Saturday, 22 December 2012

MCM London 2012: Kawaii Stalls

Along my adventures at MCM, I came across a lot of unique and cute stalls – I have found a range of interesting items and brands you should all check out and show some love as it’s these independent companies that gives us the much loved trends aka the Llama frenzy – a must have companion for all Lolita’s brought to us by Tofu Cute.
purplerooster MCM London 2012: Kawaii Stalls
Super kitch jewellery by Purple Rooster, it’s not just Pikachu made out of fimo clay, t’s a a pika-cake  some lovely designs wearable by men and women, I especially loved the Onyx necklace.
I found Pokemon fanatics where they were selling all things Poke-related, my favourite prizes from this stall were the awesome poke-badges form the first series!
Since the boom of the zombie craze has exploded in the UK, we had a stall with zombie mannequins including a zombe bride and a zombie nazi from ‘The Flesh Krafter’.
fondant MCM London 2012: Kawaii Stalls
Beautiful plastic Jewelry with a Alice in Wonderland/Lolita –esque style from Fondant Warfare literally killer jewelry. I spent the longest time looking at their merchandise spanning from Disney characters, retro my little ponies to their own range of Halloween designs.
cynade MCM London 2012: Kawaii Stalls
A real treat was meeting the creator of ‘cyanaide and happiness’ comics and cartoons as seen on YouTube, he was happily setting up his branded stuff for MCM goers to ‘squee’ over and even did autographs and photographs for free, what a gent!
I hope I’ve refreshed your memories on top stalls you visited and maybe showed a few more usual ones to look out for next time. Did you see any stalls you thought deserved a place in this article? Leave a comment below.

Sunday, 16 December 2012

MCM Expo London 2012: Report

We have provided a top picks article on the comics and stalls and now here’s a general overview of all the different goings on throughout MCM Expo.
Of course no event is complete without Namco Bandai holding their tournament. Plenty of gaming fans showed up to the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 finals at London MCM, see any famous faces? I caught Chef handing out flyers to a Street fighter tournament!
Matt Smith was around doing signings for the first time, so many people queued up to buy dvds. I also walking into a look alike in the queue and posed in front of a Tardis which happened to be nearby – I don’t plan these things, they just happen, honest.
mcm3 MCM Expo London 2012: Report
Rising Star Games (creator’s of Virtue’s Last Reward) were offering great deals on RPG gems likeHarvest Moon, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, Rune Factory Frontier, with deals like 3 games for £30 and free soundtracks with purchases – turns out it’s well worth saving your money to spend on games at MCM.
mcm4 MCM Expo London 2012: Report
The Euro Cosplay event was sadly severely delayed but the range of costumes were fantastic and the finals of the Euro Cosplay are to be held at Hyper Japan.
mcm6 MCM Expo London 2012: Reportmcm5 MCM Expo London 2012: Report
The Wii U hub was always busy but after a 10-15 min wait you got a chance to play this neat new console with a monster of a game pag which I found easy to use after much experience of hand console gaming. So don’t let change freak you out, the Wii U has a lot to offer.
A total lock down of fake items has been supposedly enforced, only official merchandise is allowed to be sold at MCM so you shouldn’t be ripped off. They even had security this year patrolling to stop pick pockets.
mcm2 MCM Expo London 2012: Report
What did you think of this MCM Expo London? Have they improves on the previous conventions, or is there still room for improvement?

Saturday, 15 December 2012

MCM Expo London 2012: Comic Village

London MCM Expo has created a new kind of stir around Halloween, new spooky twists on Cosplay, more emphasis on gaming and my favourite, the comic village. I spent most of the day speaking to a wide variety of independent artists.
Twisted Dark author Neil and his artist were chatting to passersby and offering their comics to people to read and enter the challenge of reading several chapters and not buying the book for 69p on a phone app! I like dark short stories so this was right up my alley, so I took a look the manga chapter that looked pretty but had a sinister story line. All the stories made you feel comfortable right until the end. Neil was also giving a talk at the Apple store on 15th November talking about how he left his career to make comics his mission and to try and integrate them into society and accepted as a real prestige.
Follow Neil and his endeavors on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TPublications
comic2 MCM Expo London 2012: Comic Village
I spoke to kitsch looking Laura Watton, author of the manga Squishy Chan’s Adventure, Team Player 7 general artist for the super cute brand PinkAppleJam. She’s been publishing her own comics since the mid-90s and has always juggled her day job/education with making comics and illustrations as well as Neil. It really is great to meet dedicated artists, its part of their lifestyle and you could see from her brimming stall she has lots to offer.
Follow her on twitter: @PinkAppleJam and see more of her beautiful art here: http://www.pinkapplejam.com
We also had the Simon’s Cat stall kitted out in all it’s red glory, sadly the author was not about to chat to as he was on his honeymoon, congrats Simon Tofield.
Follow the antic’s on Simon’s cat here: http://www.simonscat.com
I spoke to Kai Anthony Lynn aka Di-San, her artwork is to be featured in an upcoming publication ‘The Complete Guide to Drawing Manga’. Selling her original art as well as fan art Laharl from Disgaea stood out from the crowd.
Check out her artwork and commissions on tumblr: http://endlessdusk.tumblr.com
comic3 MCM Expo London 2012: Comic Village
And now for something different from subversive comics. After days on the road, running low on supplies and haunted by memories of his past, sleep deprivation finally catches up with Our Hero. Realising that there is no safe place in the open he is forced to take shelter in a makeshift fort ruled by a devious leader known only as the ‘Father’. Will our hero be able to escape the clutches of the Machiavellian Father? And will he be able to continue his quest to find the bear responsible for the Zombear Apocalypse? Click below to find out: http://subversivecomics.com
As I wondered away from the comic village across Miku-Piku’s art on the other side with merchandise which was confusing but was drawn to via the very cool raffle prizes, including signedStreet Fighter poser by Yoshino Ono! This made sense when she explained she was a video games artist and her art and fan art was undeniable easy on the eye especially for the guys. Request commissions online: http://www.facebook.com/Miku-Piku-Art
These are just a few of the lovely artists I came across at MCM, if you know of others showcasing and like me to include them in my next convention write up email me: aisha@animepicks.co.uk

Wednesday, 30 May 2012

MIB 3: Let's get some dumb ass pie

 Ahhh another week of poverty another orange Wednesday exploit - Since I missed out on May MCM expo last week thought I'd catch up with my Anime buddies through the joy of Will Smith. Considering I went in thinking this movie was going to be melted cheese, you know stuck to the bottom of the grill you'd have to chistle off? Good idea reheated too many times.

Surprisingly you didn't really have to watch any of the previous movies to understand what was going on.





Though I was perplexed as to why Nicole Scherzinger from Pussycat Dollz was in the movie for best of 5 minutes and why was just delicious cake wasted? Do not be deceived by the voice of the villain of this movie Boris the animal who is played by Jemaine Clement and not Tim Curry :p

Loving all the food references, Sharwara again? Avengers Assemble have started a trend  and let me tell you sharwarma's differ and taste better than doners. Pie is featured quite a lot and it is beyond me why K like's to eat 'apple pie with a slice of nasty cheese' but I will have to try now. Also the bikes they ride on in the movie look strangely similar to Mr Garrison's prototype from South park.

The on going joke of Agent K being 100 is well founded in this movie as Tommy did look like he was getting on a bit and so did his love interest Agent o (Emma Thompson). Apart from Agent O, Boris and Griff (Unicorn dude who sees into the future)we aren't introduced to any new or even cameos to past characters. You didn't feel anything missing as the banter between Agent K & J carried the film.

This movie focused on time jumping and parodies history with references to Lady Gaga, Andy Warhol I don't believe in spoilers so i won't divulge TOO much but a lot of interesting background history on Agent J & K come up and fills in a few holes from the past movies. Will Smith hasn't done a movie since 2008 when he played the main role and produced the movie Seven pounds and didn't let us done with his delivery of witty cynicism.

Also the D-box is now ready to use at Cineworld so for an extra 4 quid you can watch your movies whilst vibrating :s 

Lastly here are some of the best dialogues from the movie, couldn't chop this stuff up :p

Agent J: The world is under destruction and you wanna get pie? Your right let's stop following clues and doing police work and do something stupid. Come on let's get some dumb ass pie K!

Agent J: Okay. You know how you're on an airplane and the flight attendant asks you to turn your cell phone off, and you're like; I ain't turnin' my cell phone off, that's doin' no harm to the damn airplane?

[pointing to the saucer crash behind him]

Agent J:
Well, this is what we get. That's what happens, it gets up there, bounces around on the satellite, and bam! Just turn your damn cell phone off. Now you're gonna drop off a cliff cause your GPS don't work.

cutest monster ever :D
[referring to the donar kebab meat that's being roasted on a vertical spit]
Agent J: Seriously, I'm not even sure that's meat! I think I just saw a tooth in that thing, or a claw, a hoof.
[K takes buys a kebab from the kebab vendor and walks off]
Agent J: That does not belong in a pita, it belongs in a casket.
Agent K: You know, it feels good to eat in silence.
Agent J: But see, here's the problem. You can't smell it, because your nose already smells like that, where my nose doesn't.
Agent K: Silence feels good with a lot of things. Did you ever try it, or is talking the way you breath?
Agent J: If you hate me, you should just say you hate me. Don't take it out on the car.
Agent K: You know, I'm enjoying this.
Agent J: Wow! Enjoyment. So, that's what enjoyment looks like on that face. I like that emotion.
Agent K: Let's keep emotion out of it.
Agent J: Out of what, K? Life?

[at the MIB headquarters, K delivers a eulogy for the recently departed Z]
Agent K: I worked with Z for over forty year, and in all that time he never invited me to dinner. He never asked me to his house, or watch a game. He never shared a single detail of his personal life.
[he pauses for a moment]
Agent K: Thank you.
[K walks off and comes to stand next to J, who looks amazed at K's short eulogy]
Mannix: And now we will hear from our new chief, Agent O.
Agent O: Thank you, Agent K. That was very moving.
[J turns to K as he stands next to him]
Agent J: That was your eulogy?
Agent K: He was a good man. 

Agent J: Ooh, man! These look like they come from the planet damn.

[K and J are sat at a table the Chinese restaurant with the intestinal worm problem]
Agent J:
That was just mean, what you did to Hula back there. That's just disrespectful.
Agent K:
I used to play a game with my dad, what would you have for your last meal. We could do worse than this.
Agent J:
Oh. Okay. Um...I used to play a game with my dad called catch. Except I would throw the ball and it would just hit the wall, cause he wasn't there.

Agent K: Do you know the most destructive force in the universe?
Agent J: Sugar?
Agent K: Regret.

1969 NYPD Cop #1: Where did you get the car?
1969 NYPD Cop #2:
And the suit?
Agent J:
I stole them, both. Uh...car from your wife, the suit from your grandmother.

Agent J: That gentlemen is a standard issue Neuralizer, but you're not gonna remember that. And just because you see a black man driving in a nice car, does not mean he stole it.
[J pauses for a moment before admitting]

Agent J:
I stole that one. But not cause I'm black!
 


Boris' Girlfriend: It's a cake.
Prison Guard #2: I'll be the judge of that
 Prison Guard #2: It appears to be some sort of cake. 


Young Agent K: You have to trust the pie.


Little Chocolate Milk Girl: Mommy, the president is drinking my milk...and he didn't say please.
 

Griffin: First we gotta get high.
J: My man, for real?
Griffin: No, real HIGH.