eventually, Eye had to leave to undergo training that will ready him for his job. It was heart-wrenching reading about Hitomi's feelings when she had to part with Eye. Although Hitomi found out from her dad that she could see Eye again after he retires from his job - meaning, he could go back home to them again.

10 years later, Eye and Hitomi once again meets as Eye retires from being a guide dog. This is where the story becomes super dramatic *cue tears as large as ping pong balls* and this is the part where I stop telling you about the plot. No spoilers! The story is too good to be spoiled!! ^V^

So anyway, Eien no With is only 3 chapters long, the first one is when Eye and Hitomi meet. The second is when Eye comes home after ten years and the third? The drama :)

Art-wise, Miyauchi switches from two different styles which is obvious as the transition happens from the first chapter to the next. The first style is pretty much old-school shoujo while the second style is contemporary shoujo and personally, I like the latter better.

Story-wise, it's one of the best ones I've ever read. The plot is very realistic - too realistic that I was crying as I read it (my officemate was looking at me funny). I can so relate to Hitomi in terms of her feelings for Eye. (I can't help but wish that I wouldn't have to go through her ordeals with Piper.)

Eien no With is a very, very good story, especially if you have dogs, or any other pet for that matter, that are close to your heart!

October 13, 2009

Anime Overload Festival

Anime Overload FestivalWhat: Anime Overload Festival 2009
When: November 8, 2009 , 10AM - 8PM
Where: SMX Convention Center
Activities: Video Game Challenge, Anime Karaoke Idol, Battle of the Bands, Cosplay Competition, Music Video Competition, Dance Showdown, Eating Contest, Drawing Contest, Maid Cafe, Manga Cafe

I'm pretty excited about this event. Why? Because Otakai will be having a display booth to promote both Otakai as a figure society and figure collecting in general. Our theme would be kinda like a crusade against bootleg figures as we aim to promote awareness in differentiating between originals and bootlegs. (I'm part of the organizing committee, in charge of the roster of volunteers and promotions.)

I'll post the posters that we'll make as soon as we've completed them ^_^ Oh and I'll also post samples of the t-shirts we're going to have made for this event!

Here's to hoping for a successful display event!

October 4, 2009

ANICON Postponed!

aniconAniCon has been canceled. For what reason, I don't know. I'm just guessing that the recent slew of typhoons here in the Philippines that caused a lot of destruction have something to do with this.

One of the organizers is a member of Otakai so we got wind of this just a few days ago as he updated the AniCon thread. We just have to wait for the announcements.