Christmas Toycon 2010 and Toycon 2011

Just found this out - the 5th Christmas Toy Fair 2010 will be held on December 17-19, 2010 at the SM Megatrade Hall 3, SM Megamall. For those who are interested to setup booths, please see this link: http://toyconph.com/blog/2010/10/28/5th-christmas-toy-fair-2010-registration-now-open/

Also worth noting, June 2011 will mark the 10th year for Toy Con, and apparently they will occupy 3 Megatrade Halls for two days! See you there--(I hope!)

One Manga shuts down

"There is an end to everything, to good things as well."

It pains me to announce that this is the last week of manga reading on One Manga (!!). Manga publishers have recently changed their stance on manga scanlations and made it clear that they no longer approve of it. We have decided to abide by their wishes, and remove all manga content (regardless of licensing status) from the site. The removal of content will happen gradually (so you can at least finish some of the outstanding reading you have), but we expect all content to be gone by early next week (RIP OM July '10).

So what next? We're not really sure at this point, but we have some ideas we would like to try out. Until then, the One Manga forums will remain active and we encourage all of you to continue using them. OMF has developed into a great community and it would be a shame to see that disappear..

This message will pop up when you first visit OneManga.com today. In just a matter of minutes my online friends shared this surprising news: OneManga will now stop publishing free manga scanlations. This is due to the Japanese and US manga publishers' advise that they will file lawsuits against sites that offer free scanlation of their works. [more info here]

Due to this, OM is one of the biggest scanlation websites that voluntarily stopped operations. One Manga, we're sad to see you go. I'm afraid the other sites are next. But when we look at it on the manga makers' side, they do have the right to act on their declining sales due to these free scanlations sites.

I'm really sad about this though. Here in my country, it's hard to have access to actual mangas. If you do find one it's either too expensive or outdated. The next possible way is to order mangas online, which is both hard and expensive. Unfortunately for many of us, we can't afford it.

So I guess we will need to say goodbye to Fairy Tail and other good mangas soon =(

Eiga Sai 2010

The Japan Foundation Manila has posted the screening schedule for this year's Eiga Sai (Japanese Film Festival)  in celebration of the Philippines–Japan Friendship Month (July 2010) . More info from their website:

Now on its 12th year, “Eigasai,” which literally means ‘film festival’, aims to bolster further the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan by continuously providing an opportunity for Filipinos to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Japanese arts and culture explored in this medium. This year’s offering brings together eight contemporary films and 2 anime films in 35mm and DVD format. An invitational screening of Always Sunset on Third Street 2 (Always zoku San-chome no yuhi, 2007) by director Yamazaki Takashi will be held on July 1 (Thursday) at 7:00 p.m. at the Shangri-La Plaza Cinema 4, Edsa, Mandaluyong City.

Source: The Japan Foundation, Manila Official Website

Though I've always been interested, I have never attended this event, I hope I can go this year with my friends. :)

For the complete screening shedule, please visit: EIGA SAI 2010 Screening Shedule.

Fairy Tail Updates: Episodes, Manga and Game

Yes, I should be sleeping, but I was hoping to catch Fairy Tail 187 before I turn in. All I got was a synopsis from its main page in Wikia proving my earlier guess that it was Erza Scarlet who won the Erza vs Erza battle... which I guess is good enough. Oh well.

Moving on, I just finished watching Fairy Tail episode 33. This episode marks the start of Tower of Heaven arc, which focuses mainly on Era's past. The first half of the episode won' t tell us anything much yet, but the second half introduces us new characters and a short flashback about Erza's childhood. I'm happy with how faithful the anime is from the manga so far. (Episode 33 is based off Manga chapters 75-77) It keeps improving and improving, and I just love it.

I was hoping to see more of Gerard, who, while I was weary of when he was introduced in the Manga, later became one of my most loved characters. We can see him from the last minutes of this episode offering a hand to a much younger Erza Scarlet. I'll be looking forward to the next episode seeing more of him :) Here's a few screenshots I took.



Just today, I learned that there is a Fairy Tail game. It's called Fairy Tail: Portable Guild and was developed by Konami for Play Station Portable. It was demonstrated last September on the Tokyo Game Show by Hiro Masima himself and was released just this month, (edit: June 3, 2010) but it's still only available in Japanese. Let's hope for an English patch soon :)



The first screenshot of the game I've seen so far. Yes, there's a multi-player option! Four players, as it seems. This makes me very happy. I can't wait to see if it's as good as it seems.

...oh, wait. I don't have a PSP! *le gasp* Despite wanting to play Birth by Sleep  and Crisis Core, well... let's just say frugality won. But considering this is Fairy Tail we're talking about... I'm very tempted! I guess I'll watch out for an english patch before I decide. :)

Erza vs Erza: Who really won?

At the end of the latest Fairy Tail manga chapter, we see Edoras Erza approaching Natsu and Gray. After mistaking her initially to be Earthland Erza, Gray and Natsu noticed her clothes and concluded that the Erza vs Erza battle has finally ended, and Edoras Erza won. Hmm?

I don't think so. [ Possible Fairy Tail spoiler below, although this is just my take on it, nothing official. ]

Aside from my initial, "No way Erza Scarlet would lose!" reaction, this panel really made me think that something fishy's going on:



She looks and talks just like Edoras erza, alright, but look at the scar on the side of her face... And then look here:



This one was from Fairy Tail 180: Erza vs Erza. Early in their battle, they scarred each other in the face... Earthland Erza's scar was slanted below her left eye, while Edoras Erza was scarred on the bridge of her nose.

If you'd look back to the first picture, the scar on this Erza's face is below her left eye. It's slanted upwards instead of Earthland Erza's downward-slanted scar (and slanted in a manner that is more similar to Edoras Erza's scar) but I think it's a minor mistake, and may even be made so it won't be too obvious.

So I have a hunch that the Erza that won is Earthland Erza... I really don't need the panels shown above. (It's just sort of a little evidence, in case someone wanted to challenge my hunch, haha.) Let's just say that I believe in Erza too much. ;)

If you want another, just look at the last panel on page 19. Doesn't that confident, all-knowing smile look very familiar? The next chapters could prove me wrong, but don't go telling me that I don't have faith in Erza Scarlet. She may not be my favorite character, but she's the one character I truly admire, and I just won't accept it if she lost.

I can't wait for Fairy Tail 187.

The Great Escape: Toy Story 3!

If you liked Toy Story 1 and 2, I'm sure that like me, you can't wait for Toy Story 3! I've seen the official trailers and posters and they all just make me more and more excited to watch. Here's one of the official posters and plot summary from IMDB:

Woody, Buzz and the whole gang are back. As their owner Andy prepares to depart for college, his loyal toys find themselves in daycare where untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice. So, it's all for one and one for all as they join Barbie's counterpart Ken, a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear to plan their great escape. As posted in IMDB, Written by Walt Disney Studios

Toy Story 3 is scheduled to be out in the theaters on June 18, 2010 (USA) and opens on June 23, 2010 across the Philippines. Update: Toy Story 3 will be out in theaters on June 17 ;)

About Cosplay.

Just something I want to say, not to anyone in particular, go ahead and read if you're interested.

Cosplay is for fun. It is meant to be enjoyed, so please let's all just leave the drama behind. It's not about winning awards nor being "the best" nor being well-known. It's not about how many pageviews and favorites and "followers" you get from your cosplay pictures. 

It's about that character you are cosplaying and how you try your best to portray him/her/it and how you (and your family/friends) enjoy the whole process, from planning to making the costume/props to wearing your costume for a shoot or an event or just for kicks. 

So let's leave this "competition" behind and just share the cosplay love. Okay? :')

Thank you for reading.

Random Commentaries on ToraDora Characters

Because I've been wanting to write this for so long I just got the time today so let me I just hope I can do this properly I really can't write proper blog entries haha.. anyway. Just wanted to drop some random commentaries about the major characters. Sorry to say this but I'm not good at summarizing so I won't even try that, just commentaries okay.. if you haven't watched Toradora you probably won't find any sense with the rest of this entry. But I'd appreciate if you read! It won't look like it but this needed a lot of effort from me (Well it is hard to try to make sense when you're too dizzy right? XD)

TAIGA
She's perfectly imperfect and she's the best Tsundere character ever and she doesn't even have to try hard and she's a well-rounded character and I love her! I can't say anything else >.< seriously, if I list the scenes and characteristics that I love about Taiga, I'd be summarizing the whole series and I'm not good doing that. You have to watch the anime or read the manga!

RYUUJI
Got mixed feelings about Ryuuji. I started out really liking his character from the first episode, when he said, "everyone has different circumstances." That was the first time Taiga went over to his house to murder him and Taiga said that she's tired of convenience store foods (she can't cook haha). I like the way he understands Taiga's character behind her rough attitude and how he manages to support her without being too intrusive. I like him with Minorin (not exactly as a pair, and I know this pairing is kind of popular since Ryuuji likes her a lot. I mean I like their scenes together. Cultural Festival episode anyone? ;) ) But I don't know, I'm not comfortable with his actions sometimes especially when he's jealous and he doesn't know. o_O

MINORI(N)
Minorin was... weird. When I started watching I thought she'd become my favorite character. I like cheerful characters but Minori was a bit over the edge, definitely a facade as hinted several times throughtout the series. She actually makes for a good anime character, but... I guess she was too much for me XD Don't mind me though, it's just me I guess.

AMI
Let's just say I'm not a fan of vain characters and Ami was introduced as one. (But of course there are exceptions, like, Bulma Briefs, I lurv her) She's a supermodel with the I'm-perfect-and-nice facade :p  But surprisingly... Ami turned out to be my next favorite character <3 One thing Minori said about her that I think explains her character well, is that Ami lives in the world of adults, and that it takes agood amount of patience for her to live with "children" like them. While on her first appearance I thought of Ami as a self-centered and shallow character, she proved to be a character who deeply understands the others. She's very observant and she makes good side comments advices (though the lead characters always don't get it.) I guess she grew on me <3

KITAMURA
I still can't figure out this character. Most of the time I don't like him. (He's the student council vice president who's in love with the president and he's so popular with the girls and he doesn't seem to notice. o_O) Well if you've watcched, you probably know that he went nuts when the student council president was about to leave town...well, just one thing that really irritates me: Why'd he always do some sort of weird fanservice and take his clothes off it has nothing to do with the story?!!! So okay I don't like him, end of story. Although for a while there I thought I'd like him end up with Taiga, but eversince the student council thing... nevermind.

YA-CHAN
I love Ya-chan for the way she treats Taiga as part of her family <3 Nothing much to say about her other than that...

INKO-CHAN
Best fail parrot ever!!! I want chicken for dinner harhar.

[*forgotten name here*]
Don't make me write anything about the teacher, plz thx bye.

THE END.

...... not yet!  Errr yuh I want to write more and try to make this coherent and do some grammar and spelling check maybe but I really should be getting some rest now. Because I wrote this part by part or every episode break (ending/opening songs)it's now 2:45 and I'm now on episode 21... I'll watch the rest of it tomorrow if my eyes can still take it. ^_^

Anyway I'm off today (coming from night shift though, so it's like a half day off) but I won't be back to work til Sunday morning! Hooray. But I'm still sick so I really need to rest the days... Still recovering from the fall I'm black and blue free but not yet pain free and as if I needed more health problems I currently have the colds and so you have to wish me well. At least well enough to go to work on Sunday :p

And last but not the least I have some awful screenshots from the episodes I watched today and I wanted to make icons or maybe banners from it but I don't have photoshop or any nice editor... if anyone would be patient enough to fix them help me with those I'd appreciate it.  Maybe I'll upload them next time it's still on BMP format haha.

Sherlock Holmes.. and the Phantom of Baker Street ;)

My friends and I watched Sherlock Holmes at Robinson's Movieworld today...



Now I know why he's such a legend and why Shinichi Kudo, and loads of other fictional detectives and detective-wannabes, idolize him so much XD

The moment I saw the "Baker Street" sign, I was reminded of the Detective Conan feature film, 'The Phantom of Baker Street'. Ahh, I love DC.

Anyway... Don't forget to watch Sherlock Holmes! ^_^