Anime Recommendations

Today, I'm hitting you with a pretty basic post, much like last week. This week has been a pretty busy one for me, so I haven't had much time for brainstorming post ideas.

I was recommended by a few teens to start an anime club, so what better post could I do this week than one related to anime?!

Before I get into it at all, I'll be using the terms shoujo and shounen to describe the styles. In short, shoujo is more girly, has good comedy and, typically, a love story. Shounen is a term for anything aimed at younger males and tends to be more about fights, robots, etc.

Also, please note that I believe these can all be found on CrunchyRoll (legally free anime website yay!), but I don't really remember off hand. :D You're welcome.

(in no particular order)

1. RWBY

This is such a short series and it almost pulled a Firefly on us. Basically, the creator died suddenly after season 2 and no one had picked it up immediately, so most fans were concerned there would never be more. Thankfully, it was picked up and season 3 started October 24th!

The animation is a bit unique and not your typical style for modern anime and the main characters may be girls, but it's action packed enough to fit in both shoujo and shounen genres, if you ask me.

So if you like fights, ridiculously cool weapons and relatable characters, check out RWBY for sure.

2. Fruits Basket

This is actually a classic. As in, if you like shoujo at all, you should see this right this second. Like seriously, go now. If you aren't into shoujo, you should still try and watch it because, romance aside, it's absolutely hilarious. The one character, Shigure, makes me laugh so hard every time I watch the series that I'm practically sobbing. The downside with the anime is that it isn't nearly as long as the manga and ends on a really weird note. I always said it was because they ran out of funding so they never finished the anime series and left it awkwardly.

Regardless of that, it's totally awesome. I find the story to be pretty unique, as it deals with the Chinese zodiac and the stories associated with that, linked with real life situations. Plus, there's cats. Lots of cats!

3. Sword Art Online

This is really popular right now and, I have to admit, I'm not really sold on it, but those around my adore it, so it must be amazing just not my style.

From what I've seen, heard and read, the premise is that people are getting trapped in a virtual reality MMORGP. For you non-gamers, real people are getting trapped in a video game as their characters and they can't escape. There's lots of fighting, battles and a love story.

Here's the kicker--if you die in the virtual world, you die in real life. So you can imagine it's pretty intense--Walking Dead intense at times, if you ask me.

The characters are all designed well and it's a longer series, for those with time looking for something new.

4. My Love Story!!

LET'S NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SERIES. My best friend recommended it to me, because we tend to like the same anime. We're both big fans of Ouran High School Host Club, Fruits Basket, Lucky Star, etc.

It's truly a comedy. There is, obviously, a love story and there's awesome friendships and some heartfelt moments, but it's a comedy. The main character is this "scary" high school boy that everyone is afraid of, except this tiny and adorable high school girl from another school. They get into a relationship and everyone is so shocked because they're so different. Both characters are sweet and adorable, but still funny.

There's also the main character's best friend, who is quiet and hardly says a word but still manages to be amusing, as well as an array of other random minor characters.

There isn't exactly a main plot line--it's certainly a typical high school plot series, where it's just their daily lives together, but it's incredibly enjoyable. Bonus? It's still a new series so it's constantly continuing. Much yay such wow.

5. Attack on Titan

Last but not least, I thought I'd put in another one I'm not super familiar with, but one that is huge right now--especially in Japan.

I have to be honest, I googled a summary of this series I know so little about it. I tend to stay away from anything that's a fad, and this is definitely one I've stayed away from for that exact reason. If you ever go to anime cons, you'll see like a bajillion and one people cosplaying from this series.

To cut this summary short, because I think it's a pretty intense show from what I've heard from my friends, it's sort of a dystopian world where humans live inside gated communities to stay safe from titans, aka huge human like beings that have exposed muscles and eat humans for no reason.

There's lots of fighting, relationships, and a huge fandom to boot. It's another new series, so it's still continuing, and I know a lot of folks who will stay up super late when the new chapter is released and some people have even taught themselves enough Japanese to translate it when that happens. This isn't really my cup of tea (see me in two years when the fad has ended, I start watching it and become obsessed like I did with Doctor Who), but it seems exciting for those who like action!

BONUS: Love Live! School Idol Project

This is probably one of my favorites right now, despite the fact that I have yet to finish season 2. I'm really only putting this here because I'm obsessed with Japanese pop music and idols any ways, so this anime is everything I needed. Also, all the voice actresses do live stage performances where they sing and dance how their cartoon counterparts do in the show. I love that. I'm not going to say too much more, but if you like the ultra girls, watch this. There's also a super addictive phone app by the same title that's a rhythm game using the music by this group of ladies.

JUST LOOK AT THEM. I want to be their sister so badly they're so cute.

What series are you currently into? Have you seen any of these? If so, what did you think of them?

Cheap and Easy Halloween Costumes

If you're anything like me, I don't like to spend too much money on Halloween costumes. 99% of the time, I'm still adjusting to my new school schedule to put too much time and effort into it, and I'm already saving for Christmas presents.

Thankfully, we have websites like Pinterest, or simply Google, that can give us ideas for costumes that are easy to assemble and don't require too many dollars.

The best part is that you don't have to be like every other person this year and go as Harley Quinn or the Joker. Or Elsa. People are still dressing like her right?

I'm going to give you a list of my less popular top costumes for guys and girls this Halloween, in no particular order.

1. Milo from Atlantis
I think this one is pretty easy to assemble, especially since lots of fellos I know already have his hair or a hair cut similar to it. Just put on some brown shoes, a yellow/off-white ribbed tank top (or that same color collared shirt), some khaki pants, a brown belt and you're almost there. For the finishing touches, simply bend some wire you can get from any craft store pretty cheap to make the glasses and get out an old pair of long light brown socks. To finish it off, you'll want to cut both the heel and toe off of the socks, then put them over your show and your pants. Easy mode activate!

2. The Powerpuff Girls
One day I will be Bubbles, I swear. But until then, I highly recommend these three ladies. They're so simple. Pink, blue or green dress. Black wide belt. White tights and black shoes. Done. If you're going as Blossom, don't forget the big pink bow! And make sure you rock the pigtails if you go as Bubbles. It's totally optional but, as Bubbles, you can also feel free to speak to animals.

3. Wayne's World: Wayne and Garth
I'm not gonna lie--this is one of my favorites for an easy costume. The most important parts are the jeans with the holes in the knees and the messy hair. It's best if you have longer hair or can wear a wig with longer hair you can tangle up a bit. Once you've done that, throw on your most loved pair of Chucks, and then just follow the following photo for the rest. They're just your typical cool rockers (cool is a term I'm using lightly here), so it doesn't have to be perfect. I think if you at least have the hair, jeans and shoes right, everyone will know exactly who you are. Best part? Anyone of any gender, size or shape can wear this and look awesome.

4. The Peanuts
With the movie coming out soon, I'm sure these will be rather popular, but they're cute and easy so they get a mention any ways. Now, here you have a lot of options. I think it's best to look at the costumes they're wearing below and then sort of YOLO it from there. I think Lucy is probably the easiest after Charlie's trademark top and black bottoms, but it's all up to you and what you can find!

My biggest recommendation is, once you've decided on a character, to go find a quote by that character that is maybe his or her most well-known. My current favorite is Linus's, "Happiness is a warm blanket." Write that on a piece of card stock, or paper, glue it onto cardboard, cut it out into a speech bubble shape and then add on a stick to hold it up while you're out trick or treating.

5. The Walking Dead: Rick and Lori Grimes
Let's be real, there's a lot of different characters you could go as from the Walking Dead and Lori is certainly not one of my favorites in the series, but I think a couple would look pretty cute as them (especially if you're Trick or Treating with a little brother or something you could dress as Carl--just saying!). My personal preference would be Maggie and Glenn or even Sasha and Bob (if you're that far into the series), but I feel like Rick and Lori are so simple that anyone could dress as them straight from their closet.

I recommend you aim for around season 3. Rick's just wearing a khaki (or dark blue--it changes throughout the series) button down with front pockets and black jeans. If you have the ability to and don't have it naturally, try and add some stubble with black/dark brown makeup. As for Lori, grab your favorite plain blue jeans, a white ribbed tank top and a long sleeved plaid button down. If you have a pair of brown combat boots, roll up your jeans throw those on. For added effect, you add fake blood and/or dirt to yourselves as if you two were just out fighting off a horde.

I think this couple did a pretty good job, so I'm going to use this image instead of just one of the actual characters.

These are just a handful of ideas I've thought of that seemed pretty easy to put together, as well as fun and comfortable for any type of event. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, despite the fact that I'm often too busy to work on a new costume.

This year, I'll be going as Curious George because, why not? Assuming I actually finish the costume in time.

Have a great Halloween and see you next Saturday on that spooky day~

MOBA? What the heck is that?

Let's talk video games. It's a world that used to be extremely expensive and hard to access for those of us without a job, or under 18

In today's society, there's all sorts of fun interactive games you can play with your friends locally, or with people all around the world. Now, maybe it's just me, but I love connecting with people from all over. It's amazing the different types of people you can meet.

So that brings us to this weird acronym, MOBA. Now, I've always been a console gamer--I love playing Pokemon on my 3DS or Animal Crossing on my Wii. But when it came to computer games, up until a few years ago, I was not even slightly interested. I'd hear people talking about the latest MOBA and was just like, "...what?" Maybe it is because I was purely a console game, but this was the most confusing.

What the heck is a MOBA? Honestly, it's extremely straightforward. You're on a team. You try to defend your base while the other team tries to take it. You have different characters you can play as and different optional objectives that can make your team stronger or hurt the other team and make it harder for them.

But that's not the point, at least I don't think. My point is the cost: free. Guys, there are free video games available on your computer. So when you can't get to the library to check out a new WiiU or XBox game, you can still have fun playing with your friends and it costs a total of zero dollars and zero cents. Yes, please!

Right now, the two most popular MOBA's I know are League of Legends (made by Riot) and Heroes of the Storm (created by Blizzard aka World of Warcraft). I play both because they're different enough that it's not repetitive. Heroes of the Storm also has a much quicker game time, so it's easier to play if I just have 20 minutes or so to blow off some steam.

See guys? Games don't always have to cost $80 and some times the free games can allow you to meet people all around the world!

If you play either of the above-mentioned games, what champions or heroes do you like playing the most?

I play LoL more than anything and mainly play Ashe, Nami, Amumu and Veigar these days. I do play Heroes of the Storm, too, but I'm totally a beginner, so I only play Valla regularly right now. I have to say, though, my favorite part about it isn't playing--it's that I can escape to another universe like I was reading a book and do so with my friends from all over North America. Pretty sweet, right?

YouTubers

With today's technology, TV is becoming a thing of the past. Now, we have Netflix, Twitch, Hulu, CrunchyRoll and even YouTube at our disposal.

YouTube can connect everyone around the world with similar interests or can even teach you how to change a tire!

I personally love YouTube because I can take a step into other people's lives from Korea and Japan. When I'm not doing that, I love beauty vloggers and follow quite a few British YouTubers.

If you're interested in manga, anime and, most importantly, Sailor Moon and cats, I highly recommend SharlaInJapan. She has two channels--one where you can learn more about Japan and Japanese culture, and her second one shows you different bits and pieces from her every day life. She's really into the otaku culture like me, so it's a lot of fun to see what it's like where manga and anime is much more easily accessed.

 

Pikachu cafe? Heck ya!!

My current favorite YouTuber is Zoe Sugg, or Zoella. Her main channel, zoella280390, is filled with everything from hauls from stores like Lush and Primark to baking videos to makeup tutorials. She also tries actively to help with that suffer from social anxiety. Social anxiety is something that a lot of people suffer with and she lets those people know that you are not alone and does her best to provide advice. Plus, she's totally bubbly and adorable like Sharla. What's not to love?

On top of being a super successful YouTuber, the sequel to Zoe's second book, Girl Online: On Tour, releases in just 10 days. I loved the first book (simply Girl Online) and look forward to the sequel. A definite must read for those who love a character just like us: a media maven who loves all things Internet and blogging that happens to fall in love.

Do you have a favorite YouTuber? What kinds of videos do you like to watch?