Just over a month away...

It's kind of embarrassing for me to admit but, while looking over some of my pics from last year's NDK, I came upon a pic that I really liked.

Taken on Saturday while I was on my way to a Robotech panel, I came upon this gorgeous cosplayer and I had to take a picture. It wasn't until months later that I realized that this was none other than the COSPLAY IDOL, TristenCitrine. This is somewhat embarrassing for me due to the fact that she has cosplayed the BEST Cutie Honey I have ever seen and that I have always wanted to meet her.

I had pictures of her donning the Cutie Honey togs in a photoshoot from 2008 when she debuted the costume but, I always wondered if she ever took it to a con before.Upon further investigation, I found that the lucky con-goers from Sakura Con (2008) were graced with the awesomeness of TristenCitrine's Cutie Honey. Oh, I am sooo jealous...

Hopefully, she makes it back to NDK again this year.I wonder if she will break that costume out ever again?

Anywho, with ComiCon coming up in just over a month away, I'm putting the finishing touches on my wishlist.

Near the top is this Microman Cutie Honey.
I have a history with this VERY hard to find toy.

I have been known to bid on items from Yahoo Japan from time to time. It's where I get a lot of my cels (as well as hard to find Japanese toys) from. I actually won this in an auction for just a little over $100. Imagine the disappointment when my auction was cancelled without warning.
Bummer...I know that some Japanese sellers don't like selling to overseas buyers. That's why I use a proxy to act as an in-between. Oh, well...you win some and you lose some. Thankfully, I didn't lose any money in the transaction.

MONDAY NIGHT FORUM
So, we have been watching Gundam ZZ at forum for the past couple of months. Being the UC-based Gundam freak that I am, I was really looking forward to seeing it.Sure, I had heard bad things about it but I wanted to see for myself what the big fuss was about. Initially, I can honestly say, Gundam ZZ deserved all of the bad reviews that it had received but around episode 22ish the story began to get better. It began to actually FEEL like Gundam again. We are currently on episode 32 and it looks like this is going to turn bloody soon.

One of the things that initially sold me on Gundam ZZ was the main antagonist, Haman Karn (or Khan in some circles). She is, quite possibly, one of my favorite characters in all of anime and easily one of my favorite characters in the Gundam Universe. Very strong-willed woman who is a very charismatic leader. Of course there is that undying love of Char Aznable that she has to contend with.What the world needs now is more Haman cosplay...Looking for a Haman I-Doll at ComiCon, for sure...Then there is the RAH-DX figure.From some of the reviews that I have read about it online, it tends to be a leaner and needs a little doctoring up and some TLC. However, with how much I love my RAH-DX Lunamaria Hawke figure, I can see myself springing for one of these too.

Ah...ComiCon could be a VERY expensive trip. Especially if the cel dealers that I normally buy from show up....

DECULTURE!!!

I am Black Lagoon(y)...

Well, with this being Thanksgiving and all, you tend to pause to think about the things that you are most thankful for. With this being a blog about my otakudom, I would like to pause to think about the things that I am thankful for as far as my otaku tendencies are concerned.

Hmmm...Lemme think...I know, I'm very thankful for the anime/manga Black Lagoon.

A long time ago (2006, actually) when we used to have two legitimate anime shops in our town, I came upon an ad while perusing some Japanese magazines. The ad that I saw had a hottie totting two guns while wearing some hotpants. Being a fanservice fanatic, I needed to find out more about this show. After doing some minor investigation, I found that the show was called “Black Lagoon”. I was inspired so I asked my fellow OtaKrew member, Cyphr, to find some fansubs of this series for me. After finding the show, Cyphr decided that it was something that the whole Krew needed to see. Needless to say, the show became a Monday Night Forum hit.

Basically, the show is about a salaryman named Okajima Rokuro who was kidnapped by some mercenaries while trying to deliver a disc for his company somewhere in the southeast Asian seas. He becomes a liability for his company so he is (for the most part) considered dead. Long story short, Rokuro is dubbed "Rock" by his captors whom he ends up saving then joining. The team consists of Dutch the Boss, Benny the Mechanic, Rock and Revy the Two Hand. (It was Revy who drew my attention in the aforementioned ad)

In the story, Rock and the crew deal with all sorts of crazy things including gun-toting maids, neo-nazis, Asian gangsters and other mercenaries.

Thankfully, we got a domestic release of the anime from the good folks at Geneon. The problem is that Geneon went through some...restructuring...over the past year. Thankfully, Funimation picked up the series and is currently releasing it in Geneon's place. Coolness...

Recently, Viz has begun releasing the Black Lagoon manga which is a total blast (just like the anime). While doing some research at Anime News Network (ANN), I found that the manga lasted 7 volumes and began in 2002. Currently, we are on volume 002 which I have just picked up. If any of you are into adventure stories with lots of gunfire, car chases, things blowing up, people being punched and a little fanservice (Revy IS fanservice), then you will LOVE both incarnations of this series.

Now, knowing me, you know that I LOVE toys...One toy that I am coveting right now is the Revoltech version of Revy.

Finding this toy is like finding gold as I haven't seen it in any of the stores that I frequent regularly. Sure, I have seen them on ebay for pretty reasonable prices but I like to check out my local stores first. One of the Krew, Card, found one early on and snatched it up with the quickness. Whenever I go over to his house, I salivate over his Revy-ness and am tempted to..borrow her.

As for real-life toys, here are a few pics of one of the best cosplayed Revys that I have seen...

Another thing that I look for are doujinshi...The Black Lagoon spoof "Pink Lagoon" from the Motchie Empire circle is something that I am currently looking for. When it comes to doujinshi being posted here, I will only post covers that don't have any nudity in them.

...I'm also thankful for vampire anime...

So, I decided to pull out some older anime the other day. As I am a big time fan of anything vampire-ish, I decided to break out NightWalker. This anime is quite the treat as it is very similar to one of my favorite TV shows, Forever Knight.

The story is about a vampire named Shido who, as a private detective, works with a female police officer named Matsunaga Yayoi. There is also the orphaned teen-ager, Yamazaki Riho, who works in his office and his imp, Guni. Together, they solve paranormal mysteries while keeping the streets safe at night. Initially, NightWalker was intended to be just a 4-part OVA but it got taken to TV for an additional 8 episodes. Right around episode 6 is where the store got darker but it led to a very satisfying end.

If you like supernatural stories with vampires and other monsters, I HIGHLY recommend "NightWalker" as a show to watch.

I'm also thankful for cosplayers.

taken at NDK2008 while kickin' it at the bar...

When I go to cons, I'm very excited about hitting the dealer's room, sitting in on panels, watching Anime Music Videos (AMV) and people watching. When people watching, what I am really looking for are what costumes people are wearing as I LOVE cosplay.

Since my birthday is right around Halloween, I would have costume parties for my birthday so I grew to love Halloween the most out of all of the holidays. So, it stands to reason that I would love cosplaying is well. I am an Ota-razzi as I take my camera with me to all cons so that I can get lots and lots of pictures of all of the cosplayers. I also look for Cosplay idols on the internet via cosplay.com or American Cosplay Paradise. Through these two websites, I have come upon several cosplayers who I look forward to seeing what they do next...

This is one of my favorite cosplayed Cutie Honeys ever. This is the cosplay idol TristenCitrine and this pic is from a 2008 photo shoot. I'm not sure if she has broken this outfit out at any cons yet but, as it is, this particular picture is currently the wallpaper on my cellphone.

More cosplayed Cutie Honey-ness from one of my myspace friends...pamelaNeko

This Hyper Cutie Honey was shown at Anime Expo 2008. Along with the Honey from TristenCitrine, this particular outfit is one of the best Honey's that I have ever seen.

As a fan of the X-Men, I was very impressed by this Dazzler from Dragon Con 2008. In my opinion, the classic, disco-balled Dazzler is the best version of all.

To finish off my Thanksgiving theme, I'm thankful for having pamelaNeko as a myspace friend and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

DECULTURE!!!