Cinnamoroll’s Instant Curry

I love curry. I don’t know what spices make up the sauce, but I love it nonetheless. May it be Japanese, Indian, Classic curry, it’s probably one dish that can’t go wrong in my menu.

But add a cute character into the packaging of instant curry?

You can be sure I’ll buy at least one.

My family went to Cartimar the other day because brother needed to buy supplies for his Japanese restaurant. In a little shop called “Asuka”, I found this Cinnamoroll edition of instant curry, begging to be bought. It only cost P72 for one box, which is good for one meal. There’s also 1 of 20 illustrations of Cinnamoroll and/or his friends along with a sticker set~

Cuteness aside, it’s unfortunately not the best of instant curries out there. There wasn’t a lot of potatoes and carrots in the pack, and the sauce was a little sweet to taste… probably because this is aimed for kids. I like my curry a little bit spicier, but Japanese kids sure are lucky to have all these cute things.

…oh, and this doesn’t mean I’m not buying any more of these. The stickers were just too cute, so sue me. ;_; I don’t mind cooking extra meat and potatoes. And besides, there’s always the ever faithful stove to adjust the spiciness of the sauce!

Hello Kitty Sweets: Cuteness in Taiwan

You would think that I would get over the Hello Kitty phase by now, but my trip to Taiwan made me re-think that statement.

When I arrived in Taipei, our taxi driver asked me what I liked and what I do for work. When he heard about Hello Kitty (which he really misunderstood with my Chinese fail speak), he told us about a Hello Kitty Cafe, the only one in Taiwan. In fact, he drove us there to show us, even though the store was already closed, and I was overwhelmed with the cute overload.

Unfortunately(?), I wasn't able to buy any of the cakes or even coffee, so I can't really say how good or bad they are. According to my sister and brother-in-law, the prices for the cakes were pretty good, especially since it's a Hello Kitty themed cafe. The chairs were shaped in Hello Kitty's head, and the waitresses were all dressed in pink and Hello Kitty clothing!

Way too much cute for me, but I dare say the next time I do go back to Taiwan, I might as well make it a point to visit and dine at Hello Kitty Sweets. I mean, who wouldn't want a bite out of Hello Kitty's head?

Fun Taiwan!

Yesterday, I took a plane ride to Taipei, Taiwan to visit my sister and my brother-in-law. I've always wanted to see what Taiwan was like, as I always get my manga from there... whenever the sister's in the country, of course!

I took Cebu Pacific and I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be. The flight was pretty smooth sailing, though the immigration officer in the NAIA Terminal 3 was pretty mean. "Where are you going?" "Where's your visa?" "You think you can get in Taiwan with only this?" >.>;;; Ayiyi, such a horrible nightmare she was!

But at least the immigration officer in Taipei was such a cute bishie!!! >o<;;; Why didn't he ask me more questions instead of that creepy girl who I first thought was a man? ;_;

Oh, and there was a cute little girl wearing a Hello Kitty jacket on our flight too, so that helped erase the nightmares of NAIA. Heh~

Airport food is highway robbery though... a bottle of mineral water cost me P115 (US$2.50). Dx!!! I hate you Terminal 3. T_T

I should remember to tie some ribbons to my luggage when I fly back though... So many people have the exact same one! I almost took the wrong luggage but it was a good thing we had different locks! @_@;;; When I got mine, I checked the combination and ran off to the exit... which was another surprise because... Where was my sister?! Hahaha... I looked around in the waiting area and there was hardly anyone there! I walked around for a few minutes before they arrived~ Which was ok, because I was already expecting that! ^^

My first meal was prawn salad, kung pao stir fry crab, prawn roll with almonds, radish cake, corn soup, and shi mi lu! I wasn't eating well all day because I was too excited about my trip, but dinner was so heavenly delicious that... I was in heaven! I will post pictures later if and when I have more time~ Heh~

Oh, the cab driver was super nice too. He asked me if I liked Hello Kitty and I mentioned that I used to work for her. Haha~ He showed us a small cafe called "Hello Kitty Sweets" and I swear, I squealed. xD Even if I don't like Hello Kitty all that much, that place looked really cute! My brother-in-law promised that we'll go there when it's open, and I'm super excited! >3<;;;

Got home pretty late so we slept the morning away... I think my sister and brother-in-law are still asleep, so I'll raid the fridge for the left overs... I think there's some pork chop rice around somewhere. 711 is right downstairs too, which looks a lot like Hong Kong's...

Did I mention I'm staying in Holiday Inn's Executive Suite at a fraction of the actual cost?

Photos to be posted on another date! xDDD

Artist for Hire

Because I am now a starving artist, I've decided to put up commissions. For now, these are the services offered, but I will update my Deviant Art Commissions Information if I think I can handle any more.

Yes, I'm serious... even if it is April Fools today. xD;;;

Portrait Commissions: US$15 ($7 for each additional character)

* waist up
* full color
* minimal to no BG only

Samples:

Chibi Commissions: US$10 ($5 for each additional character)

* full body
* full color
* minimal to no BG only

Samples:

Color Commissions: US$10-20

* price depending on difficulty
* lineart must be provided in high resolution
* minimal to no BG only

Sample:

If interested, please send me an email with the following information:

Name:
E-mail: (your PayPal email)
Commission Type:
Description of character:
Art style: (you can choose any style from my gallery)
Link for reference of character:

RULES

- I reserve the right to post commissions on my websites.
- Sketching will begin only after the commission has been paid either in 50% down payment of preferably paid in full (PAYPAL ONLY).
- Please give at least 15 days before issuing a follow-up.
- Corrections will only be entertained during sketching stage.
- The final artwork in its highest resolution will be emailed to the commissioner in JPEG format (unless requested otherwise).
- No hentai, yaoi, or yuri.
- Allowing the artist a bit of leeway for the poses is preferred.

If you have any questions, comments, requests, and suggestions, please do let me know~ ^_^ Thank you very much!

Fanning the Flames of Outrage

I’m sure people have heard about Nick Simmon’s “Incarnate” by now, seeing that he’s “paid homage” to popular series Bleach.

But to release a statement like this?

“Like most artists I am inspired by work I admire. There are certain similarities between some of my work and the work of others. This was simply meant as an homage to artists I respect, and I definitely want to apologize to any Manga fans or fellow Manga artists who feel I went too far. My inspirations reflect the fact that certain fundamental imagery is common to all Manga. This is the nature of the medium.

“I am a big fan of Bleach, as well as other Manga titles. And I am certainly sorry if anyone was offended or upset by what they perceive to be the similarity between my work and the work of artists that I admire and who inspire me.”

From: Manga Worth Reading
Nick Simmons Releases Statement, Takes No Responsibility

I am upset by this, of course, since I draw my own webmanga, 黑火子 and let manga fans read it online for free. There are ads, yes, but I really hardly make any money out of those. And it’s not that I’ve never used references before either. I mean, there have been comments about Rei Kuassary looking like Lady Anne of Gundam Wing… and let’s not forget, I mentioned tracing parts of this as a practice for using the pen tool…

So… I don’t know. At one point or another, artists have done their share of copying works in order to practice. I don’t think I’m that “pure” to be the one to judge him.

I do know this… All publicity? Most probably good publicity. I hope he manages to get out of this in one piece.

Sugary Sweet Sundaes

I feel so nervous all of a sudden. *_*

I’m so behind on my pages that I feel like I’ll be missing deadline after deadline again. I need to break this habit and try to keep proper time management.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), my sister and her husband arrived earlier this morning. This would mean sleepless nights of endless drabble that’ll cut my productivity in half. I’m trying to come up with ways to keep her at bay so I can try looking for a printing press in time for Komikon.

Well, that’s the plan anyway. I’m going to try and print limited copies of the digitally re-mastered edition of A.illusions Act One, and possibly Mote-Mote if I can afford it. I’m so nervous about the whole thing because… what if no one buys my books? That’ll be a disaster. But at the same time, this could be my last chance to try and sell some indis, which I’ve been wanting to do for the longest time.

I might just have to take a leap of faith… but I’m still nervous about the whole thing, haha!

In other news…

Sweetest Dreams by ~kurohiko on deviantART

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at drawing Trinity Blood. Good thing ~Laura28182 requested Abel for her prize~ x3

Just a Little Update…

So many exciting and depressing things are happening that I can’t keep up with it… All the more can’t I keep up with updating my poor blog when my webmanga doujinshi already has 2 pages up! Slackin off is not the way to start the new year.

Some people can probably tell that I cheated on page 10 because I used an old image and recycled it. It was suppose to be a blank panel, but I hesitated and changed it at the last minute. There is also a missing element in page 9, but I’m too lazy to fix it. I guess I’m beginning to procrastinate and cram… so not good! >.<;;;

My nephew has decided to teach me how to play the piano, since he is quite an expert at it now. We’re about 11 years apart, so it’s quite a humbling experience to be taught by someone so young. My fingers are in a lot of pain tough, which is very bad because I haven’t finished inking the next update yet.

Oh, and we play badminton every Saturday too. Glad I can still pwn both my nephews, hehe~

Hope everyone’s days have been than mine! I need to decide on something soon, and it makes me nervous just thinking about it. Wish me luck!

Art Journal; Year 2003-2009

Kurohiko's Art Journal by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Do you think I improved?

I honestly don’t see a lot of changes, haha! That is very bad. No progress means I’m not developing my skills at all. Oh la la~ I should explore more this year!

Hopefully 2010 will be a lot better~

First Fail of 2010

I remember the days when people told me that I was rushing things when it came to drawing my manga pages.

Well, guess what? I never learn. =_=;;; My page 8 is actually between 6 and 7. Whoo~

But somehow, I like it. I like how Hiiragi's 2 sides are shown in the new page, and I really like how his wings turned out. My only peeve is how Uta turned out. ~_~ Or I don't know, I'm probably nitpicking like I usually do. x3

I think I'll turn in early tonight... My eyes feel dead from all the gray toning. x_x;;;

'Twas a Strange Christmas...

Thanks to the Christmas Holidays, I haven't had time to update my blog, so you're getting two doujin pages instead of one. I can't think of a proper blurb at the moment, argh..! Even Mote-Mote's update was delayed for a day since the scheduled post was on the 25th! >.<;;;

It was a strange Christmas for me... My brother left on the 24th for Canada, and the entire family was pretty stressed because we couldn't find the package my uncle asked him to deliver to my aunt in Vancouver. The package was about P7000 (US$150) worth of music materials (CDs, books, music sheets, etc.) from Japan bought by my cousin, so you can imagine why we were so keen in finding it! My uncle was pretty mad that we lost it, and my mom was so upset that noche buena was canceled that evening. I spent the evening alone in my room, working on some art.

But you know what? Despite the lack of sleep that evening, the package was found when my brother had arrived in Canada! You can imagine how happy mom was! This was our very own Christmas miracle!

On the 25th, we had dinner in David's Tea House in Trinoma. I never thought Chinese food could taste so good. *_* Maybe because the load was finally lifted and we were all happy?

I'll have to take pictures of all the gifts I received this year and post it on a later time, but for now?

Happy Holidays Everyone!
~I hope you Christmas was just as miraculous as mine~

Coffee Break; Posting from the Office

Dear goodness gracious I am so tired. @_@

You may have noticed that Mote-Mote’s page 4 was up during the night of the 15th instead of midnight. Ahaha! I’m so behind now. Page 5 is still on the inking stage, so I really need to pick up the pace!

I guess I can cram a little on Saturday. The next page has a lot of background detail into it, so it’s taking a lot more time.

These are the moments when I wish I can just use photographs for backgrounds instead of having to draw them frame by frame. Ahaha~ Laziness is in my DNA. xD

On to some celebrity gossip, I’ve been catching up on Chico and Delamar’s Top 10 thanks to the podcasts posted by Blue Ritz. I’m so glad Chico and Delamar mentioned this site, because it really helps me concentrate at work… minus the occasional laughing-like-a-madwoman moments with which my boss and colleagues reach for the phone to call the Mental Institute. ._.;;; Heh.

And I wonder if Misha Collins is really in Vancouver, Canada? He recently tweeted a post office box address for people to send their ticket stubs from his New York screening. He’s also asking for applications for treasurer, which requires a lock of hair for species verification. What. In any case, I hope I can send him a letter to request for an autograph when I move to Canada.

Shush. I already know I’m a dork. I do not need to be reminded. xD

Finally, I must rant about this:

Oyasumi, Kaname-sama by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Stupid me flattened my layers for this illustration, ARGH!!! Now I can’t change the stuff I wanted to change..! *SOB*

I guess that’s what I get for coloring until 2 in the morning. T_T At least it turned out ok, and I’m honestly quite happy with it.

No one is allowed to wake Kaname-sama up. Is that clear? >/

EDIT: Oh right, Misha, you really did give the wrong address. How in the world could we have missed that? Hee~! You’re so adorable. x3

Shift to Hyper-Focus Mode

Ahaha, I forgot to post an update. xD

You may have noticed that I’ve got a new page up at 黑火子 ~Kurohiko, which is pacing a lot faster than A.illusions ever did. That’s kind of good and also kind of bad because it means I’m enjoying drawing Mote-Mote more than A.illusions.

I guess copying characters and backgrounds are a lot easier than starting from scratch.

It does make me want to go back updating A.illusions again though. Or something original. I’ve always wanted to continue Karma, but I’ve never had the time or inspiration for it. Of course, there’s also Vanguards of Heaven (Guardians of Celestia) which was my college thesis gone strangely wrong and off track, but I’m thinking I should finish what I started first before creating something entirely new again.

Anyway, I almost didn’t make the deadline for this because I had been ill for something close to a week. I wasn’t sure if I could post this or not, but my officemate decided to help me out and gave me an article about hyper-focus mode. I have to admit, it really works, and you should really give it a read.

Here are the keypoints of the article:

How to Stay Creative When Facing Deadlines: “The ultimate inspiration is the deadline.”

1. Recognize early on that you are getting stressed and handle it before it gets out of control.
2. Communicate with a friend that is also trying to be creative under pressure.
3. Stay in an inspired state of mind.
4. Shift into hyper-focus mode.

For this weekend? I’ll try to shift to hyper-focus mode again to finish penciling all the pages of Mote-Mote. Afterwards, I can ink them and tone them as the days come forth.

Wish me luck guys~ ♥

My First Doujin is Now Online!

After several weeks of procrastination, I’m finally able to post Mote-Mote for the world to see!

Well, ok, I posted page 1, working on the next page… but haha, after 6 months? I dare say it’s quite an achievement! And you know, it’s pretty therapeutic to draw characters that already exist in an anime… designing structures is not as difficult as starting from scratch.

Admittedly though? I’m already thinking about drawing originals again. I can’t decide whether I should continue A.illusions after Mote-Mote, or draw the 2nd Chapter of Karma. Either way though, I’m really psyched up!

Now if only I was so sick for the past week that I had to stay in bed most of the time, I wouldn’t be panicking about not making my next deadline, which is on December 10, 2009..! Yikes… x.x;;;

I’m pretty ok now, almost fully recovered from fever, though I still feel like my brain is running only on minimum requirement. 4 days of high fever can do that to people I guess, haha! I had to miss 4 days of work and did my best to recover in two more days, and still I feel light-headed. The doctor knew I didn’t want to have my blood taken, so he gave me a powerful antibiotic instead.

My antibiotics, Floxa or Ofloxacin, look like blood tablets from Vampire Knight, I kid you not. x.x;;;

There’s a lot of pending work here in the office though, and we have visitors, so I can’t really slack off at all! Wish my brain would switch back into high gear, but I only have 2 tablets of Floxa left, so I’m hoping as soon as I finish those, everything will be back to normal again. Because I really need to let my mom stop worrying about me… it’s not good for her to worry so much. :x

Thank God the fever’s finally broken, and hopefully, I will never get that sick ever again! Too much pain not to be able to sleep when your body so tired. x.x;;;

The Doujinshi Project

I've been busy working on this doujin for quite some time now... too much time actually, that I'm beginning to grow tired of it, haha~!

"Mote-Mote", which translates to "Ladies' Man", is a doujinshi from the series "Onegai My Melody". It's my first doujin that I want to publish on my webmanga some time before the year ends. If I successfully do not slack off, this will by my first finished doujin!

I have a doujin about Kurama and my original character "Kasumei" from way back in high school, but the pages were all drawn in a tiny notebook, and I never really got to know how the story ended. Kinda lame isn't it? Though I've been thinking about working on it again.

It's probably not the smartest idea to create a doujin about a little known series, but Onegai My Melody has been an addiction of mine for more than a year. The episodes are filled with nonsense that make my day brighter, no matter how badly some things have turned out. This is also my way of trying to find my way back into the love of making manga since my passion has wavered as of late.

...trying to find my way back into- isn't that a song?

Anyway, I hope people will support me on this and not kill me for slacking off on A.illusions again! It's just been so hard lately... I hope this will be the answer and cure that I'm looking for!

Onegai My Melody: Episode 03

This is quite an interesting episode. Not only does Yamamoto-kun reminded of my brother-in-law, but we also get to see what looks to be like Kurumi (Kuromi's human version) in one of Yamamoto's stock photos with her back turned.

Coincidence? Or did the artists made an honest "mistake"?

Episode 03: I Wish I Could Make Lots of Friends!

The episode begins with Kogure and Uta fighting over their class project. The task of their group is to create a homepage of the topic of their choice. Naturally, Uta wants to make a website about Hiiragi, while Kogure thinks it's stupid and suggest video games instead.

One of their group mates, Yamamoto-kun, is the class photographer. He's completely quiet while his classmates were arguing, but then decides to take photos of them arguing... which resulted in them getting irritated at him.

Uta comes up with a plan to secretly ask Yamamoto to help her and Miki get their class project going (and to find out more about Hiiragi without looking like a stalker). She, Miki, and Yamamoto went over to Hiiragi's usual spot during break and waits for a chance to interview him. Uta tries her best to get over her shyness and manages to get Hiiragi to agree for an interview with Miki's help as well as allow Yamamoto to take pictures of him.

Hiirgi notices that Yamamoto might potentially have a dream that Kuromi could take and points him out to her. Sure enough, Yamamoto wanted to be friends with everyone, but had an inferiority complex than hinders him from socializing. When another group asks for Yamamoto's help with their project, he has trouble with saying what he wants clearly, making Kogure do all the talking for him.

Kuromi uses her magic to change his camera into a turtle (since apparently "kame da" which means "it's a turtle" sounds like "camera") that not only captures the images of his subjects but absorbs them into his stomach as living, miniature people. This allowed Yamamoto to achieve his dream of being together with everyone.

When Yamamoto captures all the students in their class, Uta was able to confront him, convincing him that there were a lot of people in their class who wanted to get to know him better. This cause him to doubt his own beliefs that he couldn't be friends with anyone, allowing My Melo to place her Melody Mark on the turtle-camera.

This gave the students a chance to escape... only to realize they were still trapped in photographs. Shiroyama decides to take the initiative and becomes My Melo's target to amplify her magic on him. Shiroyama's photo grew into a large block, flattening Kuromi and Baku and hereby destroying Kuromi's spell.

When everything returns back to normal, My Melo asks the turtle to earase everyone's memories, aside from Uta, Mana, and Miki. Interestingly enough, Shiroyama felt that it wasn't the first time he met My Melo and becomes completely obsessed with her.

Yamamoto helped Shiroyama's group with the photos they were asking for earlier on and made a homepage about My Melody. This made Yamamoto quite famous for being such a great photographer. Uta's words rang true as Kogure excitedly took up on his offer to teach him how to use his camera... and the entire class wanted to be in the picture with him.

Everything ended well, aside from poor Uta who lost all the data that contained Hiiragi's photos thanks to the memory wipe. She had no intentions of asking Hiiragi for a second photoshot as she's afraid that, as Miki pointed out, he would get mad at her for losing the data. How ironic that Kogure won the debate and had a homepage on video games for their group project, yes?

The episode showed a lot of first... the first time Shiroyama fell head-over-heels for My Melo, and the first time Kogure risked himself to save Uta. I guess he really did have deep feelings for her for a long time now... if only he could get over all that teasing and arguing and just say what he really wants to say. ♥

Blood of My Blood

She looked outside the window to keep her mind occupied. She didn't want to be treated as a child anymore so she had to control her hunger... and yet, the mere fact that she was in the same room with her made her want to pierce his pale skin and drink his blood.

He noticed her hesitance and sighed. It was natural to be lusting for blood... after all, she hasn't fed in days, and she was newly turned. She had only ever had his blood to drink, and he preferred to keep it that way.

"If you're thirsty," Hiiragi said as he laid back on the couch, "then drink, I'm not stopping you."

Her eyes were dark with desire as she heard him say the words. The sound of his voice coaxed her into her vampire self, breathing heavily as she began showing her fangs.

But still she fought against it. "Hiiragi... sama... has not been feeding as of late. I can not take advantage of-"

She could not finish her sentence as the scent of blood overwhelmed her. It was his blood, she knew it. She knew that scent so well... but why would there be when she hasn't touched him? She glanced up and was horrified to see that he had pierced himself. His slender finger had sliced his skin open near the pulse on his neck. Her heightened senses listened to his heart beat, entrancing her into a myriad of lust and desire.

She panted heavily as she fought her urges, clutching her own neck. She felt tortured... "Hiiragi... sama..."

He merely smirked at her and motioned for her to come to his side. He carefully began to untie the ribbon around his collar. Kuromi towered over him, staring blankly as if she was being controlled by him. Yet how could that be when she was a vampire too? Even if he was her master, there was no way he could manipulate her so easily.

"Why..." she whispered, slightly out of breath, "are you... so cruel... to me..."

She opened her mouth, breathing heavily against him, hesitating... and bit down.

Onegai My Vampire Melody by ~kurohiko on deviantART

He didn't say a word as she fed on him. Her blood lust made her bite more aggressive than usual, and even though he did everything he could to control himself, a small moan still managed to escape his lips, parting slightly, baring his own fangs.

"Take only what is needed..." he cautioned, even though he wouldn't mind spoiling her. It was difficult not to... And the taste of his blood made her want him more and more.

Perhaps it was cannibalism to allow her to feed on him, but they were beasts now... no longer mortal.

**********
Ok, so I fail in writing a proper fanfic to go with the painting I did, but hopefully it was good to read anyway.

Onegai My Melody: Episode 02

I should hurry up with these reviews since Season 2 is already available for download, hahaha~ ♥ At the same time, I love re-watching this low budget anime... I really must be insane.

Episode 02: I Wish I Could Study!

Previously, we saw Kuromi setting her eyes out on Hiiragi. Little did either of them know, the Melody Bow has found its true master, and Hiiragi is more than happy to oblige. He agrees to the task of recharging the melody key in order to attain the song the world has never heard before.

My Melody explains how collecting all 100 black notes could mean the destruction of the entire world as they knew it. Playing the music the black notes create would kill every human dream, no matter how big or small they may be. Killing dreams would render all emotions meaningless, killing Mari Land as well.

The following day, Uta and her sisters run off to school without eating breakfast. This worried My Melody and that was when she decided she should cook for them. Aside from that, the house was a mess, so in exchange for letting her stay in the Yumeno household, she's decided to help around the house.

In school, Uta's classmate, Taniguchi dreams of being able to study better. His best score ever since elementary school was only 30, and that was when they were asked to write their name.

Naturally, Kuromi comes along and decides to give him a computer for a head. The only problem was, he constantly needed new data to keep himself from activating his screen saver, or going into sleep mode. His need for new data became insatiable as he began attacking his entire class with translations, equations, and other things he could think of.

It was a good thing My Melody was passing by the school to check up on Uta. She manages to get a mouse mascot to stop Taniguchi from destroying everything in class.

Nevertheless, Kuromi's magic allowed Taniguchi to realize studying is something he should work hard on himself. Even if it was easier to study having a computer for a head, he preferred to be the way he was, earning My Melody another pink note.

It's interesting how the mouse was able to finish his task without having My Melody say "onegai" (which she does in all other episodes). But the real question is, why would Hiiragi agree to destroying the world? He happily does the task of recharging the Melody Key for Kuromi to do her magic. Perhaps there is something much deeper to this than the episode reveals?

...of course, I know the answer to that question, but I'm not saying anything. :3

Just One Kiss…

I finally got to finish this meme a few days ago. It was quite challenging for me since I’m not very good at drawing kisses… It makes me feel awkward when I try to draw them, probably because the idea of kissing is enough to make me do a double take?

Uta and Hiiragi's Kiss Meme by ~kurohiko on deviantART

Jun took over the task of kissing on the nose since neither Hiiragi nor Uta felt like doing it, haha. xD Sebastian will have a heck of a time cleaning up when the brothers stop fighting, I’m sure. The kiss on the lips really remind me of Honey and Clover… I blame Leilei for that, since she’s watching the J-drama and she gave me that idea. The ferris wheel looks a little weird… I think it could have been better, but eh…

And yeah, the kiss on the ear killed me. x/////x;;;

I don’t think I can draw the second part of this… the sexy version, omg. But I do want to try finishing the meme because I want to learn how to draw kisses properly.

I need a new series to get addicted to. I have way too many fanarts of Onegai My Melody… ;x;

Onegai My Melody: Episode 01

I've been meaning to review a few anime episodes on this blog, so I decided to test my writing skills (if I ever had any) with a rather obscure fandom: Onegai My Melody.

Episode 01: I wish I could Play the Violin!

My Melody unknowingly helps Kuromi and Baku escape to the Human World with Dark Power Items they found while the were in prison. As a result, the King orders her to neutralize Kuromi's dark magic using her own magical items, the Melody Takt, Melody Box, and Melody Candy.

Back in the human world, particularly in Yumegaoka Middle School, teen heartthrob and violin protege Hiiragi Keiichi gives a sample performance to the music club, in hopes of inspiring the younger students to do their best in their upcoming concert... much to Yumeno Uta and Sakurazuka Miki's delight. Both girls have a huge crush on their senior, and today was the day they were going to attempt to talk to him.

Uta got more than she wished for as she clumsily fell while rushing to see Hiiragi... and who else other than Hiiragi himself, helps her to her feet.

This made Uta determined to do her best in their upcoming concert.

Unfortunately, because of her strong wish, Baku caught the scent of her dream, giving Kuromi the chance to cast her magic on the unsuspecting girl. Uta first thought she was only dreaming, but when the day of the concert arrived, she soon realized she was very, very wrong.

When her performance of the "Clown in Italy" had begun, her violin starts playing on its own. It would have been an amazing performance if she was doing a solo, but she was in a quartet, making her obviously off cue.

She does her best to make the unexplainable phenomena seemingly part of the performance by capturing the haunted violin with her case and bowing to the crowd. It didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed by it, however, as she ran out of the concert hall with her violin, crying hysterically and swearing never to play the violin again.

In what seems like perfect timing, My Melody drops from the sky in front of Uta, jogging Uta's memory about Kuromi as they were similar in appearance. She first thought My Melody was the one responsible for the awkward situation she faced, making My Melo cry from fright.

Because they were so noisy, Uta's violin became so irritated that it flew out of the case and taunted Uta, telling her she had no talent in playing him. My Melo realized that Kuromi's magic was behind the strange behavior of the violin and uses Koto's crab backpack to fight against it.

The violin's outburst made Uta realize that she was not playing the violin seriously, which is what made him upset.

Uta decides to return to the concert hall, though the reason is left for speculation. It could be that she wanted to apologize to her Music Club Members, or that she was going to quit the Music Club forever.

Of all the people she had to run into, it had to be Hiiragi. She almost cried at the thought that he might be angry with her, but she couldn't move from the spot she stood in.

Fortunately for her, Hiiragi merely greeted her and said she had done well. It gave her hope that she could still be a violinist, and her heart produced a pink note, indicating she had her dream back. But you can bet that Kuromi is not done just yet.

I've always adored this series because it's such a feel good anime. It's light hearted and cheesy enough to make you laugh even when you had one of those days. I'm a little peeved at Hiiragi in this episode though, merely because I really can't stand real-life playboys. It was nice of him to tell Uta she did a good job, even if she really didn't, but it was a bit cold and uncaring in my opinion... that says a lot being that I am quite the Hiiragi fan.

I wonder if I can really review all 52 episodes? Heh~

Role-Player: Ghost Writer

Ghost writers are fascinating.

They have the ability to write as if someone else, someone well-known is actually writing the letter, email, or document being sent. Ghost writers can steal another person’s identity, or pretend to be someone else entirely.

This is why I’m into role-playing. I want to learn how a mangaka can create a character and have him completely different from his/her other characters.

Some of you know that I play in a role-play community in Live Journal known as Polychromatic. I stopped for a while because of certain issues, but now that my immigration papers are in the embassy, I have more time in my hands.

I’m already playing as Yumeno Uta from Onegai My Melody, who has an innocent nature similar to mine. So far, I think I’ve kept her in character, but with my application for Kuran Kaname of Vampire Knight getting rejected, it made me re-think everything I thought I knew about him… I’ve read the manga 4 times now, I’m still getting a few surprises as to how he thinks.

Anime and manga versions of him seem entirely different. While both versions are obsessed with Yuuki, manga Kaname from the first few chapters seem angrier at Zero. Manga Kaname is also easy to lose his cool when Yuuki is in danger. I remembered him to be a lot calmer in the anime, especially since the fight scene for him and Zero never really occurred.

So I decided I had to dig deeper and get whatever resources I could regarding his mysterious character. Then I found a walk through for the Vampire knight DS game.

…that might have been a mistake.

The Kaname I have in my head is thinking “I would never say such things” when I was reading the walk through and translations. It seems dating games are really… “free” in exploring other aspects of the character. I might be wrong, but feel free to read the walk through here and here.

This worries me… Am I really the right person to write as Kaname? Perhaps more research is needed.