I attend 3-5 Cons a year, the two main ones being Anime Central and Anime Iowa.  I often go to smaller cons, too, like Anime Reactor or Anime Detour.  But I have to say, Anime Iowa is my favourite - not too big, and not too small.  Here’s some snapshots from Coralville a few weeks ago, where the festivities took place.

That’s all for now!

Posted: August 30th, 2008 under Cosplay Fanatic.
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If you download anime like Bleach and Naruto from Dattebayo.com raise your hand.

I’ve been following Naruto since it started and I must say, when I first started watching it I fell head over heels for Naruto, Sasuke and the gang. The storylines were powerfully driven by a mix of drama, comedy and action like no other anime or manga before it. I laughed at Naruto’s silly harem antics, sat at the edge of my seat when Zabuza captured Kakashi in the water prison during the first encounter and was brought to tears when the handicapped Zabuza shed a tear for Haku before charging into Gato’s army to reap his revenge.

Now-a-days, gone are the compelling story lines with thoughtful comedy, engaging action and sensible drama.

Naruto has gone the way of Dragonball Z, destroying everything that was good about the original 135 episodes, opting to draw out story lines to create tension rather than use good writing to the same effect.

Naruto Shippuuden started off pretty cool by re-introducing us to new, more grown up versions of our favorite characters in the slow pacing that we’d gotten used to between story arcs. The series quickly picked up the pace with the abduction of Gaara by Akatsuki and from there the series began with it’s ups and downs. The exciting action was back with a punch as various characters faced off in the next 30 episodes or so, climaxing with the epic battle between Sakura and one of the coolest villains of all time: Sasori of Akatsuki. Unfortunately, throughout this entire arc we were forced to deal with boring side stories and blatant stalling (think dragonball when goku and villain exchange glances for 3 episodes or so) so the anime wouldn’t catch up to quickly with the manga like it did last time. I don’t know about any of you, but I’d rather sit through 5 filler episodes and keep the actual story line fun to watch than turn the entire show into a yawn fest.

And what now? Now, Naruto has just taken down a pseudo kyubi in an agonizingly long arc that I swore up and down was filler due to the fact the whole thing was basically a regurgitation of the first Sai arc.

When Naruto started I cared about the characters. Now it seems that Masashi Kishimoto is more concerned with plowing through story arcs to make his paycheck than he is with creating an engrossing story. What a pity, I’ll be on the look out for a new favorite anime.

-B

Posted: August 23rd, 2008 under Whatever.
Comments: none

Disgraceful_art left a comment asking where a good place would be to purchase Haku’s hunter-nin mask. Well D_A, I can do you one better and tell you how to make your own!

First, you’ll need to make the basic mask. The easiest way to do this would probably be to make it out of paper mache. Here’s how I would go about it, but if you think you have a better way by all means go for it (and maybe tell us about it in a comment!):

First, get a sturdy piece of card stock (the kind you would print business cards on, for instance), a spray bottle, and a wig head (they’re only about 5 bucks, you can get them at beauty supply stores, or online if you can’t find one locally). The curved surface will help you form the mask correctly.

Next, lightly spritz the card stock with water and place it on the face of the wig head (with the wig head laid back so the card stock won’t fall off, of course). Gently shape the card stock into the shape you would like the mask, spritzing it with more water if necessary.

Once you have your card stock in the desired shape, let it dry and then cut off the corners to make it a mask shape; then, paper mache it.

From here, all you need to do is make eye slits and paint on the details. I would also recommend sealing the whole mask with craft sealant (hodge podge or spray on, which ever you prefer) once you have completed it

Don’t forget a small hole on each side and some string or elastic to keep the mask on your face!

P.S. If you really wanna buy one, try checking our website! Cosplaylocator.com

Posted: August 9th, 2008 under Cosplay Creation Help.
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