Who is driving? Bear is driving! How can that be?

The theme of this website is competition anime because I love how those series affect me. I get pulled in by the story and the bishonen. Then the games reel me in the rest of the way. When I am in the middle of such series, I have many sleepless nights trying to watch as much as I can at once. When I watched Slam Dunk, I found myself yelling for Ryota to pass to Rukawa. I screamed for every score. I almost cried when Shohoku lost one of their games. When I watched Initial D, even though I knew that Takumi was the main character and therefore could not lose, I still had my face really close to my computer/tv screen yelling for him to win. I am finishing up Hajime no Ippo. I only have the OVA to go. I was so into Ippo that I screamed during one of his fights. While watching Prince of Tennis, Tezuka's game against the other captain put me through the ringer. And then there was Grappler Baki. All I can say about Baki is, "Damn, the giant ape ate his own eye!"

Thursday, April 29, 2004 5:47 PM
The Walls...They Are Closing in on Me

The loud fan that is always running in marketing at FUNi has turned off. The silence is deafening. You get used to it after a couple days so now I can't work when it's not on. I had to turn my music up. It's also starting to get stuffy in here. I hope the air conditioning isn't broken.

I think it is time to make my escape.

Wednesday, April 28, 2004 4:31 PM
Happy Shoujo Dance

My Full Metal Alchemist watch has arrived~! I think my dad signed for it while I was at work. Now, I don't have to go to the post office to pick it up tomorrow. I can't wait until I get home~! XD

Yesterday, Gen Fukunaga walked into marketing while Christi and I were discussing plans for Fanime. He asked about a certain shoujo anime which I absolutely love. Gen asked how the anime ends. I told him and said that the series is addictive like Fruits Basket. Today, I found out that FUNi is bidding on said shoujo series. ^_^ *Does the Happy Shoujo dance*
Please do not ask me what the series is. As always, I am sworn to secrecy. I just thought I'd post this for those of you that do know what series I'm talking about.

I think I really am going to Acen. I overheard Lance saying that he had to talk to Cindy about adding travel expenses for a third person to the con budget. Cross your fingers!

Roy Cosplay Update: I'm almost done with the skirt thing that goes around the military uniform pants. I have to add those two front parts with the buttons. Other than that, all that's left is to add the metal pieces to the shirt, fix the rope on the shirt, add the flame alchemist symbol to the gloves (I'll put them on my nylon ones for now until my leather ones come in the mail), buy black boots, change my Miroku wig to look like Roy's hair, and of course add my official Movic watch ^_^. I'll definitely have this thing done on Thursday if not tonight.

Tuesday, April 27, 2004 5:18 PM
Yu Yu and Other Things That Start With 'Y'

My Roy costume is really coming along. I love trying it on. It looks so freaking cool. I can't wait until I'm done. I'm shooting for Wednesday so that means I have to finish it tonight. Go the the AnimeUTA meeting and you'll see my Roy costume in all its glory. Rumor has it that an Edward cosplayer will be there too for me to torment, so be there!

I'm going to play Yu Yu Hakusho TCG at FUNi tonight, or more accurately, watch the others play so that I can learn. I have tons of cards but I need help building a deck. I don't know any strategy either. ^^; I just pick 4 guys and then play the cards that I think will work best. I'm not very good.

I swear that other game that begins with a Y is so much easier. Plus, thanks to my Hong Kong DVDs I've become a huge "Y" fan. (Y does not equal yaoi. Think a little harder folks.) I mean, I beat my brother the first time I played it. I had just finished watching box set 7 and was satisfied with the stopping point, but I was on a "Y" high after watching so many episodes in a row. I noticed my brother playing the card game so I asked if he would play a game with me. I had never played the game before so after Chris gave me a crash course on the rules that were different from the anime, I was ready. He gave me what he called a crappy deck. After all, his contained a Blue Eyes White Dragon and a Black Magician, his trump card. We were about even on life points for a while, both dealing minor damage. He summoned his Black Magician and I sent that sucker to the graveyard. I may not have ever played the game, but I knew that card was important. Chris didn't even look sad when I did it. He had some facedown cards, but I thought nothing of it. Chris activated this card that uses summon stones or something. Once he got three he would be able to do something else. Then I got this card that lets you take any card from your opponent's graveyard and and take it out of the game. I did this to Black Magician. I guess Chris didn't notice because he acted as if I had done nothing special. He added another summon stone and then brought out his Blue Eyes White Dragon and started wailing on me. Then I played a card that lets you take control of one of your opponents monsters. I of course chose Blue Eyes White Dragon. Then I attacked. At this point Chris had enough summon stones so he got to activate his facedown card, Dark Ritual. Dark Ritual allows you to summon Black Magician from the graveyard turning it into Black Chaos Magician or something, one of the strongest cards. He announced all this proudly and proceeded to search through his graveyard deck. Of course, he found no Black Magician for I had taken it out of the game at the beginning. Black Chaos Magician was the trump card of this deck and I had neutralized it without even knowing it in the beginning of the game. Then I took "my" Blue Eyes White Dragon and finished him. Yay! It makes me want to buy the Duel Disk thing from the Zstore. It transforms just like in the anime. Even if I didn't get into the card game, I'd still want it. It's just too cool. I get it at cost, so instead of paying 50 bucks, I think I'll only have to pay like 5. ^_^

Monday, April 26, 2004 2:48 PM
IT IS MEIN!

I got the Full Metal Alchemist official pocket watch off eBay! Bless you, eBay! No one even fought me for it. There were four bids until the Monday before the auction ended. I waited until the last day of the auction to bid (yesterday - Sunday). I bidded until I hit the reserve price, which happened to be $149.99. I came back to the auction half an hour before the end and watched to make sure I was not outbid. Then I got my watch and paid for it right away. Paypal is oh so nice. ^_^ I got my tracking number today. I hate the USPS tracking system. It doesn't say anything about your parcel until it actually arrives at your house. UPS at least says what is happening to it ie. in transit, electronically scanned, etc. However, I did the thing on USPS that lets you calculate how long a parcel will take to mail from one place to another. Assuming my parcel is around 5 pounds, it should I arrive Wednesday or Thursday. Oh, I can't wait. I'm so cosplaying at the AnimeUTA meeting, this Saturday. I'm going to be Roy. XD Aja said she would be Edward.

Oh, Lance announced Spiral on Saturday at Sakuracon. That's what I auditioned for on Friday. I read for Hiyono (the hyper girl) and Sayoko (the quiet girl). Not all the characters were in the audition, so I'm sure Bevins will have another one in a few months.

Costume update: The Roy shirt is 90% done. i just have to add the few accessories that are left. I am now working on the pants. I'd say those are about 5% done. I've cut out all the fabric pieces except for the legs. My kitty has decided that pattern paper is nice to sit on. Once he settles himself, I can't move him. He made everything nice and wrinkly. ^^; Fortunately, he hadn't sat on the pattern pieces I actually needed. After I cut out the pattern pieces I needed, I made a pile of extra pattern piece for my kitty. He wasted no time. As soon as I went to cut out the fabric, he hopped on the couch, onto the pattern paper, and got comfy.

Friday, April 23, 2004 4:49 PM
G-mail~! and Stuff that Happened at FUNi Today

Waii! I got a G-mail account! My new email is sakura @ gmail.com without the spaces. I don't want my first email to be spam. Wow.. a new email. I haven't had a new email since I was 17.

Let's see. What else happened today...

I auditioned for an anime that FUNi will be announcing tomorrow at Sakuracon. It was an interesting audition. I first red for a very quiet girl. Her voice was described as "quiet and haunting." After reading for her, I did a 180 and read for a girl that was loud and hyper. Scratch that. She was VERY hyper. I was tired after reading her lines. I read for Chris Bevins. When I was with done my audition, he was all smiles and said I did well, so I'm hoping I get cast. I have learned from my first audition. This time, I will try not to think about how I did. Time goes faster that way and I'm less stressed.

Sean Schemmel was recording for Goku today with Mike McF so I watched his session. After talk of Happy Tree Friends, Homestar Runner, and Tokyo Breakfast...yes, Tokyo Breakfast, Sean started recording. Watching him record I think was very good for me. It made me realize that everyone makes mistakes while recording or screws up a line or misses the lip flaps. Everyone has had to record a line 5 or 6 times.

Every so often, Sean would get silly while doing his lines for Goku. Sometimes he would add "nigga" to the ends and sound like the dad in Tokyo Breakfast. He has the whole skit memorized. Then in other lines he would do something different. In one line it goes something like, "Gohan, Piccolo gave his life to save you." Sean's line came out, "Gohan, Piccolo gave his life to save you... like Jesus!" I loved watching him record. I learned a lot. ^_^

There is one other thing to note. If a song called "Power Dump" ever makes it onto the song charts, be afraid. Be very afraid. Actually, it's quite catchy. Let's just say that Sean had to um.. take a potty break during the recording and this song is what he composed while um... yeah. It was all very amusing. As he was "composing" he was text messaging the lyrics to Mike McF on his cell phone. I guess you get bored when you really have to go or you are trying to go. ^^; I'm glad he used the third floor bathroom and not the second floor where the rest of us go.

After his session was over, we got to talking about what else but anime. He told me that the niche anime fandom really ragged on his direction of Stellar Buster Mito. He told me his philosophy on dubbing. He said that when a Japanese person watches anime they feel certain emotions, laugh at certain jokes, and laugh different laughs. He wants the English speaking audience to feel those same emotions. However, unless you are an extreme otaku, which most American's aren't, then you won't feel those emotions. Therefore, he writes the script for an American audience. The story is still retained, the dialogue is generally the same, but there are different jokes and such. The English speaking audience therefore feels the same emotions as the Japanese audience and thus enjoys the series that much more. I like that philosophy. I think that's why the Dragon Half and Shinesman dubs are so enjoyable. The jokes were obviously changed to fit the American audience and these dubs are hailed by otakudom as some of the best. I tell ya, if I ever get to voice a really big part, I'm never reading a single forum or going in any chat rooms for a while. The things people say about dubbed anime are enough to make you go jump off a bridge. -_-

Saying all that though, I feel like I am betraying my purist roots. ^^; I feel so torn working at FUNi. While I want to be at least somewhat a VA, I also like my subs. I like them good. I prefer anime in Japanese. I think this is because, I like hearing it. My ears are used to it and I'm also trying to learn it. I must soak up as much as possible so that I'll be able to retain vocabulary, though I'm not any closer to grasping the grammar than I was when I first started trying to learn. I'm not dissing dubs. They're just not my viewing choice when I first watch an anime. I think I'm like Mike McF. He only watches dubs that have people he knows in them. I only watch dubs that have certain VAs in them or have certain companies doing them. Like, I love Pioneer/Geneon dubs and that company that did Shinesman. The FUNi dubs are good too. Even before I started working there, I thought the Dragon Ball Z dub was excellent, despite the flack the show gets from the otaku community.

Wow, this post has become a rant. I think I should make a rant/rave section for my site.

Anyways, Sean told me that all the outtakes to Stellar Buster Mito are on volume 3 and are hilarious so I guess I'll have to go rent the series. It's only 10 episodes so at least I won't be spending a ton of money. Hell, maybe I'll buy it. I hear Sean does a Christopher Walken impression for one of the characters.

Sean will be Akon and he said he would visit me. ^_^ I'm glad. It was fun "talking shop" with him.

Thursday, April 22, 2004 2:46 PM
Finally!

Initial D Fourth stage episode one has been subtitled and it's out on Bit Torrent! I am watching it as soon as I get home!! Takumi-kun~!

I will be clutching my hachi roku plushy that is signed by move as I watch it. ^_^ Now if only there were more Hajime no Ippo...

1:22 PM
Keychains!

I just bought the Full Metal Alchemist keychain set off eBay. I figure if I can't get the official pocket watch, I can at least get the little plastic one. Besides, there's a cute cute Roy one too. The set would be even better if there was a Hughes keychain.

Christi and Lance left for Sakuracon today. I have Christi hunting for a Prince of Tennis jersey for me and the Full Metal Alchemist watch. Christi also said she would get me this Intial D clearfile with Takumi in a suit looking all sexy. Takumi-kun~!

Wednesday, April 21, 2004 1:30 PM
Huuuuuuughes!!

Looky at the cosplay pics Christi sent me. ^_^

The Hughes pic is too cute! The guy cosplaying him ain't too bad either. He's so pretty. I hope I can make my Roy uniform as nice as his. Ganbattimasu!

You know you cosplay too much when you see someone cosplaying something like Al and the first thing you think is, "I wonder what they used to make that."

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 5:03 PM
Honou no Renkinjutsushi

I'm making a new cosplay outfit. It's Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist. XD I love Roy so so much! I'm working to premiere it at Acen. Hopefully I can get it done in time. So far I have the shirt part done minus accessories and trim.

You know what's funny about my Roy costume? When I was shopping for supplies for my Edward Elrich costume, all I could find were all black galoshes for the boots. This was fine since I knew I could just paint the bottom trim and soles red. However, when I went shopping for Roy supplies and had to get all black galoshes for his boots, all I could find were ones with red trim on the bottom. Why weren't these here when I was shopping for Edward!? Stupid Walmart! I'm thinking I'll wait until it gets closer to Acen and then try to find all black ones again. Worst case scenario, I could color over the red trim with permanent marker.

4:46 PM
Love and Peace

I bid on a pair of official Trigun Vash glasses for Aja since she doesn't have a Paypal account. Click here to see the Ebay auction. I watched that auction and waited. I never bid until the last minute. I had two windows open at the same time. One had the auction which I constantly refreshed so I could watch the time as the last couple minutes ticked away. The other window had the bid amount. All I had to do was enter in an amount and hit bid. I won the glasses for Aja and they are on their way to my house. ^_^ I got 'em for $122. Don't mess with my mad eBay skills yo!

You know what the coolest thing is about this? I get to wear 'em before Aja does! XD Bwahaha! I call it my bidder's fee. >:D

Friday, April 16, 2004 5:15 PM
I'm a servant!

I did more voice acting today. Today I was in Case Closed. I played an elderly servant lady. I don't think I sounded old enough though. ^^; I had three lines. I forgot to ask what episode it was but I'm guessing it's before ep 30. I don't think it went very well. Neil was temp directing for Justin since they were just fixing lines where the names were mispronounced. This means I was replacing a voice that had already been dubbed. I tried my best to sound old, but my voice already sounds too young for my age, so if you see hear a young sounding old lady in Case Closed, that would be me. ^^;

This brings my characters up to 4. ^_^ Hopefully I'll get more.

12:58 PM
Working for Score

I went up to Score this morning. I got to see the new League cards. ^_^ I had to separate them into groups of 10, then take 20 of those groups of 10 and put them in a little box. I did this for about 2 hours. For my work, Adam gave me a box of the new Gateway booster packs. This box includes a card that you can only get if you get the whole box.

Remember that audition I had for Justin? Well, Adam gave me a box of league one cards. I gave Justin one of each card and he was very very happy. ^_^ Maybe this will help get me a part in that anime I auditioned for in March. Thank you, Adam! XD

12:37 PM
Audition Time Again

I have an audition on Friday, April 23. The anime title will be announced at Sakuracon so after that weekend, I'll be able to say what the audition was for. There was no cattle call audition this time. Chris Bevins is the director for the anime and didn't want to have a large audition. I think he already had several people in mind for each character and only wanted to call them. I found out about the audition from Chris. Lance and I found him in the break room and since Lance is the brand manager for the anime, Chris wanted to talk to him. Then he mentioned the audition and told me that he wanted me to go for it. Then I got my time set up through Tara. I guess the hardest part of getting to audition is finding out when they are. Usually I don't find out until that week. I might find out the Friday before if I'm lucky. I believe Chris has been having people come into audition off and on this week. I think he is out of town now until the beginning of this week so that's why my audition is on that Friday.

The character Chris has in mind for me I think is only in one episode, but she has a lot of lines. I'm getting closer and closer to getting a big part. ^_^ I'm hoping though that I can read for a couple of the other characters as well. Mike McF told me the best time to get in for an audition is in the middle of the first half of people. By the end, the director starts to get an idea of what he wants and it's hard to change his mind. I think I'm towards the end. ^^; Wish me luck.

12:25 PM
Would anybody like a drink?

I did another voice in Case Closed (Detective Conan) yesterday. The episode is called "Lights, Camera, Murder" and is episode 22. Yeah, Mike McF and were laughing over that title too. This time I play a waitress. She looks about middle aged and is wearing a kimono. You see her for like 2 seconds. I only have one line. "Would anybody like a drink?" The voice I used was pretty much my normal one but I made it a little higher and smoother. My voice sometimes tends to sound sandy and like a guy's if I'm not paying attention.

Mike was doing another episode that day and it's title is "Weapon of Choice." That's freaking awesome! I told him I wished we had the rights to the song so we could play it during the credits or have it somewhere in the episode.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 5:15 PM
Stuff That I Want

I have a mission when I go to Acen and the rest of the cons: Must find these two shirts if I can't buy them online.

It's Parco Folgore from Konjiki no Gash Bell doing the Chichi wo Moge dance! Parco Folgore rules! I picture him as the idol of all skirt chasing men. Not only does he sing a song all about groping boobies, the ladies all love him and glomp him on site. They WANT to be groped by this bell-bottomed Italian. Miroku, Erro Sennin, Mido Ban, Happosai and the like must want to BE this man. I must have this shirt! Christi told me she has a friend that can order it from the Japanese site that it is on. Cospa.com is a godsend. I love that site. ^_^

This is the Seigaku jersey from Prince of Tennis. I want to cosplay as Ryoma. He's short. I'm short. It works. I have been looking for this shirt for a damn long time. It pains me to think that I saw this at Akon BEFORE I was a fan of Prince of Tennis. Curses! Even if I weren't wanting to cosplay, I'd still want it. At one time, Animate had it for sale. I emailed the guy to see if he could order one for me even though it says it is sold out on his site. The official Japanese site has them. They just won't ship outside of Japan. Damn them!

Here's something else I want. It's Edward's pocket watch from Full Metal Alchemist, but even in Japan it is sold out. If I find the thing at a con, I WILL buy it!

Monday, April 12, 2004 5:28 PM
AX

It's official. I'm going to Anime Expo! ^_^

5:06 PM
FUNi Fungus

Lance got back from Anime Boston today. He actually was clean shaven and looked pretty chipper, which is unusual. Normally when Lance returns from a con he has a 5 o' clock shadow and looks really tired. I just now heard Lance talk about his coffee cup. Apparently he left it half full of coffee on his desk the Wednesday he left for the con. Today he announced that it had a nice healthy mold growth on it. He called it FUNimation Fungus. Eeeeeewwww!

Lance announced Kodomo no Omacha on Saturday. For the announcement, he handed out 100 plastic squeaky hammers to the panel attendees. It was my job to unpack these hammers from their plastic wrappers an afix the Kodocha and FUNimation logos onto each one the week before the con. Quite the interesting thing to put on my time sheet. The panel went over very well. Lance showed the caffeine encomium Kodocha AMV and the opening animation sequence to Kodocha. Everyone was both surprised and excited for Kodocha. I'm so auditioning for this.

By the way, I got to use my 133T bootlegging skills for FUNi. In order to show the Kodocha opening, Lance purchased the Hong Kong DVDs of it. Now, these DVDs are bootlegs themselves. The footage is taken from Japanese TV. These "bootlegs" had copy protection on them! I think my Yu-Gi-Oh! DVDs are the same way. Lance wanted to be able to rip the DVD so he could show the opening at his panel, but he coudln't get past the copy protection. So, he comes up to me and says, "I bow to your bootlegging skills. Please rip the Kodocha opening for me." I took the HK DVD home with me and easily ripped and decrypted the vob file. Then I made it into an mpeg and brought it into work. Lance was happy but then asked if I could put the thing on a VCD and then on a tape just in case all he had was a VCR at his panel. I did this and brought both in the next day. Lance was very happy and bowed to my bootlegging skills again. ^_^

Friday, April 09, 2004 2:32 PM
When Blondes Attack

So, UTA is having elections pretty soon. I never vote. I don't really see the importance of Miss UTA and the student council must not be doing its job properly since our tuition keeps getting raised.

Here's why this matters to me. I've gotten two emails in as many days from two girls campaigning for Miss UTA. The two girls each want to attend one of the AnimeUTA meetings. I told them it was cool. Who am I to impede the election process? I think though, that if and when they show up and see who attends the meetings (fanboys, nerds, social outcasts - my kind of people), they'll realize that this was a futile attempt at getting votes. Plus, a large percent of those that attend the meetings either aren't members or affiliated with the school, so they couldn't vote even if they wanted to. I'm not going to tell these two girls this of course. I'm not going to tell them that what they say at the meetings won't mean a thing to the attendees. They came for anime, not school politics. Like I said, who am I to impede the election process? Yes, I'm evil. >:D The next meeting is on April 17th so if they stop by, I'll be sure to post it here.

Thursday, April 08, 2004 5:39 PM
Let the Match Begin!

Wheeee! Mike asked me to be a voice in Yu Yu Hakusho! I just got done recording it. It's only a little voice though. I'm in episode 105. I'm one of the girls that rides on the camera things that video tape the demon tournament, also known as Ref 2. I have three lines. This brings my "voice actor" resume up to... two (I'm also in episode 6 of Detective Conan), but like Diane told me, "Two is better than zero." Yes, soon...soon I shall have a bigger part. An audition is coming up. I'm not sure when it is. Chris B. has the script that he is taking the lines from for the audition sides so I know that the audition will be soon.

3:38 PM
Bugs!

Melissa walked in here about an hour ago and said, "This is going to sound really weird, but have any of you see any termites in here?" I haven't seen any. Should I be worried?

Yes, this is the highlight of my day and yes, it is dragging on without Lance and Christi to liven things up. So lonely...

3:33 PM
Haloscan

Whee! I have comments on my blog, now!

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 5:16 PM
Anime Boston

Lance and Christi leave for Anime Boston tomorrow. I want to go! *sun sun sun*

Marketing will be very very quiet until Monday afternoon. You know, unless Justin comes in and does something else.

5:15 PM
YYHTCG

Adam needs to help me make my Yu Yu Hakusho TCG deck so I can defeat Justin.

Tuesday, April 06, 2004 2:12 PM
I'm not Blowed Up

Justin came and got his bag. He said, "You looked, didn't you?" and then took off with it.

And now I go back to my tedious job of typing out all the clubs who have ordered a DVD from Operation Anime in March and April.

1:33 PM
Justin Strikes Again

Justin ran in to Marketing and stuck a yellow bag with something DVD sized inside it in one of my boxes of DVDs. He stuck it underneath the DVDs and told me not to look inside the bag. Then he said he would be back for it and ran out again. I can only assume that it is either a bomb or drugs.

Ah, the randomness of work.

Monday, April 05, 2004 6:10 PM
Takuto hat

Young, of Nekobox is making me the hat that Takuto wears in Full Moon wo Sagashite! Wheeee!

6:06 PM
ACEN!

I'm going to Anime Central! It goes from May 15-16 and is in Rosemont, IL. FUNi is announcing a big title at that con so I'm really happy. ^_^ I also found out that I don't have to work the FUNi AKon table, but I'll still get to stay in one of the crash rooms. Rock!

11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003
03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004
04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004
05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004
10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004