May London MCM Expo 2013 : The Stalls

So your walking around MCM London Expo and looking for some unique merchandise to spend your hard earned cash on. There are plenty of them so where do you start? We had the same problem, stalls are littered throughout the convention, many with tempting deals and some with hand-crafted items. Our journey was fruitful, we found some of the best stalls at MCM Expo and have culminated them here for your perusal.

Costume Box

We met a lovely lady called Sarah who was selling a selection of intricately made top hats and steam punk attire. She also added that she ran a delightful website for cosplayers who bought or sold with NO middle man, aka no commision if you sold something.

Basically you sell your new, second-hand, vintage, antique and retro costumes, clothes, accessories, fabric, props, jewellery, haberdashery, millinery, lace and lots more.

Talk to other members in the forums and get costume making help from costume Makers, Jewellery Makers, Skilled Crafts People, Photographers, Designers and Stylists. Find or publicise events, shows, competitions, performances, classes and workshops.

http://www.costume-box.co.uk/

All their ads are FREE during 2013 (Use the ‘Contact Us’ tab and they will reply with a Coupon Code for unlimited free ads).

Kawaii Cactus

Next an independent kawaii stall of course, this one even has the criteria in the name! Kactus Kawaii is a UK based online shop, devoted to bringing you super cute goods inspired by Japanese cultures and fashions! All of their products are handmade with love and care and put together here in the UK. Kactus kawaii search around the world to find the cutest and highest quality pieces and fabrics to use. All of the metal based jewellery (rings, earrings, bracelet and necklace chains etc) are always gold or silver plated, and nickel free!

Kactus Kawaii was founded, developed and run by Kelly Bailey, so if you ever have any queries or suggestions you can leave her a message on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KactusKawaii

Also if you are a UK resident, spend over £30 and the recorded postage is completely FREE!

Electric Sheep

“Neon, pastel and glitter are my two favourite things for making pretty hair bows, earrings and super cute fluffy boots ,
Stand out from the flock!”

This is the mantra of Electric sheep, following rave style neon colours and kitch skulls adorning their jewelry !

Specialising in accessories for: Gothic lolita, nu-rave, visual kei, alternative, mori etc

Whatever your fashion movement there will be something unique to fit into your attire. http://neonglittervixen.tumblr.com/ http://www.etsy.com/shop/neonvixen

ME being interviewed whilst playing the Deadpool game at MCM expo

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Asian Kung Fu Generation at O2 Academy Islington

Since the arrival of Big Bang, Kyari in the UK even classic indie rockers Asian Kung Fu Generation came to town. For £18 (per ticket, standing only) Asian Kung Fu Generation performed to a packed out O2 Islington Academy venue. The Queue spanned from the door, to outside the mall, to the street. If you were one of the lucky go-ers then you will shout "Naruto" with pride.

ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, is a Japanese alternative rock band formed in Yokohama, Japan, in 1996. Formed with the members band Masafumi Gotō (vocalist), Kensuke Kita (guitarist, Takahiro Yamada (bassist), and Kiyoshi Ijichi (drummer). The band's musical style is influenced by seminal Western punk and alternative rock acts in conjunction with their own local Japanese indie rock background. As a result, their songs maintain a balance of various aspects of the genres, most typically expressing fast-paced tempos and prominent, hard-edged guitar riffs as well as rhythmic flow and emotional lyrics.

Despite the indie nature of their music, the band has enjoyed worldwide commercial success in addition to critical acclaim. They have done songs for anime such as: Naruto, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist and many more. They have even featured in Nintendo and Konami musical games.

The venue itself was intimate which was perfect. You felt so close to the stage and band. If you had queued early to get a good spot near the front then eating would of been an essential. Casually strolling in McDonalds you would have bumped into the band themselves having a quick burger before the show with their entourage.

The gig started promptly at 6:30 with a mixture of hits from all their albums with a lot of otakus pleasers, it had a great vibe - everyone was head bopping and foot taping on the second floor, looking from the balcony to the stage. A great addition was a TV screen for the 2nd floor s if you wanted to rest on the sofas you could still watch the show.

Then a great keepsake of the event was to use the 02 Academy Islington photobooth, where you could get photos with your friends to remember the event. It was an event where you would bump into your anime community friends and catch up. You also had access to two bars, upstairs and down with the usual refreshments including jelly shots for just £1.

For more adventures into anime, cosplay, gaming and events follow me on Facebook and twitter. 

^_^ Aisha Anime

The 5th Teracotta FIlm Festival 2013: Tera-cotta all nighter

BELENGGU

I'd never been to a horror film festival and Teracotta put on great films. Fortunate for me I enter alot of twitter competitions and I had won tickets for this particular all nighter - in my favourite genre.

Armed with snacks and cola, I was ready to stay up all night and enjoy some great horrors from the far east, which included: countdown, zomvideo, henge, belenggu, and the ghost story of yotsuya.

The night kicked off with Countdown, a Thai horror released 2012.

“ONE NIGHT, THREE FRIENDS AND JESUS….WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?”

It's New Year’s Eve in New York City goes wrong for three flat-mates when their drug dealer, Jesus, crashes their party and fucks them up. Royally.

Three guilty kids mixed with drugs equals a lot of mental torture and beating in this movie. Without ruining the plot, basically they are reborn and face the consequences of there actions willingly after surviving a night with Jesus.

Zomvideo a Japanese black comedy from 2011.

I say Black comedy because you couldnt really take this low budget parody seriously but who knows I could be wrong. Aiko is a new employee of a film production company. At work whilst looking for footage she discovers an old videotape made by their company entitled “A Guide to Surviving from Zombies”. It is an instructional video that will teach them how to kill zombies using office supplies.  Hilariously a zombie apocalypse is ensuing whilst she watches the video with a co worker and she uses her new knowledge tot he test.

Henge

The unnerving Henge, a Japanese horror/sci fi film from 2012

This ultra low budget, multi faceted movie has won acclaim from a number of international genre festivals, not my favourite. A young couple are plagued by a monstrous illness that threatens to tear their relationship apart.Yoshiaki morphs in to a bloodthirsty monster every night and eats people, after much therapy and help nothing can control him and he turns in a HENGE beast. Lol see what I did there?

The film I had been waiting for BELENGGU, Indonesian horror from 2012.


A film to rival the talents of David Lynch, this film sent you in a world of confusion, never knowing what is real and manipulated reality. Visions of violent murders, a giant knife throwing rabbit and a mysterious femme-fatale. Elang is haunted by images of bizarre murders involving a killer with a rabbit costume. His efforts to solve the mystery and save the lives of those he thinks are in danger have trapped him in a downward spiral and so he himself becomes a suspect.

I fell asleep through this one, the ghost story of Yotsuya, a Japanese horror from 1959.

A classic retrospective presentation of an old Japanese Macbeth-like folk tale (I am told). Sadly my eyes could not hold out for this film but here's the summary from Teracotta's website:

This masterpiece of shock stars AMACHI Shigeru as a low-ranking samurai who poisons his trusting wife, so he can make a more advantageous match. But his plans are disrupted when her ghost returns for revenge. WAKASUGI Katsuko plays an unforgettable character as the horrifying ghost of AMACHI’s wife.

The film is amongst some of the most faithful of many screen adaptations made since the silent era of a kabuki play by TSURUYA Nanboku, first staged in 1825.

The ‘regular gangster film for the first half that flips into a horror film in the second half’ structure of the film is one that is mimicked by the likes of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.

A really nice evening at the Prince Charles Cinema, for more great film festivals by Teracotta go here:

http://terracottafestival.com/

May London MCM Expo 2013: The Games

London MCM Expo is a hub for a wide variety of events, including anime, manga, small press, cosplay, film and gaming. In this article we will be focusing on the latter and mentioning the others in future articles. Exploring all the gaming MCM Expo has to offer, we have broken down some of the most prominent games at the con with our opinions.

 

Time & Eternity

Release: 28/06/13

I came across this beautiful Japanese role-playing games, mixing 2D sprite animation with 3D backgrounds. All the 2D characters are hand drawn by famous Japanese artist Vofan (Bakemonogatari), with Animation studio Satelight (Macross Frontier) and Yuzo Koshiro is responsible for the game’s music.

From the playable gameplay we find that Toki, the main protagonist in action, goes back in time to prevent the assination of her husband to be Zack, who is later revealed as not dead but his soul has been transported into a dragon’s body. If you’re interested so far, Toki has an added pro of having two souls in one body and changes persona to Towa who has different fighting proficiency and hair colour.

From the fighting sequences, the 2D to 3D animations blends in seamlessly and looks brilliant. The high-quality animation blends in very well with its background. Be weary how friendly you get with the ladies, it will affect your ending, and with four possible endings you have a lot of gameplay to get through.

Deadpool the Game

Release: 28/06/13

As we all know the majority of London MCM Expo is about queuing, I spent best of an hour to get to play the demo of the Deadpool game. All Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom fans would be excited about this title as it is dedicated purely to the sarcastic and highly entertaining Deadpool superhero. His hobbies include eating chimichangas, shooting guns, teleporting and women.

The playable demo is an hour long but because of the queues I got to enjoy the game for 15mins, this included watching the begging intro sequence, tutorial and general frolics in the game. The playability is like Tomb Raider, except if you mess up you can teleport back to the last platform you were on.

If you get stuck at any point Deadpool commentates and gives you hints of where to go next and what moves you should be using. Being a ps3 player, it took me a while to adjust to the free view movement and camera. Great animation for all the cut scenes and the voice acting is spot on as they kept the same cast from UMVC3.

Game & Wario Wii U

Release: 28/06/13

Luckily getting to play a few of the mini games that Game & Wario on the Wii U was a treat. You first take photos of the players on the Wii U pad and then edit it creatively with the options given. Personally I loved the mustache stamp, it even recognises the facial expressions and fits the ‘tache correctly.

One game we played called ‘Fruit’ was a strategy game where you choose one player to be the fruit thief. Then he goes into a world and starts stealing fruit, the other players need to watch the screen and guess who the thief’s avatar is. But wait, the virtual environment has lots of people walking around, distractions too. Use man holes to move around and fool the other players. Subtly steal the fruit without being noticed.  A mini game not for the impatient! Timing is crucial.

The second Mii game was a interactive version of Pictionary, where you get a ridiculously hard american words like ‘adhesive tape’ and scramble to draw it. Who ever figures it out needs to shout out. Using the awesome Wii U pad, you can keep track of the score.

Eyri’s Action

Behind the Persona 4 Arena section where people battled the experts to win a free copy of the game, courtesy of Zen United, I came across the Rice Digital stall who were showcasing a few indie Japanese doushin games. Before I carry on, these are normal games, no hentai involved. The whole point of Rice Digital is to promote doushin as a non-taboo game series. They had mostly fighting games in their catalogue, alongside a beat em up and JRPG ’99 Spirits’ just recently released.

Eyri’s adventure was a hard platform game, which is very aggravating to play because it is so difficult. Rice Digital put up a challenge if you completed the first level you could win all the games on their back catalogue.

Bonus: Tales of Xillia demo was playable and if you came to the stall at the right time the creater of the tales series, Hideo Baba!

MCM Comic Con London May 2013 (friday madnnes)

I came, my feet died and I still managed to miss a few things, but that is what tomorrow and sunday are for!

PIKACHU do something... Article on animepicks focusing on top games at MCM expo London May:

http://animepicks.co.uk/2013/06/may-london-mcm-expo-the-games/

Lots of Deadpool but the Finn cosplay from Adventure Time was hilarious!

Lots and lots of Deadpool!

More stuffed pika's at Anime Nation stall

Catssssss

plusies from the game Wakafu sharing a stall with the Dofus game too.

Persona 4 Arena Review

After a big wait and pushed release dates, we finally get the game we pre-ordered six months ago, yet American players got to play on their region locked version last August. Persona 4's JRPG heritage makes it more anticipated than the likes of Injustice, another fighting game that's loaded with detail and a whole lot of talking.

Arc System Works has demonstrated its system on previous games like Fist of the North Star and Capcom's Sengoku Basara series. It offers high level graphics, with a fighting system that feels easier to pick up then, for example, Blazeblue's. It also does an outstanding job of adapting the original turn-based cast into real-time fighters.

The game takes place two months after the events of Persona 4 and sees the Investigation Team reforming after the Midnight Channel becomes active once again. The Persona users pass through the television screen and are forced to fight in a tournament that's being run by Teddie.

You can access all 13 characters in Arcade mode, but only have four to begin within story mode. Story mode is more for RPGaholics, I am such a person, but all the script with added actions felt like reading a book and it was half an hour before I actually got to fight - irritating players who just want to get down to business.

If you are an RPG enthusiast it’s worth trying the Lesson mode which is a glorified name for tutorial where you are taught basics from how to walk, to how to summon your Persona, and rather than the inelegant Beginner Mode control system from BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, every player has access to a basic combo that dials out whenever you tap the attack button repeatedly.

You enter an Awakening state that unlocks your most potent super moves when your HP falls to 35%. What's interesting is that you have to mash the attack buttons - in a similar style to some Marvel 3 supers - to get as many hits as possible before launching your opponent.

Challenge mode offers a total of 390 combo trials, so you won’t get bored of this game too quickly. Playing online is a must, though most European players have moved on from their early release. You can also customise the eight-player lobbies to attract a certain fighter, or to bar players with slow connections. Another fun bonus feature lets you build a three-word title out of a huge list of over 3000 words.

The only fault in this game is the longwinded narrative in story mode, it isn’t integral to know Princess Yukiko has dropped carrots on the floor and is bending to pick them up, not to mention all the shameless plugging of Atlus and Arc System littered all over the place. The graphics of the backgrounds and hand drawn anime cut scenes are great to watch and the music adds a contemporary feel to the game. The American voice actors do a great job, which is quite rare, so it’s all the finer details that make the game complete for the beat’em up player.

For more news on anime, cosplay, games and Japanese culture follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Aisha Anime ^_^

Brony Special Research

I'm watching the first series of the new "My little Pony" for the @animeukshow podcast.
I've never touched upon it before and my God I have missed out, this show is hilarious.

I'm not quite a "pega-sister" yet but loving the inverted sarcasm .

Seriouly check it out on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcx-ofWzy_w

Check out our otaku anime/games/ news podcast on: https://www.facebook.com/TheAnimeUkShow

Edit:

We decided to do a Brony feature later when we have some Brony guests to interview - should be intresting!

Listen top out rignornace on my little pony and Persona 4 first impressions: http://wearearcade.com/?p=12001

Mayamada’s 2nd Games Night at Tutti Fruitti

As you may have seen in our previous coverage, Mayamada held polls for best flavour in a fight of all combinations for their latest event at frozen yogurt shop Tutti Fruitti. Pistachio & honey won so you got to taste this flavour just for just one day. The subtle flavours worked well for the heat wave not leaving a super sweet after taste perfect for the coming summer (hopefully soon). As you walk in to a line of people waiting patiently for their assorted concoctions at the yogurt bar Tutti fruiti.

Read more here on animepicks.co.uk including details on more Mayamada events.

Second Tea Prince Butler Cafe at MADD, SOHO

Surrounded by the Butlers & Maids

Despite hail, snow and chilly winds, The Tea Prince Butler cafe was open to serve all Lords and Ladies who wanted to drop by or reserved a table.

It was delightful to finally experience a Butler cafe and to see the unique venue ‘MADD’ which has been used for previous Maid’s of England (MOE), Butler and Gaming event Loading Soho. From the entrance we were greeted by a Maid who explained all the rules – do not touch or hug the maids/butlers! Then with a ring of her bell we became ladies and entered the cafe.

Read the rest of my review here on animepicks.co.uk

fan art by a Lady