Gem's Anime Haven

Because I suck at blog titles So, what's new with me?

Games: Well, I invested in a PSP, and have since been hooked on Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep. I conquered KH 358/2 Days as well, and quite liked it, despite the repetitive clock tower cut scenes. They got old real quick. And I didn't much care for the equip menu layout either. It was like playing tetris, only without the fun of actually playing tetris. But yeah, BBS is going well. I've finished Ventus's story, and am now working my way through Aqua's story. Oh, and I HATE Disney Town! The music makes me shudder every time it starts playing. Ugh!

Manga: OMG, Ouran Host Club has come to an end! What's with all my fav series ending?? First it was Fullmetal Alchemist, now Ouran! And unlike FMA (which ended fantastically!) I wasn't entirely happy with the ending of Ouran. I guess it stayed true to its light hearted, spontanious adventure feel, but I think it's left way too much open. And Bleach! It's on hiatus for a couple of weeks, and after the climax of this latest arc, it'll be interesting to see where the series will go from here. It feels like the main story has been wrapped up, so I can't wait to see what's to come, seeing as I've heard there are two new arcs planned for the future.

Anime: I recently watched Lucky Star, and after the "WTF is this?" moment wore off, I actually quite enjoyed it. I related way too much to Konata, and half the conversations the girls had, I've actually had in my high school days too, which added to the amusement of a series that otherwise had no real plot to it. There may or may not be cosplay in the future. It all depends on whether or not I can handle wearing that much blue hair ...

Cons: My next con will be London MCM, as I am planning a month-long trip to Japan and England next May/June. Funnily enough, I'll be getting back to Australia right before Sydney Supanova, so chances are I'll be going to that too. I'll be jet-lagged as all hell, and probably hyper and more random than usual because of it, but meh. I haven't missed a Supanova since I started going in 2005, and I'm not about to start now just because I'm going overseas

Anyway, I think that's about it for now!

Has come and gone for another year. All the photos and videos are now uploaded, as well as the report from the weekend. Awesome fun time! ^_^

I now have Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood in English, and it is awesome! I miss Aaron Dismuke as Al, but Maxey Whitehead does an awesome job, and sounds so much like Aaron half the time that I forget its not him! But Aaron still has a part to play in the new series, which is awesome! ^_^

I won't be at Supanova in 2011, as my next con with be London MCM! Yes, I am heading to London, via Japan in May of 2011. Yay! International cosplay. Double yay! ^_^

Also, I need to buy a PSP. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep is due out sometime in September, and I simply MUST play it! Now where can I find a spare $350 for a new console and game? .... *wanders off in search of spare finances*

So, I've finally gone through and uploaded all of my photos and videos from the con, and they can all now be found on this site. I had a new camera this year, so more video was taken than at the last con. Yay!

So yeah, my best friend Mara and I flew up to Brisbane this year for Supanova, and it was fantastic! I still think Sydney is better, but Brisbane was awesome nonetheless. So please take the time to look at the photos and videos, as well as the BrisNova 10 report for all of the details ^_^

Ok, I didn't think I'd like this game, because I'd heard a lot of bad things about it. Like the fact that Xion is a typical insert-yourself-into-the-story kind of character, and that apparently it didn't reveal as much about Roxas as it was said to, and that the cute clocktower scenes become tedious, repetitve, and boring. But, going into the game knowing all of this, I found myself actually enjoying it. I'm almost 20 hours in, am up to day 190-something, and I think I can safely say that I'm hooked. I love the fact that, knowing the story lines of 1 and 2, as well as CoM, I can see all of the connections between what Roxas is doing and what Sora was doing at the same time. And I love seeing the changes in Axel, and what he was up to. Not to mention, I squealed when I got the first cut scene of Xion fighting coat-and-blindfold Riku ^_^ Awesome stuff! So far I have 6 worlds unlocked, and whilst not much has changed map wise, I actually found that to be a good thing. Especially when I had to get to a certain point, or track down hidden items. I know the world layouts, so it was nice being able to re-visit them all without getting lost ^_^

So, all in all, so far I am quite enjoying the game! It's definitely keeping me amused, which is the sign of a good game, cos my attention span usually doesn't last that long unless I get hooked. But, with that said, I just recently saw the trailer for Birth By Sleep - and more recently saw a subbed version of the same trailer - and I can already tell its going to be so much better! I'm going to be buying a PSP just so I can play it ^_^

Website wise, I've changed a few things on the Photos page. I'm now only showcasing a slideshow of the most recent gallery. All the others are still there, but just as links to their photobucket galleries.

I'm also going to be a Brisbane Supanova in April this year, so expect to see photos and a report from the con between the 15th and 20th of April.

I finally got my replacement copy of disc 1 of the second set!! Yay!! So yeah, I pulled a marathon and watched the whole second half of the series, and the commentaries. I think it's moved up to be level with FMA as my fav anime now ... I've had the Japanese series for ages, and I'm also reading the mangas, but I totally love the English dub anime! FUNi, you guys rock!! The cast is amazing, and Vic Mignogna is the best English Tamaki ever! I've read that a lot of people were in doubts about how good a dubbed version would be, cos lets face it, the original version is so freaking awesome, but seriously, give it a chance. The casting choices were perfect, and although it took me an episode or two to get used to the English voices, after that I forgot what they originally sounded like. So well done, and its such a fantastic show. Everyone should go watch it now ^_^

So I decided to change the colour scheme of this site, cos the grey was, well, boring. So I re-designed the banner, and changed some of the colourings, as well as the background. Hope you all like!

Also, just finished watching Vampire Knight the subbed anime, and I loved it! *Huggles Zero* I've also been watching the English dub of Death Note, after I've already watched the subbed version, and it's still as awesome as ever! But, my current obsession is Ouran Host Club! I finally got the second DVD set delivered the other day, and wouldn't you know it, I got a faulty one. It doesn't like my player, and one of the eps is damaged, so I'm now awaiting a replacement. Blah. I've been hanging out for more of the English dub of Ouran, cos it rocks! I was worried, cos the original Japanese version is so amazingly awesome, yet FUNi did an incredible job with it, and the cast choices are amazing!! It's threatening Fullmetal Alchemist as my fav anime at the moment ...

With the exception of the Portal page, all of the pages here are now complete! I have pages dedicated to my favourite anime and manga series, as well as a full report of the Supanova 2009 convention in Sydney. More on the con, you can also find photos and videos from the weekend here! I hope you all enjoy!

EDIT 6th July

Ok, now the site is really all done!! My site usage meter got re-set, so now I can upload stuff again! Yay! The Portal page has now been completed, with links to my two other sites, dedicated to my writing projects. Please check them out!

This site is still under construction, but when it's all finished it will be a haven for all things anime! Well, for my anime interests anyway. I'll have pages devoted to anime and manga series, as well as photos and videos from conventions. Also, an event report on Sydney Supanova 09 will be up here soon, so please check it out!