It’s time to open the proverbial floodgates – and hopefully they’ll remain proverbial, given we’ll be on a boat! – as we’re today delighted to begin taking bookings for the Cosplay Cruise!
Full information can be found on the Buy Tickets page here or on the main Cosplay Cruise site. Please remember this is an over-18s only event and be sure to read the Terms and Conditions before booking.
So go, get booked, spread the word and most importantly, WELCOME ABOARD!
Last week on Sora no Woto, a rainstorm assaulted the town of Seize, and the town mobilized to save the day. We also learned about Courier Klaus’ backstory, and he finally became a hero. This week, we meet the old woman Jacquotte, and through her explore Rio’s life. This wraps up a lot of points rather than providing much fodder for speculation, so let’s get underway.
A lot can change in just six months.
The episode starts with Rio burning a letter, presumably the one she received from her father. At the same time, Noël and the girls have almost finished the tank. Kanata wants to look into Iliya’s past, but Filicia’s records are “missing.” Kureha fills her in on the details instead. Yumina shows up and asks for help finding Jacquotte, and Kanata drags Rio off with her. The two find the woman building a house for her long-lost son, and decide to help her with chores around the house. While Rio chops firewood, Filicia remarks that the Roman army has redeployed troops. Kanata and Rio leave to gather supplies, and Rio talks about how she first came to the town. Then they retire to the old woman’s house, and she relates her past to them. Afterwards, she goes out to die, quite literally. Rio plays Amazing Grace again, and then entrusts her trumpet to Kanata. Under her tutelage, Kanata has become a fine trumpet player, as well as a fine young woman. Content with her work, Rio has finally decided to leave and carry out her task to protect the family she loves.
Kanata has been the eternal optimist, to Rio's pessimist.
This episode finally puts Rio’s whole story into perspective. She is the illegitimate son of the Archduke. Her father never came around to see them, and he resents him for that. However, Iliya did visit, and Rio loved her elder sister. Iliya allowed herself to become engaged to the emperor of Rome to end the hostilities. Unfortunately, a tragedy cut the Princess’ life drastically short. While on a morale building tour, she tried to save a drowning child. She lost her life instead. The war dragged on for yet another year until the two armies struck a truce. Of course, Rio never got over it. She still hated children because of the one who took her sister away from her. She fled to the town of Seize, which she symbolically views as a dead-end for her life. In the process, though, she met Kanata, which allowed her to slowly grow as a person to become more like her sister. With the help of Jacquotte, she finally finds some means of closure.
Rather, until we meet again.
Jacquotte fell in love with a wealthy man, and became pregnant with his child. However, this man had a family and a wife who could not bear children. He took her son and left for his home, promising to return one day. The story curiously reflects Rio’s own, so she asks how the woman can deal with her grief. Rather than allowing the past to drag her down, she always looked forward with hope. She remembered the good times she had before the man left her, and focused on his promise to return one day. As a result, she has lived a long and largely satisfying life. The point of this story boils down to how you should view loss. You’re always going to suffer loss, whether by your own power or because of unforeseen occurrence. You can’t undo it, so simply dwelling on it is not going to help anyone. To get through life, you have to focus on the good in your past, live your life in the present, and always aim for the future. Life is short, so live the best life you can. This realization finally snaps Rio out of her depression.
In many ways, contentment is the most we could ever ask.
At first glance, this episode wraps everything up into a nice package, and to an extent, you would be correct. However, a few plotlines still exist for the final episodes. First, Noël has almost finished rebuilding the tank. Since they already put it to use to save Klaus and Kureha, I doubt they would spotlight it again unless it will see another use. I think the second DVD bonus episode will focus on how they got the parts. Second, they still haven’t resolved the fire maiden plotline that started in the first episode. The story shunted the legend off to the side for quite a while, but in this episode, they bring it back into focus. However, this has served its purpose by reflecting Rio’s character, so we can safely live without a blatant resolution. Finally, we know Roma fought Helvetia and that they’re mobilizing the army again, but that nation remains an enigma. We don’t know their motivations in all this, mostly because we have never met anyone from there. The next episode will introduce a wounded soldier from Roma and address that issue. I’m looking forward to it.
You'd best not get yourself killed any time soon!
I have gotten back into manga reading! And since I dislike being irritated at the fact that the bookstore at times doesn’t hold all the series, I have now moved onto reading manga online.
I know there are various sites to read but I found mangahut to be the most helpful to me.
But! I’m here to talk about the fabulous pic up there from the manga Alice in the Country of Hearts.
Apparently, it’s still going on, which makes me sad. Because I like to read things throughly. Like… lemme finish the series dangit! xD
I reccommend this series a lot because… I can relate to Alice… that’s why I’m so motivated to make a cosplay of her.
I was thinking of doing this Alice’s look instead of the frilly one from before… but I’m not sure.
What I love about this manga so far is that… it uses the characters but in human form. As well as their traits seem the same..
But! It’s not the same storyline. Which I absolutely love. I love the storyline in this one. ^-^
So this is what I’ve been addicted to. Also the managa Captive Hearts. I like that one too ^-^
Now I gotta … I believe go somewhere -.- rawr.
–Kimiko–
Package from Japan! Once again the Philippines Customs Department takes its cut out of me, but it’s worth it 
. What could it be? Hint: What Figmas have come out recently?
That’s right. Figma Feito-chan Nanoha 1st Movie version 
. And Nendoroid Nanoha 1st Movie version. 2 of each. Oh and throw in Figma Mio for some good old impulse pre-ordering!
Also took a quick trip to Greenhills today for more impulse toy shopping: Donald Duck Transformers Disney Version. I’m a Donald Duck fan – so sue me!
Revoltech Guren and Langan. The little Langan is cute-awesome. Must get.
And Transformers Animated Voyager Bulkhead. I’m not really an animated fan, but I saw a review of this and what it could do. Just wait and see, it’s super cool…
Anyways, I am really behind on my reviews, but trust me I got a good one coming up for Feito-chan Loli version(tm) ^_^
Incoming soon but for now Ja! ~Ace
I would’ve watched this back when I plowed through all the Tenchi stuff a year ago, but a bunch of the CDs had died and it took me a while to find the missing episodes somewhere else. I wish I had gotten it out of the way back then. It was AWFUL. The whole time, I basically kept saying to myself “wtf is this shit?” Seriously, everything was just…there. I had no idea what was going on or why it was there.
The second level of crap was Pixie Misa. I haven’t had to suffer a through a character this unwatchably grating since possibly Tenshi ni Narumon. Her seiyuu performance is kind of like if you took the stock “goofy gaijin attempting to speak Japanese” character and made everything as loud and shrill as possible. This is on top of how that kind of character is already supposed to be louder and more obnoxious than normal. Now, normally that’s not a problem since they’re acting that way for comedic purposes, but in the case of Misa it had a nails on chalkboard quality added on that was unbearable.
Awful crap out of the way, you know what made me snicker about this show? It’s pretty lolicon-y. The reason that this made me snicker is because this show is 15 years old, rather than another instance of how ZOMG ANIME SUCKS NOWADAYS EVERYTHING IS LOLIPEDO MOESHIT INSTEAD OF COWBOY BEBOP. On that note, Misa’s outfit isn’t too different from Fate’s outfit 10 years later. Oh and also, this show has both the naked little girl transformation scenes (and I think also panties?) in the OVA combined with the more say, Ichigo Mashimaro/Hanamaru Kingergarten-ish “look at little girls acting adorable” kind of vibe in the series.
OH OH OH also, Pixy Misa also has attacks named “Misa Sexual Fire” and “Sexy Calling Mistakes”. 100% not joking. Wikipedia also says that these were renamed in the American release. ZOMG THAT’S CENSORSHIP! I think that’s supposed to be playing off of that whole lol gaijins are oversexed lol thing, but it’s still creepy making those a 10 (or 8? I forget) year old girl’s (in bondage wear) attacks.
Would I watch it even if I weren’t forced? Fuck it, I’m giving this show a 1.
As I’ve touched on in previous blog posts, I’m a huge fan of the anime series Inuyasha. It’s got the unique blend of melodrama, comedy, action and farce that’s so typical of the best animes. Inuyasha: The Final Act (or Inuyasha Kanketsu Hen, as it’s known in Japanese) is the anime adaption of the end of the manga series. They’ve been debuting one episode per week on Hulu since September and I’ve been enjoying the new episodes enormously.
I’ve been behind for a while, not able to catch up with every new episode each week, due to the fact that I’ve been traveling so much . . . but after squeezing in a number of episodes while I’ve been at work and watching a bunch at home, I’m all caught up. What a CRAZY fun ride it’s been so far. There are only 4 more episodes left (the finale airs on March 29th) and while I’m eager to see how this story ends, I’ll be sad to know that there won’t be any more adventures with Inuyasha and the gang.
Inuyasha: The Final Act
Thank God for Hulu, though — without them, I would have never seen these new Inuyasha episodes to begin with. Moreover, I had no idea that they feature so many animes on their network. I’ve already decided that after Inuyasha is done, I’m going to go on a Naruto Shippuden marathon. Monica and I watched new Naruto episodes religiously for a couple of years, but was disappointed when Cartoon Network stopped airing the show. There are over 140 episodes on Hulu already — I can’t wait to get started!
I’ve seen two of the eight legged little fucks in the past week, that’s a bad sign, I hadn’t seen virtually any over the winter months. Why do they have to come out now? Why can’t you just stay wherever the fuck you were over winter!
I really hate spiders. Tigers? Bears? Dinosaurs? Sure, I could deal with them. I can’t deal with eight legged freaks that poop out those disgusting webs all over my house. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m terrified of them, they certainly freak me out however and I can’t stand them. I just do not like small fast things that look so…alien. Ironically the opposite of my mother, spiders don’t really bother her but she is outright horrified of rats and mice, which don’t bother me at all, one of my friends used to have pet rats anyway. I don’t really understand her logic as squirrels are basically the same thing as rats yet she doesn’t mind them.
Freaking bugs, man. Maybe it’s a good thing I live in the UK where we many crazy bugs. Yet then again maybe if they were far more common I wouldn’t be so disgusted by them, I don’t know. All I know is that they are my one weakness. Sure, almost everything makes me angry, but spiders are essentially the only thing that scare me AND make me angry.
Now I’m going to segway seamlessly (…) into an utterly unrelated news topic. At the end of march 2009, I had listened to the Niji track 274 times. 48 hours. How about now? Not counting the short mix I have acquired a few months ago… 444 times played in foobar exactly. That’s 4884 minutes almost, or 81 hours. That’s just… uh wow. Yeah I really listen to that track a lot you could say.
Also one year ago, I was just as angry as I was now. (Uh obviously) here’s a few examples which made me chuckle as I was skimming over them. ‘CATCH THIS FUCKING SPIDER JESUS GET OUT OF MY ROOM WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY LEGS LOOK AT YOU SCUTTLING SO FAST YOU SHOULD ENTER LONDON 2012 YOU’RE THE FUCKING SPIDER OF THE NORTH STAR.’ Evidently they were popping up back then to frustrate and annoy me!
‘On a closing note, I find it hilarious that some idiot commented on me saying “It’s clear from your avatar and ‘grindan’ that you’re a 4chan drone”. Yeah nice assumption wiseguy. I’ve been RIPPAN, FLIPPAN, JAM’N IT UP A PIPPAN since before you were born (and long before /v/ adopted it). As for my Captain Falcon avatar, the heck? I don’t need to look at 4chan to realise Captain Falcon is awesome, it’s not like I alted him in Smash Bros 64 and have over 100 hours played as him in Melee (which came out before 4chan even existed, just so you know.) People who assume stuff really make me angry.’ I remember that, some moron assumed I was just some idiot from 4chan (which in fairness wasn’t too far from the truth, as I do browse 4chan and I am an idiot) because I had a Captain Falcon avatar at the time and used the suffix “-an” which has become popular on /v/ in the last few years. (Enjoy your grindan wagglan adventure etc) I know it wasn’t me who started that, but as I said, me and my friends had been talking like that for years before /v/ started it. Gosh I don’t know, fucking idiot, that’s what prompted me to change my avatar. Seriously, I don’t even understand how he connected Captain Falcon and 4chan. Yeah, because I wasn’t playing as Captain Falcon going “this is awesome” 5-6 years before 4chan even existed. It’s making me angry even just recalling it so I’ll move on.
COOL DESIGN FUCK YEAH LOOK AT MY PC IT’S LIKE WHITE AND..GLOSSY OH WOW I’M GOING TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME LOOKING AT IT!!! Mac fanboys are idiots, nothing more to add there.
Wow, early episodes of FMA:B from a year ago, naturally I’m laughing and attempting to spoil it. Also this.
‘After an intense searing pain in my forehead, I was hurled across my room by the force of my own intense anger and blacked out for several minutes, when I came too I realised I was bleeding profusely from my ears, eyes and mouth. I also seemed to be suffering severe internal hemorrhaging, probably because all my internal organs attempted to leap up through my body and throttle my brain to save myself further distress.’ Ah yes, that was the day I watched Dragonball Evolution whilst reading Twilight. The results speak for themselves.
That was my hopeful and unrealistic prediction for last years E3. Well, Crackdown 2 we got, Perfect Dark is actually coming out this very month. ME2 was great, ODST was shit, Borderlands was eh. DOA5/DMC5/Elder Scrolls 5? Well, hopefully all three of them will be announced at this years E3. Wait. Scratch that, I don’t think I want DOA5 if it’s done by Yosuke “I don’t know how to make good games” Hayashi.
DFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU. Fuck. So the spider that inspired this post had vanished when I opened my door but it JUST NOW popped up right next to my computer which is across the whole room. Fucking hell that made me jump where are you going you little cunt.
Why is it just dangling there. Go away. What no don’t start wooshing up and down.
Time for a hasty retreat now, I’ll finish this up and hunt that fucker so I don’t have to worry about it ambushing me again later. It’s vanished under my PC now, I hope it gets fried by the ridiculous heat my PC exudes.
