London Anime Con 5: Highlights

 June/July London Anime Con is upon us and the ques have formed, discounts have been announced and guests have been secured. All you need is a stop watch to see if they weren’t lying about the minimum fifteen minute wait in the queue. Queuing from noon on Saturday 30th June, we only waited ten minutes! You win this time LAC.

Beyond the reception of the Rocket (part of London Metropolitan University) was the bar, games room, small stage, DDR area at the back and anime screening room showing the classics Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club, K-On! and much more. Games room kept to a retro feel with SNES & PSOnes littered everywhere with the original Street Fighter & Mario Kart - strangely there were no females in sight. Amongst the space were independent artists, a raffle table and the Brony stall.














‘Brony’ was a new term to me and I did not hesitate in finding out what it was all about. This is a term typically used on male viewers/fans of the 2010 reboot of My Little Pony show or franchise. They do not give in to the hype that males aren’t allowed to enjoy things that may be intended for females. Brony = Bro + Pony, simples! They were promoting the first UK Brony event in Manchester with special guest John De Lancie, from 18th-19th August for more details go to www.bronyuk.org.
We came across our friends Mayamada handing out free cupcakes to all their fans, Destiny Blue manga artist & Jewellery maker, Aid for Japan and came across a business card for Manga social night www.mangasocial.net on Keroko James’s (www.neokeroko.com) stall as she diligently drew a manga portrait for a cute cosplaying couple.

The entire bustle was moving towards the upstairs, I caught Kimono Time performing some energetic moves – phew how did her makeup stay flawlessly on after that workout? This was just a warm up for Kelsey, the Youtube sensation singing and dancing to English, Japanese & Korean music later on in the afternoon.

The opening show gave us a glimpse of all the things to look forward to at LAC5, Then Cinnamon Purin (a troupe of dancing maids) Jess and Becki both did some fierce solo dancing and also explained the use of fellow supporters dancing at them to encourage and heighten moral, ending with a warmly welcomed lesbian dance getting people riled up for the Otaku Fashion show.

After some delay and plugging for people go to the Alcon Q&A and pub quiz downstairs I had decided to pounce on some unsuspecting cosplayers, one of which was Esti Licious. Anyone who used the sticker booth machine at Cyber Candy at HYPER JAPAN this February would have seen photos of her everywhere wearing her magnificent Sailor Moon cosplay. Finding out she wasn’t a pre-made model for the machine I asked her about her time at LAC5, she was in fact to be interviewed on stage before the Otaku Fashion show!

Discussing her favourite cosplays and her professional seamstress business, people didn’t waste time in asking her for cosplay tips ways on making fully moving wings with the help of metal wiring & expanding foam. She even fully made all her Cosplay outfits to date. See more of her cosplays on fashionvscostume.co.uk.

 After 4pm people had all accumulated around the main stage and standing space was scarce as so many people were looking forward to the highly anticipated Otaku Fashion show. Showcasing Wing, Finny Attridge, Sah Starr, the Spirit Models (professional alternative models in the latex outfits can’t miss them), Cinnamon Purin and many aspiring cosplayers.

 At the end photographers got a chance to get group shots of everyone together at the end , we got to see a range of Lolita’s from sweet to Gothic, some steam punk male & females, some Kimonos, Sailor Moon ensembles, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil & Harajuku style!

This article is also featured on animepicks :)

IGN Pub Quiz III: Who wants a Nintendo 3DS ? MEEE!

Base camp team taken by Photographer Ace Ashun

IGN Pub Quiz III: Biggest, Baddest, Best was held on 27/06/12 in the depths of Kilburn at one of the many pubs, specifically the well camouflaged The Good Ship. IGN’s Pub Quiz III was sponsored by Kid Icarus Uprising so you knew there were some big booty to be won including 1^st prize a Nintendo 3DS a copy of the game for each team member ! Fwoar? For a free pub quiz I was totally up for it. Other great prizes: 2^nd place a copy of the game for weach member of the team, copies of COD: Spec Ops: The Line (kindly donated by 2K Games), Insert Coin t-shirts, copies of Pandora's Tower for Wii and more.

In total there were 21 teams and we battled long and hard for the prizes and top gun  geek title. Two-time champs team ReadyGameFire returned to defend their crown, but were soundly beaten by the team named Super Quiz Fighter III Turbo HD: Hyper Fighting The World Warriors who topped the quiz with 33 points out of a possible 50. They deserved to win for their name alone XD

Crowd by Photographer Ace Ashun

Narrowly missing out by just half a point were the Van Der Bluth Corporation Trust who each took home copies of Kid Icarus: Uprising for 3DS as quiz runner ups. Other spot prizes were taken home by Banjo Quizooie, Halo: Teach, Jayne's Hat, and The Brotherhood of the Bearded Norris, with two teams tied on the least amount of points (10.5) taking home the wooden spoons. I want a spoon :(

My team Gamer Base came a respectable 6^th place but earned jack, frankly we bombed the sports & movie sections, I guess and came up lucky in sports but the guy who made up movie section didn’t want to give up those Nintendo 3ds and made us work harrrrrd with questions like: What's the tagline for the fourth film of all these movies:  Jaws 4 (there were 4 movies? Didn’t Jaws eat everyone in the 2^nd one?!), Police Academy 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Friday the 13th 4, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, James Bond 4, The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo-only). 

It's cool though we beat arch nemesis's Uncle Ben's team *thumbs up*

The last one  Legend of Zelda (Nintendo-only) sparked an uproar because the judges specified Nintendo consoles only when the answers were read out the answers were wrong – yes wrong and people rioted and frankly you want a pub full of angry games, arcade sticks were flying! Till next time folks we'll bring home the spoons and maybe even a ts shirt!

Trivia: we discovered a Banana Bread Beer - it tasted bready everyone hated it but didn't stop them from drinking it also Koala's make a place feel homely. 

Pop up Maid Cafe in Camden

When:
15th July

Where?

HELLENIC Restaurant

9a Delancey Street,

Camden Town,

London  NW1 7NL

Show me the money!

Entry is £25 online in advance which includes a 3-course meal and entry to the event (secure payment via  Paypal).

Otherwise it’s £35 on the door.

 £5 optional Polaroid photo with maids (souvenir of your time).

When to om nom:

Seating Times (choose online or turn up at allotted time if paying at door)

13:00 to 15:00

15:30 to 17:30

18:00 to 20:00

Four menus to choose from: Yaki-Soba, Beef Curry, Japanese Mushroom Spaghetti and Omu-Rice. Each meal also comes with a Japanese dessert of Green Tea, Wasabe and Sesame ice cream.

Now I Listed all the vital details at the top for those of you who know what I’m on about; for the rest of you who chose to read on let me explain  what a Maid café is:

Simply being served food by a Maid (female) or Butler (male).

They not only dress up as maids but you also have anime visuals from a range of popular anime series and films as a colourful backdrop for your meal. However the maids at this café do offer extra services such as our playing games with customers and dancing.  Apparently if you win get a tasty Japanese treat which is hand-decorated by the Maids. But if you lose you will have to apologise to the Maids. (games such as:  Pop-Up Pirate, Jyan-Ken (Rock-Paper-Scissors), Jenga, Connect4 - each game £2 per person. 

This includes routines to “Kyary Pamyu Pamyu” songs & Dance, plus “Romantic Ukare Mode” and “Seikan Hikou” dance routines. These Japanese Maids are actually professionally trained performers who sing, dance and play piano and can be hired for performing at events.

 So come for food, atmosphere and the cute cosplay - clean family fun only guys!

Worldwide Dunny Series 2012 Artist Signing: London

Thursday, June 21, 2012 KIDROBOT INC around the world held signings at all their major stores in commemoration of their newest Dunny series, featuring 20 designs by 14 famous artists.       

        

DS2012 features the art ambassadors from the hands of Andrew Bell, Attaboy, Scribe, Jeremiah Ketner, Jon-Paul Kaiser, Junko Mizuno, Kronk, MAD, Mauro Gatti, Sergio Mancini, Nakanari, Pac23, Tara McPherson, and Triclops Studio.

Paul Budnitz the founder of Kidrobot, is now the world’s premiere creator of art toys, fashion apparel and accessories. 2002 is when Budnitz discovered images of limited edition vinyl toys that were emerging from Japan and China based on cereal box characters and modified GI-Joes turned into stylized B-boys wearing streetwear. Budnitz recognized the toys as collectible art pieces that fused a variety of artistic disciplines: graffiti, graphic design, pop-art, and animation.

Dunny collectors feverishly anticipating this launch had a choice of over 100 Trading Parties to go to around the globe from 6-9pm. Plus depending on the store you went to, you got to meet the artists of the Dunnies in this new series:

KRSF – Junko Mizuno and Attaboy

KRNY – Tara McPherson, Andrew Bell and SUCKLORD

KRLA – Jeremiah Ketner and Nakanari

KRMIA – Pac23

KRLDN – Jon Paul Kaiser and Triclops Studios

KR at the Cosmopolitan LV – MAD and Scribe

Sixxa Store, Vienna, Austria – Mauro Gatti

ToiToy, Capetown, South Africa – Kronk

With a case pack purchase, receive the EXCLUSIVE Gay Empire, Suckadelic Overmaster- Supreme Dunny by SUCKLORD. And a cool Kidrobot tote bag!

“Seasoned Dunny masters jump in the mix with fresh blood, creating characters that push Dunny into new worlds with new sculpts, new uses of the Dunny platform, new treatments, and new plans. A more colorful mix than you would find in the Mos Eisley Cantina, each figure is its own species - an ambassador to the mind of its creator. If you are one of the lucky few to see them all together, you will find a window into what whimsy and wickedness lies under the creative rocks found in the far away corners of the Dunny galaxy.”

Junko Dunny up close

I was fortunate enough to attend the London event with a  couple of mates who alerted me to this pop art bonanza and got my Dunny postcard signed by Triclops Studio. They even bought some dunnies and they got their own they signed them and sold them to lucky fans They even customised peoples blank dunnies if requested - talk about limited edition!

We turned up fashionably late (we bumped into Aunty Gok filming a new episode of Gok's Fashion fix XD pun totally intended) but even after 7.30pm people were still booming in and out buying Dunnies by the crate for £150. 

A few people sat in store and opened their mystery boxes and came across the rare Junko Dunny up close what made it shine amongst all the designs were the different textures used to make the hair and overall the biggest Dunny with most detail. The Kronk design seems to be the most elusive as no one in store had opened one however I left triumphant with my Jeremiah Ketner Dunny.

Also met an aspiring artist called Siobhan Alcaide who was handing out her beautiful  posters. If you like boobs you'll like her art. Working on her own manga comic strip Pink V Blue on the side of being a budding designer & illustrator another person to look out for in the future.

Jeremiah Ketner Dunny

Abraham Lincoln's character true to life apart from the Vampire killing

I went with the intention of my jaw hurting from laughter of how ridiculous this film was going to be. Being a Vampire enthusiast I was goign to watch this movie no matter how awful the reviews (since Twilight I have been skeptical if there will be another decent Vampire movie to come) and well I was mistaken on pre judging this one.

No sparkles or stupid ideologies, just good old fashioned Vampire slaying but with Abraham Lincoln. This film was serious, not enough to be up it's own arse but had a few hidden puns and well if you paid attention to detail you kinda knew where the film's plot was going if not already aware of American History :p

The characters were likeable, and strangely I didn't notice that Mary Lincoln was the love interest from Scott Pilgram, but they all did a good job especially Dominic Cooper - the next big actor, since his leading role in The Devil's Double I knew this guy was gonna hit it big. But let's see.

Movie poster

The 3D effect was more of a comic book pop up effect and not overbearing, i though my glasses were broken to begin with but there was a technical glitch with the film reel at Cineworld lol "Am I going blind, why can I see rainbows everywhere?"

Another nice touch was the lighting comparison when things were good the lighting was a glorious yellow but when it was Vampire killing time it all went blue and their was more emphasis on the faces and detail on the characters which gave an eerie effect.

I wanted more bio/histories on the Vampires Henry (Dominic Cooper) sent Abe after but they were only a side plot, Mary didn't get much spotlight either but overall I left entertained.

Tip of the movie: reach for the Axe; they don't run out of bullets.

Squidballs Japan exhibist showcasing British Artists!

I'm currently doing some cross publicity for a film festival and was sent info about this exhibition in Japan showcasing British animators, illustrators - cool or what ?

Squid Balls is a group exhibition in Japan curated by Rumpus Animation featuring illustration, animation, music videos, prints and drawings by a group of young British illustrators and animators.
http://www.squid-balls.com/
The first show is in Osaka at the Loop-A Gallery http://www.loop-a.com opening on 28th June-1st July
The second show is in Omotesando, Tokyo at the Irie-Yawd Gallery http://www.irieyawd.com/gallery/ opening on 6th June till 8th July

Artists include Matthew the Horse, Jon Boam, Kate Hindley and Peskimo.

Seb from Rumpus Animation will be there doing live drawing and handing out sweeties.

Some of the artists work to be showcased

Prometheus: so much Pro-mise but gave confusion?

So who has strong opinions on Mr Ridley Scott? *not meeeeee* I'm not a fan or hater of Blade Runner I thought it was entertaining  and Daryl Hannah is crazy fullstop. I just went to see Prometheus because I like Alien movies (and it's nice to see a female protagonist kick arse and take names.) 2D or 3D I don't think it matters, go and immerse yourself in another world.

For the next  119 minutes I sat tense, it didn't help my 3D glasses kept sliding down my nose, it was a full house, no one spoke and going to the loo mid film was NOT an option! The first scene no matter how beautiful/ symbolic, what the hell did it mean? Seriously? Someone enlighten me what was the Space Jockey intending on happening and why on a cliff? Beginning of life or death? Or food poisoning?

After much deliberation I decided to move on to the next jumble of confusing information, why were people wearing flipflops? David the on board sarcasm machine read dreams, could anyone else? He ate for the sake or 'eating' also dyed his roots too...erm thanks for those details Ridley. The team waking up getting to know each other or not giving a fuck was amusing and I enjoyed it till they actually got onto the flipping planet.

I felt short changed, we saw the space jockeys but got no background on them or the Alien infection I was actually quite bored halfway, no action, nothing made sense, the two vaguely amusing characters got killed off straight away, Guy Pearce was in an oldman suit (why even bother to have him in it?). I didn't even notice the bossy woman was Charlize Theron. interrogating someone who's been sleeping for a few thousand years who can't even speak English is gonna be a bit cranky ya know if not rip your puny head ogfff - c'mon people common sense now!

Also I am now probably scarred for life by c-sections. In theory shouldn't the alien acid have burned her insides? Eww Ewww EWWWWW. (Just watch the scene you'll know what I'm cringing about !

We had a wide array of good actors, American, British, Icelandic none really utilized much apart from Noomi Rapace - it's just too bad nothing really tied together. I left the cinema confused and diss-satisfied. Also Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron's character) made out to be such a hard ass and yet she can't run sideways? Go figure! Also I'm not one for spoilers but I went to see an Alien's based movie and I saw next to non Aliens...REFUND PLEASE?!I'm not saying don't watch it has SOME good qualities but not enough for me >_<

I'll leave you with this last thought: The robot is and always will be a douche to the team and back stab you because they have no souls.

Food fact: Doughnut shaped ships are the best kind.

Rainbow Geeks: Rainbow Eye Makeup

I came across this and I really need to try this out for the summer (or what's left of it) since I have a healthy brown tan, it'll actually look quite nice on meh. Thanks Jon for motivating me to focus on my makeup artistry ~

Watch this space.

Find the original blog entry here.

This one is officially sponsored by Burger King I think is novel, I wouldn't say no to an expert drawing it on me but not totally sold on whether it's going to look good with the yes open...coz I don't wanna run around blind...well i do that to an extent anyway :p I'm a demon when it comes to crossing roads mwah aha ha ha ha!