Planned or Unplanned

So I was talking the other day with a friend about tv series, and how sometimes it annoys me when there are dead end plots that go nowhere. Specifically I was thinking about Melrose and when Laura Leighton was on 90210 for like, six episodes or something, and then her character just disappeared. Or that one weird episode of 7th Heaven in which a crooked contractor feigns injury while renovating the garage apartment to rip off the Camdens and Annie is all “I will fight you on this!” and then nothing was ever mentioned again. Clearly plots they threw at the wall that didn’t stick.

These always annoy me, despite the fact that in real life events happen that don’t necessarily lead anywhere all the time. Then again, if I wanted real life I wouldn’t need a tv at all.

Initially I floated Lost as a show with a plan before I realized it too is littered with lost (heh) plots, like Libby and Ana Lucia or, more gallingly (since AL & L were apparently let go because of bad behavior filing in Hawaii) Shannon and Boone. Why were they even there? It really puts a damper in my faith that Lost has an overarching plan, in spite of its assurances.

I have similar issues with BSG. Don’t tell me “They have a plan” unless they have a plan.

At the end of the day, the only shows I can think of that seem airtight to me are Veronica Mars and some anime series (which are, presumably, planned out in the manga?), though I’m always ready to hear more.

I haven’t finished the Sopranos yet, but it seems to be a pretty tight show thus far (midway through S5) and possibly Big Love, although it’s hard to tell with series that are ongoing.

[Via http://theboozetube.wordpress.com]

Manga training + Rants + tips

So remember i showed you this pic?:

http://fatesofashe.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/manga-training-excuses/

I finally finished it so lemme show you the process… to the final product

Ironically the editor and i got confused which was the starting point was it the top left or top right to be first panel? Are we reading traditional or American system. The difference is huge depending on your reading style. So minutes later we decided that the top right will be the initial frame and we went off from there, a few modifications on the top left panel and a change of posture in the bottom left resulted in this:

So he liked that and the penciling came out fine. A couple of small mistakes but i overridden them:

Ok other than the obvious right hand glove on bottom left which i just realised when i uploaded, the major mistake here was with the explosion, so after serveral talks we fixed that and a small fix with the glove in panel 3. The final “All green” is this one:

The explosion is much better in this one.

So enough with explanations tips!

1) with drawing energy try a couple of flicks here and there in the initial draft, and when you finally pencil it, see if it looks good, i tend to take a couple of days drawing energy cause i am not used to it yet.

2) Speedlines help with pretty much anything in action. For a particular motion or movement i recommend French Curves, if you dont have one i suggest you go get some. It cost me 13 bucks in Australia it may be cheaper or more expensive where you live, they help with speed lines and also general shape of movement very very useful than free hand and much more cleaner.

3) Set Squares help with blades construction and stuff. most importantly speed lines.

4) Characters: Spam whatever you liek generally if your a reader you will be flicking through 16 pages really really quickly and reading the speech bubbles the art has to flow rather than be noticable, if you can do both then your very good, i cant do that yet so most of my stuff is very simple, but i guess the important parts must be detailed, so pay attention to em.

5) What i have found when drawing explosions in the last panel is that you can start out with clouds then add small bits to the outside, if your not sure use a reference. Small clouds (Sausages as my editor told me) should be added to create a much more realistic explosion and use speed lines as required, but don’t over do it.
Lastly i should probably mention here that I need an inker i can work with, if you think you can ink send me an email with your linearts . Me and the editor are working on small projects atm and would appreciate an inker and a colorist (well just an inker would be nice atm) I dont really want to do the whole thing manually cause that is a fair bit of pressure. So if anyone is interested, fire me an email at:

gunblade7777777@gmail.com

or

fatesofashe@gmail.com

i check the first one more often

John Signing Out lol

[Via http://fatesofashe.wordpress.com]

An Unintentional Yuri Kick

Disclaimer: None of the following are rated H though apparently the first was based on the story line of an H game.

Nearly all of the animes I have viewed recently have unintentionally been very very, oh so very, yuri.  Not that its a bad thing, most yuri based shows are hilarious because of the girl/girl match that always goes array.  Its more the realization that every show I put on ends that way.  The last non-yuri show I have seen was Tayutama~kiss on my deity which included your typical girl/guy/female-embodiment-of-a-god love triangle.

Yami to Boshi to Hon no Tabibito (The Traveller Yami, the book and the hat).

Nutshell: Girl falls for girl (Eve) who is really on the of the great gods that created all the worlds.  Girl goes looking for Eve who mysteriously disappeared the night of her 16th birthday.  Meets Eves sister who falls for girl and together they quest to find Eve.  Eve returns love to girl but then erases all her own existence in the world.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

Nutshell: City full of students wielding various special powers.  Only level 5 student has strange fetish roommate who likes to share her panty collection and orders chinese import aphrodisiacs.  Incredibly funny show so far but it has yet to acquire a plot line.

Kampfer

Nutshell: Guy gets special powers that can only be used if he is in the form of a girl so due to nearby allies and enemies he randomly turns into said girl.  He/She ends up getting switched to all girl section of school where, strangely enough, all the girls fall for she/he including she/he’s love interest, though he would rather she like him as a guy.

[Via http://rielleromdo.wordpress.com]

japanese cartoon characters

I just realized that within a span of 2-3 mnths i know the names of most of the japanese cartoon characters which come on Hungama channel and Pogo channel thnx to my little one ..

the most famous of thm all is i guess ‘Doraemon ” – the cat . then there is Nobita, Shizuka,Dorami,Korusuke , Miyuka , Sunio, Gutan Borilla ,Jyian,  Togari,Hagemaru , Okarumaru , Asarichan , Shin-chan ,  and all the rest

Shin chan is one of most popular Japanese cartoon series across the world. Its Hindi version  is aired on a popular kiddie channel, Hungama TV. Though Shin Chan may appear to be just another regular kindergarten going child but dont they often say that looks can be very deceptive.

Shin Chan often uses fairly impolite language, argues with his mother practically on all occasions, misbehaves at school with his teachers and friends . all of this obviously shown with the excuse of simple ignorance of correct behavior due to his very young age.

Just juxtaposing all this with the comics and cartoons that we grew up with

first there was the legion of superheroes from DC comics — the foremost among them undoubtedly – Superman ,,, ( with also supergirl, superboy, lois lane, lana lang)then Batman ( robin , batwoman, batgirl , catgirl ) , Green Lantern , Captain America , Wonderwoman,the Flash,Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, the JUstice League

then there is marvel comics with  Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Iron Man , The Hulk,X-men, Wolverine

other than that we had Zorro – the masked legend , the Phantom – the ghost who walks, Richie rich , casper – the friendly ghost ,

the Archie andrews gang — archie , betty , veronica , jughead , ethel, reggie, dilton , moose , midge - josie and the  pussycats , sabrina  – the teen witch

then the indian comics — indrajal comics with   phantom ,   mandrake and lothar , flash gordon , bahadur

diamond comics — with chacha chaudhary , sabu , pinky etc

and finally tinkle — chamataka, doob doob , shikari shambhu, supandi, kalia the crow ,, and who can forget amar chitra katha  with those ammmaazzzing stories from our mythology  !!!!!!!

[Via http://surwil.wordpress.com]

Seitokai no Ichizon: Episode 9

Chizuru… Oh god… I came close to shedding a tear. Chizuru’s past is sad and yet so realistic. That’s the main focus. Today’s whiteboard: “Read Books” and so, let’s begin.

Quick Game: Which one does not belong? Anyways…

Meet Miyashiro Kanade. Cute, right? Chizuru’s dear friend from middle school. Why’s she look so sad? Well, she has something to say.

She was a friend to Chizuru. She cared for her but… Chizuru was surprisingly popular. She didn’t want to lose her friend and so she drove others away with lies and rumors. She’s so cute~ Thinking that’s the best way to keep her friend.

Of course the isolation in Chizuru’s heart is healed by the amazing power of… The Student Council? Eh…. yeah, that’s about it. Screen Cap gallery follows as always.

—–
I can’t do anymore today. Headache is killing me. I’ll get up early tomorrow though.

[Via http://deslarris.wordpress.com]

Ao no Ether - Nakajima Megumi - Macross Frontier

Ao no Ether
Nakajima Megumi
Macross Frontier
Ending Song

I’ll give you
one of my names that is important to me
Just give me one of your words
all except the word “goodbye”

a bead of light and then a wave
You’re a bird and then the universe

I was always by your side
when we smiled,we were connected
The day that everything was in harmony

I wanted to be with you every time
no matter what voice I use
I can’t reach you
On my Blue blue blue journey
Not to attack nor to defend,
My feelings are in the middle.
Between glitters and despair,
My feelings are in the middle.

The future are wings, then lead
I’m the water, then the flames

I always want to be with you
more than love, I was closer to you
The day when everything into one stays warm

I wanted to be with you every time
I can’t hear the music
Falling far away from you
On my blue blue blue journey

Blue blue blue journey

ROMAJI

watashi no namae o hitotsu ageru
taisetsu ni shiteita no
anata no kotoba o hitotsu kudasai
sayonara janakute

hikari wa tsubu soshite nami
anata wa tori soshite uchuu

zutto soba ni ita
hohoemeba tsunagatta
subete ga hitotsu ni chouwashiteta ano hi

zutto soba ni itakatta
donna ni koe ni takushitemo
anata made todokanai
aoi aoi aoi tabiji

kougeki demo nai bougyo demo nai
mannaka no kimochi
kirameki to zetsubou no aida no
mannaka no kimochi

mirai wa hane soshite namari
watashi wa mizu soshite honoo

zutto soba ni ita
ai yori mo chikakatta
subete ga hitotsu ni atataka datta hi

zutto soba ni itakatta
ongaku mo kikoenai
anata kara toozakaru
aoi aoi aoi tabiji

aoi aoi aoi tabiji

DOWNLOAD THIS SONG:
Ao no Ether

[Via http://aoikunotaku.wordpress.com]

Otaku

For those of you who hear the word “onna otaku” in English it means she geek or nerd.  Here’s a little history of the “otaku” word.  Otaku (おたく/オタク) means nerd, geek or fan.  The word originates from a polite second-person pronoun meaning “your home” in Japanese, allowing the speaker to refer to the listener indirectly.

Since the 1980s it’s been used, much like the term “geek” in the US, to refer to people who are really into technology, video games, ANIME, MANGA and extensions of these such as COSPLAY, FIGURES and IDORU.

The etymology of the word is complex, but there are several possibilities.  The explanation preferred by cultural commentators is that because young nerds stayed home a lot, they were unable to manage social interactions and referred to one another indirectly as “otaku”.

Example, some of the founders of the anime studio GAINAX were among the first hardcore anime aficionados where “otaku” is commonly used as “you”.  It’s possible fans who encountered the Gainax crew may have adopted the dialect as slang.  The word “otaku” was used by the characters in Studio Nue’s seminal anime MACROSS in 1982.

In the US “otaku” entered the English vocabulary and gradually gained traction at anime conventions in the early 1990s and spread like wildfire with AnimEigo’s translation of Otaku no Video in 1993.  That same year the word was established enough and appeared on the cover of the premiere issue of Wired magazine.  In 1994, the annual convention Otakon was formed, referencing otaku in its very name.  This spread to sci-fi with mention in William Gibson’s 1996 novel Idoru, then a slew of news articles on anime fandom in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

What does an Onna Otaku look like?

According to Wired Magazine here are 10 Ways to Identify an Onna Otaku

Hair: No chestnut dyes, no colored highlights, minimal brushing.

Wardrobe: Generic jeans, shirts, and sneakers (with price tag left on, Minnie Pearl-style). Jacket from store at train station. For more formal occasions: school uniform, kimono, or Dhoulmagus costume. (He’s the mysterious jester from Dragon Quest VIII. Duh!)

Pets: Six virtual pups on her Nintendo DS. (She feeds and walks them hourly.)

Phone: Worn clipped on pocket to look “technical.” It’s got a 3-megapixel camera, built-in smartcard purchasing, TV tuner, MP3 player, and browser.

Storage: Cute bags are OK for jaunts, but she prefers wheeled luggage for comic cons and epic shopping trips.

Magazines: Four different anime monthlies, Cosmode (for cosplayers), and Dolly Dolly (for figurine fans).

Diet: Why cook when 7-Eleven has beef bowls and habanero snack chips?

Recent Purchases: Action figures and manga galore. Spool of DVD-Rs for, uh, “backup” copies of her fave shows.

On her laptop: Script for Sailor Moon/Anakin Skywalker doujinshi (fan comic), links to manga release schedules and 2ch.net (think Slashdot).

Under her mattress: Boy’s Love comics, which depict romantic, tragic, and hot pretty boy-on-pretty boy action.

Now that you know what an Onna Otaku looks like have you meet one?

[Via http://shinyotaku.wordpress.com]