Sunday, August 26, 2007

Bethel Park Anime #3--Abridged

Hey everyone! This post is going to be abridged in more ways than one. ^_^;; I just got back from vacation, and I'm going back to school tomorrow, so I don't have time for a very long article. I'll try to go back and edit it later in the week with more stuff.
But in the small bit of time I do have, I'm going to talk about Abridged series. Have you ever seen Movies in 15 Minutes? It's kind of like that, only for TV. It's not strictly an anime thing, but it did originate with anime, and the anime abridged series are the most well known. (though Avatar abridged is doing pretty well.)
The creator of abridged serieses was LittleKuriboh with Yugioh: TAS. (the abridged series) Sadly, LK has been banned from Youtube, but all of his videos can be veiwed on DailyMotion or his website. He currently has 23 episodes, a 4-part movie, and a Christmas Special. Some famous YGO: TAS quotes are: Super special awesome and Screw the rules, I have money! and all of it's variations (screw the rules, I have green hair; screw the rules, I'm in love with Nurse Joy; Screw the Yules, I have money; and Screw the money, I have rules) The second of the great abridged series is Naruto: TAS, created by MasakoX and Vegeta3986. Masako has also been banned, but you can still probably find his abridged videos by searching on youtube of checking his DailyMotion. There are 14 episodes. Some famous quotes from them are: Heh heh... moo; the one foot tall brick wall; and anything involving logs.
Those two are, without a doubt, the best of all abridged. There are many more abridged series, including: Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, DBZ, FMA, Bleach, Sonic X, (I personally know the guys that do SX:TAS), Saiyuki and Avatar (not technically anime, but close, and it's pretty good).

Sunday, August 12, 2007

I hear wedding bells...

News flash!! LittleKuriboh, the creator of Yugioh: The Abridged Series is officially engaged to Safty!! LittleKuriboh's proposal video can be seen here and Safty's most recent Livejournal entry can be seen here.

Congratulations to Safty and LK!! ^___^

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Bethel Park Anime #1--Con report

Hello, all! In addition to the movie reviews I do for Bethel Park library, I am now doing anime/manga reviews, recommendations, and other random anime stuff. Check out more Bethel Park teen stuff at: bethelparkteens.blogspot.com


Whether you're a n00b or a hard-core otaku, all anime fans should experience at least one convention in their lifetime. You real otaku out there might even be going every year, and the hard-core fans to cons in other states! Me, I just go to the local con once a year. But what is an anime convention, you ask? Why, it's where all the otaku (anime fans) from all over an area gather and do massive amounts of anime-related things. The convention in Pittsburgh is Tekkoshocon, which in 2008, is from April 11-13. All conventions end with the word "con". Ours is Tekkosho because that word means "steel-making industry" in Japanese.
Tekkoshocon goes from Friday to Sunday, and is at the Monroeville Expo Mart. This past year, we managed to get the whole Expo Mart for ourselves. (last year we had to share with the Sports Card people) Some of the main attractions of the convention are:
The Dealer's Room, which has almost every anime merchandise imaginable, everything from manga, to DVDs, to Naruto wallscrolls, to REAL swords and knives (modeled after famous anime swords, such as Ichigo's Zangetsu--all 3 versions, and Kenshin's sakabato), to figurines, to plushies, and everything in between;
Artist's Alley, where local artists set up tables and sell their own personal artwork. Most of the artists sold drawings and the like, but some had things like buttons and keychains. Not only did these artists have anime fanart, the video game industry was well-represetned, with lots of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. It's impossible for every anime to be covered, though, but some people will take requests, and at reasonable prices, too. (I commisioned a full-page, inked picture for only $7!)
Panels. There were 3 or 4 panel rooms this year. They can be about anything related to anime, manga, or Japanese culture. There was everything from "The Real Keshin" to "How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse" to "Tekko Improv". I personally hosted a panel titled "Dub vs. Original", where I showed how badly 4kids dubs anime. But more aobut that later.
The Video Room(s)--I think there were 4 video rooms as well, this year. Basically, they just screen anime 24/7. And, as far as I know, they always show the subbed (Japanese with subtitles) version.
Voice Actors--At any con you go to, there will be guests. This year, Tekko was lucky enough to land Vic Mignonga, the voice actor for Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist). The actors give autographs, and sometimes attend panels.
The Game Room--I wasn't in the game room this year, but the title says it all. It's a big room where they play video games. Lots, and lots of video games. Yes, they have DDR.
Cosplay--short for "costume play", this is where you dress up as any character/thing/whatever the heck you want. People do as little as wearing a Naruto headband or Uruahara hat to making an exact replica of Alphonse Elric's armor from Fullmetal Alchemist. To see the people that cosplayed at this year's Tekko, go to deathcom.net. At the blue drop-down menu on the top right, go to Tekkoshocon 2007, then click on either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. That will bring up the gallery for whatever day you clicked.

That's a general overview of Tekkoshocon. Here's my con report from back in April. If anyone actually reads this, I'll post pictures.