MTG: Gatecrash

This week is the official release of MTG (Magic the Gathering) Gatecrash set. This new set introduces cards for the remainder of the ten guilds that were not introduced in the Return to Ravnica set - Dimir, Boros, Simic, Gruul, and Orzhov.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to play in some of the pre-release tournaments and check out some of the new cards. From what I experienced, Dimir is very evil... Anyway, I got to try out several of the guilds, but I have to say, I still like playing white-black, white-red, or white-green. I also still love my angels.

One of the cards I was really excited about was Guardian of the Gateless. With the ability to block any number of creatures (and gain +1/+1 for each creature she is blocking in the process), she is a fabulous addition to my angel decks.

Another awesome card that I am excited about is the Angelic Skirmisher. Though she is quite expensive to play, she enables your creatures to gain a special ability (lifelink, vigilance, or first strike) before each combat step begins. This means before your creatures go off to battle, you can choose to gain life, not tap for attacking, or deal damage to opposing creatures before they can deal damage. Once again, a awesome addition to my army of angels.

Lastly, Aurelia is a great card too, but for this set, I think I love the previous two I mentioned a bit more. Aurelia's ability allows you to get two combat steps whenever she attacks. It's not a bad ability, but the abilities of the two above are much more useful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you're in to MTG (or you think you might like to jump in), do check out your local cards store. Though the game can get a bit complicated, it a very fun and amazing game.

Love Live! School Idol Project

Well, as I said before, I do not know what possessed me to sit down and watch this anime, but for some odd reason I can't bring myself to stop. Anyway, one of the animes I am watching this winter season is called Love Live! School Idol Project.

The girls of μ's (pronounced muse - as in the Greek goddesses of the arts)

The story revolves around Honoka, a second year in high school. Currently, the high school she is attending is slated to close down due to low enrollment. In order to preserve her high school life and to save the school from closing, Honoka must find a way to generate interest in the school to bring in more students.

Honoka wishes to create a group of school idols to save her school

The answer she came up with is to create a school idol group. Honoka enlists her closest friends, Kotori and Umi, in hopes that more students will join her "club" in a valiant effort to save the school.

As expected of an anime about school idols, this anime has a lot of song and dance. While most of the music isn't exactly my favorite style, there are a couple good songs. I especially like Maki's piano rendition of a song that I'm sure will pop up later called "Aishiteru Banzai." Maki will probably be my favorite character in this series by the way...Anyway, if you're kind of bored with nothing to watch, I suggest giving this anime a try. Who knows, you might just get stuck watching it like me.

Winter Anime Season 2013!!

With the changing of the seasons comes also new seasons of anime. After the last episode of Sword Art Online finished, I have been wondering what will my next anime fixation be. Well, for this up and coming anime season (which is already under way actually), there are three series that have caught my eye (so far).

Firstly, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai will be airing its second season. This story follows "Neighbor Club", a club formed by a group of students that have a hard time making friends in an effort to practice and prepare for that exact task. Since I loved the first season and as a continuation, this anime really was something that I couldn't help but be excited about.

What if the hero in a particular story ended up allying himself with the demon lord? Well, in Maoyuu Mao Yuusha, the hero does just that. In a time when humans and demons are at war, the hero manages to get to the demon lord. However, he is surprised to find that the demon lord isn't exactly who he had expected. The demon lord explains that the war between the humans and demons is currently necessary, and she would like him to join her. This rather odd beginning to the story intrigued me, so I have decided to check this anime out. If this piqued your interest as well, you can watch this on anime on Crunchyroll.

Now I do not know what I was thinking when I decided to take a look at this next one. Love Live is about a group of girls that want to save their school from closing. The only way for them to do this is by garnering the interest of others to raise the enrollment rate of the school. When all seems lost, one girl pitches the idea of creating a idol club for the purpose of training school pop idols. It is this idea that will set the tone for the anime. There will be a lot of song and dance as these young girls go through in hopes of saving their school. This anime can also be viewed on Crunchyroll.

Other than those three, Blast of Tempest will be continuing its run along with Hunter x Hunter. Two other anime that I am watching. Still, I am unsure if there will be another anime that I will love as much as Sword Art Online. Hopefully, soon the continuation of that series will get green-lit.

Happy New Year

Out with the old and in with the new...As 2012 comes to a close and 2013 begins, I look back at what a hell 2012 has been.

There were many times in the past year when I wondered just what did I do to have all kinds of misfortunes happen to me and my family. I can safely say that 2012 was definitely among the worst years I've lived through.

Still, 2012 did not pass without some good memories or blessings. I did get to meet one of the celebrities I had wanted to meet for a long while, Asakawa Yuu. I got to watch my new favorite anime Sword Art Online and read the light novels. Then there's things like being able to have a job and a roof over my head. Those are always blessings.

I'm a little scared to think of what will happen in 2013, much of the issues I had with 2012 are still not resolved. This makes me shudder in thinking of what might happen in the coming year. It is my hope that the fates may smile upon me and grant me good fortune this coming year.

And to all of you, I have much hope that 2012 did not treat any of you too harshly, and that 2013 will be a much better year than 2012. So to everyone of you, may you have a Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

It's that time of year again...while I am not terribly religious or into the Christmas season, I do recognize that it is a special time of year where you spend time with your family and friends. It is also a time to make your "Christmas wishes" and hope that they will come true.

I am pretty sure most everyone knows the reason for the holiday of Christmas, but I think that Christmas transcends religion and has become just an integral part of all cultures. If not, then non-Christian countries like Japan wouldn't have so much fun celebrating it too. After all, the Japanese do go all out on this holiday as well.

Rather than something religious, I do think that what makes Christmas so great that even non-religious people are willing to celebrate it is just that it is the single time of year when maybe hope and goodwill are at its strongest - we all are (even just a little bit) nicer to our fellow man. It's a time when magic seems to be possible.

So with that, I wish that all your Christmas dreams do come true. Please be safe and have a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Artist Commissions

What kind of situation have you imagined your favorite character being in that was never in an anime or manga setting? What can you imagine your favorite character doing if he/she met you?

Two dragons battling for a single guy...how lucky he is!

For some of us, it can be hard to visualize our favorite characters outside of anime and manga in situations that never happen...or for some of us, we like to visualize what would happen if they were standing right in front of us. If we relied on the creators of our favorite characters to indulge all of our fantasies, I'm sorry to say many of us would be sorely disappointed.

Medaka ready to serve in her roll as president

Anyway, with anime and cartoons, it is possible for a person to recreate characters in liking and situation, limited only by their imagination and skill. These people are fan artists. Using their skills, it is possible for them to take an idea for a character and use magic to create something new outside of what what was possible in the anime. Sometimes, these artists are willing to take requests (sometimes with a little donation) and work their magic for other people. Commissioning an artist enables people like me, whose artistic talent is a bit lacking, to see our favorite characters differently or under special circumstances.

Amazing picture of my favorite MG, the Anubis, in all her tsundere glory!

One of my favorite fan artists is Butter-T. The style with which he draws various characters is very beautiful. I closely follow his work on a forum I belong to and absolutely love the quality of his work. He has done many characters from anime and other sources, and he also does original characters too. Because of his amazing talent, I have even commissioned a couple works from him.

My commission of Morrigan Aensland...damn she's so sexy!

Overall, commissioning an artist or even just following one is a great way to indulge yourself even deeper into the world(s) of your favorite characters. If you want to check out more of Butter-T's works, check out his Facebook page at Butter-T's Facebook. Just be aware that some of his work is not suitable for minors (and it's in another language).

All the images on this page are copyright of Butter-T.

Sword Art Online (Again!)

I know that I've posted about this anime, but by far the best anime this season is Sword Art Online. The anime is currently on its 22nd episode and the 23rd episode is set to release tomorrow. With 25 episodes planned (according to the episode list on Anime News Network) I am filled with anxiety as the end could be near for what could easily be one of my most favored anime.

There is a light of hope though, according to the seiyuu (voice actor) list, there is one character/seiyuu match up that interested me. Miyuki Sawashiro will be voicing Sinon. The seiyuu's name isn't particularly the interesting part. However, the name Sinon is the part that interested me most. The anime will end at Sword Art Online's second story arc, but the character Sinon doesn't appear until the third. It means there are definitely future plans for the series.

By the way, on a side note, if you love Sword Art Online, please check out Baka-Tsuki Translation Project for the Sword Art Online light novels. The light novels written by Reki Kawahara have been translated for non-Japanese people to enjoy. The light novels go further in-depth and further into the story than the anime.