This Weekend: Queen City Kamikaze

I'll be at Queen City Kamikaze this Saturday in Manchester, NH, reporting for both here and The Examiner.  You'll be seeing more live blogging here during the event, but the Examiner site will have a series of stories that I plan on writing on the different events going on there.

Expect plenty of pictures here and at Examiner, where I'll be setting up a slide show.  If you see someone with a laptop frequently being approached by four different teenagers at any point in time, feel free to say "hi!"

Memorable Anime Character: Naruto Uzumaki

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Where You've Seen Him: Naruto/ Naruto Shippuden

His Story: Naruto is a ninja who is a member of the Konohagakure village, but has been kicked out because the spirit of the Nine-Tailed Fox is trapped within his body.  Because of this Naruto makes it his goal to be the leader of the village.

Why He's So Memorable: Despite his fate, Naruto stil maintains a cheery attitude.  He makes friends very easily, and has lots of friends in other villages.  He is especially close to his team, called Team 7, and sees them as a family. He also acts very child-like.  But he can still kick some butt.

What's the Difference Between The Two Shows? In "Naruto," the character is younger, about 12. "Naruto Shippuden" takes place when Naruto is about 15.

Tomorrow -- a cat is left out in the cold.



Memorable Anime Characters: L Lawliet

Name: L Lawliet (better known as simply L)
Where You've Seen Him: Death Note
His Story: An orphan of mixed heritage, L is considered one of the greatest detectives in the world. He takes on the Kira case as a challenge.
Why He Is So Memorable: Looking at him, he doesn't look like a great detective. He is constantly eating sweets.  He crouches on chairs, never sits in them.  He holds everything as if it were delicate and about to break in his hands.  But L holds a mind that is absolutely brilliant.  But he also has some moral ambiguity to him, just like Kira.
Trivia (Spoiler): In the manga and the anime, L dies when Light (Kira) tricks the shinigami Ren into writing his name down to "protect" Misa. For the Japanese live action film, although Light still manages to convince Ren into writing L's name in his Death Note, but L beats them to the punch by writing his own name into a Death Note, making Ren's null and void. With this conclusion, although L still dies, it avoided the inclusion of Near and Mello that were controversial at the time.

Tomorrow -- the hero from Leaf Village

Memorable Anime Character: Monkey D. Luffy

Name: Monkey D. Luffy (Luffy)

Where You Have Seen Him: One Piece

His Story: Luffy is a pirate, but not how we typically think of pirates.  He is after the ultimate treasure, the mythical One Piece, so he can become the King of the Pirates.

What Makes Him Memorable: As a kid, Luffy accidentaly ate the Gummi-Gummi fruit, a devil fruit that gives its consumer special abilities.  Because of this, he has a body that is like rubber and can reach anywhere he wants to, and he's surprisingly strong.  However, because of this he also can't swim.  Luffy has an appetite that doesn't quit. And he often doesn't think when he enters into adventures.  But he always manages to pull his way through anything, especially with the help of his friends.

Tomorrow -- a detective as morally ambiguous as the killer he's chasing.

Happy Valentine's Day!

From the Wikipedia entry on Valentine's Day:

In Japan, Morozoff Ltd. introduced the holiday for the first time in 1936, when it ran an advertisement aimed at foreigners. Later in 1953 it began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates; other Japanese confectionery companies followed suit thereafter. In 1958 the Isetan department store ran a "Valentine sale". Further campaigns during the 1960s popularized the custom.^[54][55]
The custom that only women give chocolates to men appears to have originated from the typo of a chocolate-company executive during the initial campaigns.^[56] In particular, office ladies give chocolate to their co-workers. Unlike western countries, gifts such as greeting cards,^[56] candies, flowers, or dinner dates^[52] are uncommon, and most of the activity about the gifts is about giving the right amount of chocolate to each person.^[56] Japanese chocolate companies make half their annual sales during this time of the year.^[56]
Many women feel obliged to give chocolates to all male co-workers, except when the 14th falls on a Sunday, a holiday. This is known as giri-choko (義理チョコ), from giri ("obligation") and choko, ("chocolate"), with unpopular co-workers receiving only "ultra-obligatory" chō-giri choko cheap chocolate. This contrasts with honmei-choko (本命チョコ, Favorite chocolate); chocolate given to a loved one. Friends, especially girls, may exchange chocolate referred to as tomo-choko (友チョコ); from tomo meaning "friend".^[57]
In the 1980s the Japanese National Confectionery Industry Association launched a successful campaign to make March 14 a "reply day", where men are expected to return the favour to those who gave them chocolates on Valentine's Day, calling it White Day for the color of the chocolates being offered. A previous failed attempt to popularize this celebration had been done by a marshmallow manufacturer who wanted men to return marshmallows to women.^[54][55]
Men are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts received in Valentine's Day. Not returning the gift is perceived as the men placing himself in a position of superiority, even if excuses are given. Returning a present of equal value is considered as a way to say that you are cutting the relationship. Originally only chocolate was given, but now the gifts of jewelry, accessories, clothing and lingerie are usual. According to the official website of White Day, the color white was chosen because it's the color of purity, evoking "pure, sweet teen love", and because it's also the color of sugar. The initial name was "Ai ni Kotaeru White Day" (Answer Love on White Day).^[54][55]
In Japan, the romantic "date night" associated to Valentine's Day is celebrated in Christmas Eve.^[58]

Amazing how some things get lost in translation between Japan and the United States sometimes.

Hubby and I already did our Valentine's Day dinner last night since we weren't going to be able to do it tonight (he has class).  If you're going to the 99 restaurant, I highly recommend the Cupid's Combo.

Memorable Anime Character: Tamaki Suou

Name: Tamaki Suou
Where You've Seen Him: Ouran High School Host Club
His Story: Tamaki is the half Japanese/half French leader of the Ouran High School Host Club at Ouran Academy. Despite his home life, Tamaki has a very sunny disposition. But he also can act annoying around others in his position as leader, causing no amount of grief for other members of the club.
Why He Is So Memorable: Tamaki has a way with people.  Most of the time, his focus is on himself.  But he has his moments where his thoughts do turn to thinking about others.  He's endlessly fascinated with the "commoner" lifestyle and even adapts certain aspects of it into his life after meeting Haruhi, such as instant coffee.  He has a way of charming those around him.

Tomorrow -- The future King of the Pirates.

Memorable Anime Character: Gigantor

Name: Gigantor

Where You've Seen Him: Gigantor, also known as Tetsujin 28-go

His Story: Originally designed as a weapon, Gigantor was reprogrammed for peace.  He's controlled by Jimmy Sparks, and can all kinds of neato things like fly and punch things really, really good.

Why He's Memorable: Gigantor is the first mecha character, providing a model for every other mecha show out there.  Everything from Mobile Suit Gundam to Robotech to Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Tomorrow -- the "Princely" type.