Somehow, I haven’t been buying any books / manga since last December, save for some study materials. Maybe it’s magic, maybe because of the recession (not that it affects me directly), but I want to torture challenge myself to try and extend it to the whole year. So it means no more manga till January 2011! *GASP* I feel like fainting already.

I do actually have a few books that I haven’t read yet, although I purchased it, urm… last year? Plus, I still have 2 dozens++ manga to review, so I guess I shouldn’t worry about getting bored to death. Yet.

On a side note, I went to Kinokuniya anyway today, just to torture myself seeing rows upon rows of new, shiny manga! (Yeah, Kino finally stocked up on Pandora Hearts. ) I bought Switch vol 1 to 6 on behalf of a friend, so I get to read for free. ^^ I had just finished volume 1, and it doesn’t seemed to be my kind of stuff, IMHO. By ‘my kind of stuff’ I mean shoujo, thriller or psycho genre, of course. I’ll post a review on it after I finished reading.  ^^

Anyway, just for future reference, Sunway Pyramid can be reached by boarding the U63, U67 or U76 RapidKL bus at KLSentral. You can also ride the Putra LRT all the way to Kelana Jaya and then board the RapidKL T623 (now known as U623), but I opted for the former.

Armed with a basic digicam, fresh banknotes, doki-doki heart and 2 bodyguards, I made a beeline to the ticketing counter. One thing I cannot forget is the feeling of belonging-ness even before I entered the convention hall. A lot of people were loitering around outside the hall, especially cosplayers and photographers. Yes, this is really our territory, fellow comrades!

Is this a statue or a really tall person? I have no idea…

There’s 100++ booths, a large stage + audience seats and sufficient cosplay photography areas. I’d have to say, the planning committee really put a lot of thoughts in the hall layout. Kudos, CF-committee! (Somehow in the midst of the grandeur, the booth area seemed to be a little bit neglected, what with the small alleyways in between booth lines. I pity those large-costumed cosplayers.)

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The first thing we did when we entered was to rush to the booth area. We girls are more interested in arts than cosplay, even though there were more than enough eye-candies around. XDDD I manage to track down Reryu, who were loyally guarding her KAMCAO island, along with other the team members. Also saw Zeiva, kiDChan, Shin, Shina, Ryu, Knightcat and Xanseviera, among others. I was too excited seeing so many gorgeous artworks and talented artists to properly introduce myself.  ^^;

I’m not really interested in badges, but I bought some from Pandabaka anyway. Just because. ^^ Her drawings are more appealing to me, but she already closed her commission slots by the time I got there.

So many things on sale, I feel like grabbing them all! Unfortunately, I only got enough time to steal buy their sketchbook before my bodyguard Yat-yat dragged me out. I did bought their doujin at CF07, though.

Reryu-chan of KAMCAO. She is really a funny and happy-go-lucky, making me laugh non-stop while talking to her. I must have swept at least half the items they offered. Should have spent more…

I never thought I’d find Harvest Moon’s merchandise on sale. Kudos to the group for breaking off the mainstream! Not that I have anything against the more popular fandom.  Really

The friendly Maniacs, yeah…

The awesome trio that are Shina, Ryu and Shin. They were really friendly and super nice, giving me a free sketch of— *drumrolls* MYSELF! Nothing flatters you more than seeing a drawing of yourself as depicted by someone else.

I hate spammers, but not S.P.A.M inc. Those big shiny prints, bigger still calendar-book and uber cute badges, how can anyone not drool? The group members were really nice too, going along with my whims and requests. XDDD

The infamous badges! I want one, but my purse is almost dry to the extreme already… T_T

Another great pioneer. I mean, come on, it’s Disgaea! And they even have a doujin dedicated to the Prinnys, dood!

Had to give their doujin a pass due to budget. Sorry guys, but really. YOU. ARE. AWESOME. All hail Phoenix Wright~~

When I saw the prints at the booth, I ask myself (out loud) “Hey, isn’t this Zeiva’s drawing?” And the booth owner was, like, smiling and said “Um, yeah, I’m Zeiva.” And my brain froze, melted and exploded within 3.589 seconds, in that order. I almost jumped over the booth, really. I never expected The Great Zeiva to come down to CF in person, never thought I was lucky enough to be able to meet and talk to her, to see her, to- to–! *brain exploded again* When my bodyguard Yat-yat was acting nonchalant, “Zeiva who?” I almost choke her. Wait, I did.

While I was choosing the prints I wanted to buy, one guy with a big gun camera (we shall call him Mr. Photographer ) jokingly chided me for hoarding them all. Most of the prints were the last ones in Zeiva’s stock, as she said herself, only a few copies were available for each drawing. I pointed that out, and, being the faithful Zeiva fangirl I am, proceed to spam his brain with “101 reasons why you must buy them NOW.” Poor guy, I think he must have emptied his pockets ask per suggested by me. And traumatized, too.

Yat-yat said I will make a good psychologist. Or salesgirl. Or businesswoman. XDDD

I really like the emcees, Alfred and Zhien. They know how to rock the stage with jokes and old English. When you’re tired from walking around buying doujins or taking photos, just sit down and let yourself be charmed by the duo’s spell. Trust me on this. XDDD We all have a good hearty laugh, to the point of stomach cramps. Yessir, they were that good. *nodding wisely* Too bad I don’t have any of their amusing skits on videos. Oh well, there’s always Youtube.

Oh, and throughout both days, there’s a Secret Santa event going on. You can donate anything to the pool of gifts, as I did. Every visitor will also get to write their wish down on paper. If they’re lucky enough their wishes will be called out by the emcees and they will get something from the gifts pool. My bodyguards got their wishes, I did not. But I did get up to the stage anyway. Can you guess why? XDDD

Damage assessment aka CF post-mortem.

Lemme see… KAMCAO’s Banzai’06 artbook + prints + bookmarks + stickers = RM 30 only! See ma, I just had to have this amazing artbook set. Don’t kill me. Yet. Please.

Their new manga, Winter Solstice and Kuroshitsuji postcards. The manga was AWESOME. The almost-professional-level art, the superb paper and ink, the binding… this group really take their works seriously. And the postcards? Well, since the rest was already sold out, I got the display set. So I made Reryu signed the back of each card. Aren’t I manipulative opportunistic lucky? X333

Prints and mini manga from Zeiva. Even though the newer works were available, I on purposely chosen to buy the older ones, especially the pencil work ‘Silent Dreaming’. Just to remind myself that I can always improve my artistic skills, if I want to.

La Beau Monde and La Vie en Rose from Kunisaki,  Dood! by Teamwork, Phoenix Wright stands by Yue, uber-cute Katekyo Hitman Reborn stickers, more KHR postcards by KnightCat, Harvest Moon boys bookmarks by Zue and KHR / Bleach badges by Pandabaka.

Ahh, the two doujins from Kunisaki. On the first day I went, I passed by the group, YamGene. When I visited them again after an hour, this time with the intention of robbing them of buying La Beau Monde and La Vie en Rose, the latter was already sold out. I blabbered nonsense on spot, saying stuff like “I was gone for 1 hour and it is sold out already?!” The nice and thankfully patient booth keeper (not Kunisaki herself, sadly) promised to bring more copies on the second day, however.

Well, when I arrived on the next day, it was gone. Again. Sold out. Kaput. I was halfway into my emo-closet already when the same booth keeper remembered me from yesterday. He rummaged through a random box and ta-daah~~~ out came La Vie en Rose! Thank you, unknown person, for keeping a copy for me! XDDD

Manage to steal some time from Zeiva, Baby Illustrator (you are very handsome XDDD) and ShinaRyuShin (sorry I can’t remember who’s who! ^^;) I want more, but yeah, time and money…

Actually, Zeiva said she didn’t have any stationery to draw with, but I immediately whipped out my mechanical pencil. Even though she was tired she still agreed to draw me a picture. Thank you, you are so kind! :333

When she was done, though, other visitors started to make a beeline to the booth, wanting to commission her too. So I just left my pencil there. Sorry for unintentionally attracting more works your way, Zeiva… ^^;;;

I also got 3 drawings from Yat-yat, supposed to be an art trade, but I only gave her 1 in return. She gave me 2 smexy Mukuro sketches and 1 bloody unknown person. X333 I only manage to spit out Kai from Harvest Moon, playboy mode. Sowwee… Let’s hope she will scan and upload them later. =^^=

Gorgeous giant calendar book by S.P.A.M. inc and A4 sketchbook by Rakuen. Bought this on the behalf of a friend. I want the calendar too! Can’t you see how smexy Reborn is?

Damage (physical + mental + financial) = IMMESUREABLE.

Since this report came late I’m sure there must be some grammatical / graphical / tag mistakes. Please tell me if there’s any, and do share your CF09 experience. ^^

Stalk the artists at >>>

EnsuMas

KAMCAO

kiDChan

knightcat

Kunisaki

Pandabaka

Reryu

S.P.A.M inc

Uepu

Yat-yat

Zeiva

Also known as Shinshi Domei Kurosu or Shinkuro for short, this manga basically revolves around a girl named Haine, a 15-year-old daughter of the prestigious Kamiya family who was ‘sold’ to the Otomiya family in return for a business loan. Attending the exclusive Imperial Academy private school, she got the rare chance to be appointed as a member of the student council. A fortunate chance indeed, because Haine was in love with the president of the said council, Shizumasa Togu aka the “Emperor”.

~~+-+-+-NO THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL TEEN-SCHOOL-LOVE STORY READ ON-+-+~~

Actually I’m the one who thought like that after reading the back cover. Luckily, the storyline picks up quite fast even in Chapter 1, where the reader are introduced to the key characters – Haine, the Otomiya family, her friends and the student council’s members – with sufficient hints at the past to suggest that there’s more to Haine’s infatuation of the Emperor than just puppy-love. The cliffhanger of the first chapter was a real OMG. Glad I’m reading the volume version instead of the magazine. ^^

Moving on, I was surprised by a seemingly OOC action by Ushio, Haine’s cool and collected best friend who was nicknamed as Lady Hydrangea by all of the male students. However, it did provide evidence on how much Ushio cares (obsess?) about her best friend, as uncouth as her action seemed. The approach in revealing bits about Haine’s past was also interesting. As the “old bad side” of hers flashed by for an instant, I can’t be help but intrigued to know more about what had happened in The Past. And that, Dears, is a clear sign of a clever storyteller with a winning plot.

Art-wise, I can’t remember being so passionate about any shojo styled manga, not since Sailormoon years back. The mangaka certainly sticks to the traditional big-eyed, long-haired and slightly klutzy shojo-manga heroine, while almost every page has some kind excuse to include a flowery scene. You would be forgiven if you mistaken the manga as a grayscale version of an artbook, because that how it seemed to me! The characters’ designs are actually very clean and simple. Those screen tones certainly spiced up the overall look, a real eye-treat for die-hard-fans of Tanemura-sensei.

As mentioned in the previous post, this is one of the manga initially bought on discounts. I decided to buy the first two volumes, since SA Special A vol 7 was sold out (how dare they!?) and Shinkuro’s art cover is very nice anyway. Pretty and shiny and flowery… how can anyone resist? Despite my initial queasiness of the flower-screen tone abuse, I found Tanemura-sensei’s shojo style to be very refreshing and engaging. She certainly had put a lot of effort to uplift her manga and attract the readers with traditional shojo manga charm. I’m charmed!

Needless to say, I am very disappointed with this particular purchase. Should have bought the whole set off the shelves! I hate waiting, I hate interesting cliffy… T_T Makes me wanna break my bank account and frolic around Kinokuniya manga section like crazeh. Until next time, ja ne!

Muah muah~ (*3*)// ß-drunken air kisses to all. Duck!

My dear fellow art-lover, I’m sure You have your own favorite anime, manga, mangaka, seiyuu and such idols. Some goes all out buying the original stuff like the volumes manga, anime dvd, figurines and such to show their support to the industry, which is a good thing. We read the manga, watch the anime and discuss about it extensively everywhere. I remember there used to be a thread at Gaia discussing passionately whether the Dark Mousy ‘trait’ in the Niwa family is X-recessive or Y-recessive! Or something to that effect. Talk about application of Biology in real-life…

It’s way too easy, not to mention convenient, to read or download manga online for free. Same goes for anime. There are resources aplenty online to enable You and Me to enjoy animanga at no cost at all, save for the Internet bill. I, too, depend heavily on the Internet to keep Myself up-to-date with the latest chapters of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, The Cain Saga, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle… and the list goes on. Hey, free is FREE, kay

So how come there are fans like Me still spending Our cash on the ‘real thing’? How come I have volumes of SA Special A, Godchild, Shinkuro and such on the shelves when I can just go to Onemanga for the free version? It’s simply in the name of logic, loyalty and love; We buyers spend Our money to have fine things We want. After all, money is not everything, but everything is money.

Let’s keep this clear; My family is well to do, but I’m by no means a spoilt child, and neither are My siblings. We have the means to live comfortably in the house My parents’ own and a little extra for entertainment, and that’s about the limit of it. My animanga collection started to grow abruptly when I got a job for a couple of months last year. I spent my salary and allowances for My dear manga collection, one book at a time. No sponsors, all sweat and tears.

Logically, I could’ve saved all of My hard earned money by surfing online for the daily dose of entertainment. I could’ve treat myself to a nice bag, some fiction books and possibly the latest gadget to boot, while still having some extra cash in My pocket.

Logically, too, only 0.001% of manga wannabes in Japan country make it to the top of the industry. In a nutshell, only one mangaka out of 100 000 can make a decent living by drawing manga (source: Bakuman XD). Not to be the party pooper or anything, but my conscience tell me to support those who slaved their time and money to produce something I love, so they can stop ‘slaving’ and begin ‘living’.

I’m not telling You to buy manga and anime dvd, stop illegal downloading and all the yada yada yada. I know You have Your own perspective and opinions on what is right and what is wrong. We all have brains to figure that part out. Just because the way I see the world is different from Yours, it doesn’t mean I’m right and You’re wrong. And vice versa.

Neither am I protesting against scanlators and fansubbers. I mean, seriously, without them, how am I supposed to keep up with the latest releases in Japan? Especially since translation companies like to take their time before working on a particular series. After a lifetime of buying authentic manga, bootlegs dvd, cards, posters and the likes… And also after a few years of reading manga online while storming the forums with fellow otakus… I had an epiphany and here it is right here:

“If you love it, support it. If you support it, buy it.”

And

“If it’s worth downloading, it’s worth buying.”

Okay, so there’s actually TWO. Sue me not.

My manga collection usually starts with a discount coupon. I will buy the first volume, and if I like it, I’ll save My money for the next volumes. Otherwise, I’ll sell it back, though that hasn’t occurred yet so far save for that one manga… ^^ Since this is the era of instant gratification, I also depend on the Net for other yet-to-be-translated titles and new releases.

To justify My actions, I set some rules down in guiding me whether I’m going to be a supporter or casual reader of a particular series. Obviously, if I read and re-read the manga many times over because I like the art style / plot / fangirl-ing over a certain character / whatever other reasons, those would be my cues to start saving money for the volumes manga. Else, I’ll just pretend I’m borrowing a manga from a friend; a manga that I would read casually for the time being and would not be thinking / drooling over afterwards.

Case example: Godchild. I bought it WITHOUT a coupon because I was intrigued by the cover and popularity of the mangaka, Kaori Yuki. (Yeah I had some extra money to frolic with at that time XP) Later, I realized that manga was the sequel for The Cain Saga, a series that I can’t find on the shelves. So I just read that one online and will continue to buy Godchild after I’m finished with the aforementioned saga.

However, I do not have any intention to buy The Cain Saga even if I can find the English version. IMHO, the art is not as interesting as Godchild, neither is it appealing to Me. I only read to understand the characters and their pasts better, as to avoid confusion later on. Maybe as the series picks up on its style, I will change My mind. But that’s an unlikely maybe.

I know I’ll continue to stockpile on My favorite manga(s) even though certain series might stretch out until dozens of volumes. ^^; One volume each month, at least. It might take me a lifetime to complete the set, but it will be a lifetime of showering My supports to those who deserve it. I could live with that kind of philosophy. Until next time, Dears.

Now cheer with me; “Mukuro-sama, DAISUUKIIIIIIIII~” XDDD

Hi all, Luna here! *wave* (^o^)// Luna who, You say? Why, I’m The Great Lunatic-sama, of course! XDDD Google My real name if You wish to know Me better, dears.

Now, if You had read the caption up there ↑, You’d realize straight away that this little bloggie belongs to an demi-otaku who plans to rambles Her heart away on certain topics related to Japan. If You are, for some reason, allergic to Japhenomenon, or if the last few lines DOES NOT remind You of anime, manga, games, j-rockers and such, well, maybe You would like to find other sites that caters to Your particular interests. You are more than welcomed to stay and enjoy Yourself, though. 

To the curious cats out there (yes, I’m talking to YOU) pondering about the identity of this blog’s owner, well, told ya already: just Google My name. You would find some interesting articles about The Great Me. Old stuff, though. But who cares? How many people can honestly admit their name search actually yields an authentic result? XDDD

…

*lotsa hands shot up*

…

^^:;;

Okay, let Me rephrase that question. How many of You people… tch, never mind. Obviously You guys (and girls) are more popular than Me. Fine. I’ll just stay here in My emo closet with My laptop and the dust bunnies. XP

And My Code Geass R2 dvd. And My friend’s Gintama vol 12, too. Along with The Gentlemen’s Alliance Cross // Shinkuro series, SA Special A, Godchild, Yozakura Quartet, Saikano, Detective Conan, Yu-Gi-Oh, DNAngel, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle…

*PSSHUUUU PSSHUUU HISSS PSHUUUSSS*

Hey, stop shooting those flaming arrows! I promise I won’t brag about My preciooouuussss animanga collection anymore, kay? Sheesh, You guys really…

Anyway, I create this blog because I would like to share my views on the rise of animanga, blab away about My favorite manga and mangaka and also to interact with like-minded people (read:OTAKUs) around the world. Instead of repeating Myself in the many forums I joined, I can simply post a link to an article here, some snippets and then declare “That’s My opinion about such and such. How about You guys?”