Life Lessons From Anime

Since I started including my kids in my anime watching experience and rewatching old series I enjoyed before most of them were even born, I've come to realize a few things I never thought about before. The series I watch with them now have so many important life lessons. Some are a bit subtle and some are right there in your face. Here's what I mean.

INUYASHA

One of the best life lessons in this series is acceptance. Accepting who you are and loving yourself. Accepting others for who they are and not what they look like, who their parents were, whatever. 
You've got the main character who is half demon, half human. He hates his human side and wants to become completely demon. Why? He doesn't fit into either world as he is now. Or so he thinks. 
He meets a human girl who loves him for who he is. Their little group consists of full demons, humans, and the half demon. They're all friends, they hardly think about their differences. 

This is a valuable life lesson, especially now with the race wars going on in America. It doesn't matter what color your skin is. Who cares if you're mixed? Love yourself for who you are and love others for the same reasons. If only we could all see the world through these characters' eyes.

NARUTO

Who doesn't root for the underdog? This is one of those magical series that has so many positive life lessons all throughout. My favorite is that no matter how much you think you suck at something, no matter how many times others call you a failure, you can still succeed. Naruto was the absolute worst ninja of his class. Soon, he was surpassing them all. He proved that hard work and belief in yourself can take you just as far as natural talent, if not further. Never stop believing that you can achieve your dreams. Never let others tear you down. 

FAIRY TAIL

Friendship. That's what this series is all about. The members of the Fairy Tail guild support each other in every endeavor. The bonds of friendship are so strong that they go out of their way to help their friends, risking their lives if they must. 
A couple times, Lucy, one of the newer members of the guild, disappears to take care of her own personal business. And every time, her friends come after her just to make sure she's okay, to stand by if she should need them even if it's just for moral support. You'll never find stronger bonds than the bonds of loyalty and love in this guild. If only every friendship in real life could be this amazing.


I hope to enjoy more series with my kids that have these wonderful life lessons. You can really learn a lot from some good family anime.

Animazement 2015: What A Con Is Really About

Oh yes, we went.
I haven't been since 2007 and man, it has changed. It's become a much bigger event now drawing more crowds than ever. Which is cool in some ways but sucky in other. For example, it's cool that there are so many more people to meet and costumes to see. Bigger celebrities are coming and doing awesome panels. It sucks not being able to get into certain panels because you didn't get there an hour early and wait in an incredibly long line. 

Monday is one of my kid's birthday. Arianna will be seven. So we said, hey, let's take her to this event for her birthday. We'll dress up and it'll be great. I've been working on my kids' costumes for months. Oh, I could have bought costumes but that's not how I roll. They wanted to go as Inuyasha characters and I made that happen. They were so cute. 

We get there and get in line to register at a bit after 9:00 am. My kids' faces at 10:00 am:
 
They've got that "Are we there yet?" look down pat. Luckily the weather and temperature were perfect and we saw lots of cool costumed cosplayers while we waited. Then, we were finally registered and we could go where we pleased. We watched a bit of a karate seminar but they couldn't sit through that one. We visited the Artist's Alley for a short time.
The kids got a kick out of random people asking for their picture. This happened, I shit you not, over fifty times all throughout the day. We even got caught in the bathroom for a couple. Everyone couldn't get over how adorable they were.
Before we knew it, it was lunch time and we made the mistake of buying food there. No one really liked it and my husband bitched and pouted about how much he spent on it for a while. Then my girls played games, colored and painted in the Kid's Room while I charged my already dying phone and did repairs on props. We spent some time oohing and ahing at people's costumes and trying to find fellow Inuyasha cosplayers. We did actually find some!

Then it was the Dealer's Room, the bane of my existence. Oh, I love the place, to be sure, but I spend way too much money there and the crowds are such a huge pain. My cell wouldn't work very well in there either: one minute I had full bars, the next nothing. My husband was separated from us and starting to flip out when I couldn't return his messages or call him. The kids couldn't make up their minds about what they wanted so we had to back track a few times through those crowded aisles again and again. Two hours later I'm dragging them out, tired and getting cranky. I didn't buy anything for myself this time but each kid got something cool to remember the con experience. 

I was rushing out to try and make it to an autograph session. They went back to the Kid's Room while I stood in line. I was dying to get Shinichiro Watanabe's signature. And I totally did!

Soon it was dinner time and when I asked where the closest McDonald's was (Because I had seen peeps walking around with their cups.) I was given the wrong directions. Once we were two blocks away from the Raleigh Convention Center, my cell suddenly started working just fine and the map I found said that no, we were in the opposite direction of McDonalds. More walking. Tired and hungry kids. You get the picture. 

Once we finally got there and sat down and ate, our spirits were revived at the thought of watching the Cosplay Masquerade. It had already started by then but we hoped that we could still get in and catch some of the performances. After walking back to the van and dropping some things off, we made it back with over thirty minutes left in the show. And though they let us in, there were only 3 acts left. Kind of bummed and wondering what they were planning on doing with those thirty minutes while the judges decided the winners, we were surprised when a samurai actor unit called THE JACABAL'S performed a sword dancing show. Two musicians accompanied them and it just blew me away. I loved it and I could tell that the kids were really impressed too.

We had some time to kill before the last event that I wanted to go to started and Arianna wanted to go downstairs and dance outside at the rave. It was getting dark by then but I said, sure. It's her birthday, why not? We get out there and the techno is blasting and cosplayers are dancing and once again the kids were wowed. I don't think they'd even heard of a rave party. The music seeped in and before I knew it, my aching feet were forgotten and I was dancing out there with them. Someone passed out glow sticks and once and a while bubbles would float up from a source I couldn't see over the crowd. It was magical. It was fun. The looks of pure joy on their faces were priceless. It's a memory I'll keep with me for always.

After I took a break, we realized that we would be late for the Studio Ghibli thing I wanted to go to. I was hoping that if we were, they'd let us in anyway. Umm, no. The line wrapped around a few times and the volunteer worker at the end of it said, too bad, so sad, we missed it. I was a little miffed but I perked up and was soon dragging them off to another event that started at the same time: The AMV Contest. That line was even longer but they let us in it. It wasn't long before we were seated and watching fan-made anime music videos of varying categories. By then, it was almost 10:00 pm and Arianna fell asleep in her seat watching the vids. After we watched about eight or so, I picked her up and we left, heading back to the car and back to our house. 
But not before two more requests for pics of the kids.

For those of you who think that they could never enjoy such an event because it's "for young people" or "cosplayers are stuck up" or whatever silly reason you might have, I have to tell you, you are missing out. Sure, there were a lot of teenagers and early twenties kids there. I even met a few people who were hating on other people's costumes because they hadn't "done them right". But for those who think that those are good reasons not to go, let me leave you with this story:

I got in line to get Watanabe's autograph at 3:00 pm. The girl waiting behind me in line suddenly struck up a conversation with me. I'm not really a social person but we started talking about the event and some of the cool costumes we saw in the room. Then we started talking about anime and we had a great conversation about what we'd seen, what we loved, how the shows did or didn't match the manga, what made us cry, etc. We talked as the line slowly looped around and around and we inched closer and closer to the autograph table. 
Next thing I know, the table is in sight but still a bit away and Paul is bringing the kids down to wait with us. The Kid's Room had closed and they were bored and wanted to see what I was up to. Finally, at around 5:45 pm, I get up to the table and get my autograph but as I step away I stand and wait for the girl behind me, Tiffany, to get hers. I wanted to say goodbye to her. I hadn't had a conversation with someone who had watched as much anime and read the same manga series as me in many years. We said our farewells and promised that if we saw each other again during the day, we'd wave and say hi.
I didn't see her again but the experience reminded me of what these events are really all about. Two strangers from different walks of life, different ethnic backgrounds, and different age groups found a common interest in the Japanese culture. She didn't care that I was at least ten years older than her (Hell, might be closer to fifteen.) and I didn't care that she was black. She didn't care that I weighed over a hundred pounds more than her and I didn't care that she was probably still in high school. Anime, manga and cosplay brought us together as we waited in line with aching feet and people blowing up our cell phones wondering where we were. 

A lot of disappointment throughout the day. Missed events. Tired, aching bodies. Cranky children and spouse. Long lines. Money spent left and right.
But the little moments were what I'll remember. Getting pictures taken. Dancing with my kids. Watching sword dancing. The looks of wonder on their faces. "Oh my god, you're kids are so cute!" Talking anime with a stranger. These are what made the entire experience worth it. 
That, people, is what it's all about.

I'm An Otaku, Are You?

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's anime time!
That's right folks! I took a hiatus from anime for a while there but then in December I decided it was time to start watching some new shows. Well, maybe not new but new to me. I'd watched the original Fullmetal Alchemist years ago and I was excited to watch the next series that was kind of a remake: Brotherhood. It had been on my Netflix list for quite some time and once I started watching it, my kids started watching it with me. 

We got half way into season two when Netflix decided to take it off streaming. The day I was scrolling through my list over and over, growing more and more anxious as I just couldn't find it, yes, I think my neighbors may have heard my howls of rage once the truth finally washed over me like a stinky wave full of seaweed and crabs. It was gone. Who knows when, or if, they'll ever slap it back on there.

Feeling dejected, I thought, "Hey, if the kids want to watch with me, we can watch another series a bit more age appropriate." So I went to my anime shelf and pulled out Inuyasha. Now, the only real anime my kids have watched religiously are Hayao Miyazaki movies cause, let's face it, Studio Ghibli is like the Disney of anime. (Probably why Disney bought the rights to their English dubbed movies. They knew it was worth gold.) So when I brought out Inuyasha, my oldest only having vague memories of me watching it when she was a baby, they seemed interested enough.

You may not know this but Inuyasha is a super long series full of filler and almost as many flashbacks as Naruto. Yeah, that many. 167 episodes in the original series, 4 movies and another 26 episode ending series. That's a lot of Inuyasha! I figured a few episodes in and they'd be bored and ready to move on to something else, especially my six year old who has a short attention span.
I couldn't have been more wrong.

Every day after school it's "Can we watch Inuyasha tonight?" and "Is it time to watch it yet?" and "When do we get to the movies?"
We've watched two seasons and the first movie together so far and I couldn't be happier. You have no idea of the joy I feel to have my kids share one of my "nerdy" hobbies. I could never watch anime with my parents or siblings cause it was "too weird" and "stupid foreign crap". Now here I am watching it with my own kids and loving every minute of it. I love seeing the surprise and joy on their faces with every plot twist. I take pride in explaining any small details the youngest may not have caught. Thanks Inuyasha (and Rumiko Takahashi of course), for bringing me that much closer to my kids.

My old email for years was otakuqueen and I used that handle a lot back in the day when I watched several hours of anime a week. The watching may have slowed down now but I still love my Japanese animation. I'm still an otaku and proud of it.
And maybe I'll teach my kids what that word means. If things continue on this track, I may have to.

Anime Music Videos: What's All The Hype?

I realized last month that's it's been a year since I made an AMV. I didn't lose the desire to make them, just the patience to sit and fiddle with Windows Movie Maker's buggy ass. Incredibly, I have a lot of patience for pouring over the same video and sound files over and over again until it's how I want it. My AMVs don't turn out exactly how I want because of crappy programing but I won't get into that.

Anywho, so what's the big fuss about AMVs and why the obsession with making them? Well, as a huge fan of anime and music, how could I not want to combine two perfect things? I've been watching them for years, in awe of the skills of those who put out videos that really get to me. Whether it's action, comedy, horror or drama, I've been moved by some great pieces of video and minutes of audio.

So back in 2011 I thought to myself, "Hell, I can do that. Why not?" 
Boy did I suck at first. This was my first real go at serious video editing. Timing with the audio is critical and I have learned a lot over the years. I'm still a silly amateur but what's important is that I really enjoy making them, regardless of how much I might bitch and gripe during the process.

NekoCon is coming fast and the deadline for the AMV contest is next month. Wow, that is very little time to put out a high quality AMV for someone with as crazy a schedule as mine. Because it's so time consuming, I really have to make time for this hobby and late nights are becoming a regular thing. Oh, I won't win any awards or anything. I just like to enter the contests to give my AMVs exposure. It's a form of art really, it's an idea you wanted to get across. True, you are usually using someone else's source material but plenty of "artists" do that exact same thing and no one complains. You're taking it and making it your own. Like doing a song cover.

So, this is one of my many hobbies that I enjoy and put more time into than I probably should. If it's not your thing, that's fine. To each their own. Just don't hate on what makes me happy.

I want to post a link to an AMV that to this day really makes my heart clench up. If you've never seen CLANNAD After Story, you may not get it but I think it's pretty powerful by itself. It brought me to tears before I'd ever seen the series. It's been passed around Youtube so I honestly don't know who had the original channel but the director is Perfect-Blue. This was an award winner in 2011 and anyone can see why. It's called "Dare To Love Again."

Fan Fiction: Not Just Smut

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Randomadness

Hello everyone!
I wanted to take this time to promote my friend's, Timothy Ruyevcan, podcast, RANDOMADNESS. The web address is http://www.powerupsnotincluded.com/randomadness/ .
He does live podcasts once a week and sometimes I make a guest appearance. You'll recognize me, I'm the loud mouthed chick who they like to refer to as ta-tas.

The subjects are just as the title suggests: very random. But we are rather nerdy gamers so usually discussions involve movies, games, anime and pop culture. And, of course, that one mysterious thing that all men love to discuss - females!

It does contain foul language and adult themes but we just shoot the crap and enjoy each other's company. So check out the website and listen to a few recordings to see if you find our discussions as amusing as we do. We love to laugh and if you do too, I hope you'll become a regular listener!