Elite Beat Agents: I love the game and the characters, rhythm games are my forte so when this was released I snapped it up straight away. The characters are 4 Agents and 3 Cheerleaders (who sadly have no names) who help solve peoples problems through the magic of rhythm. There was a time I wanted to cosplay as either agent or cheerleader but I’ll stick playing to it ^^;

Klonoa: I discovered this game by accident but it was worth it as Klonoa is such a fantastic character! The game was first released on PSX, the sequel was released on PS2 and recently the first game was released on the Wii (go buy it!) Klonoa is what I would describe as a humanoid cat with long ears which he uses to float in the game for a few seconds but they are still cute! As the hero he saves the day but not without some hardships, I don’t want to spoil it but if you wish to see the ending on youtube and you cry at sad endings then prepare the Kleenex ^^; Klonoa was one of the first Japanese-esque games I played so the character will always hold a place in my heart.

Taokaka: Gosh I love Taokaka’s childlike personality! She is so cute! Aside from Ragna she is the character I choose in BlazBlue. In a sad way I can now do an impersonation of her voice so whenever I see any Taokaka cosplayers I walk up to them give a little Tao cackle and say, ‘BOOBIE LADY!!’ Usually they laugh, ignore me or think I’m strange XD
I hope to one day cosplay as Tao as I share her childlike life ^_^

Link: He come to town!!! I’m a late bloomer to playing the Legend of Zelda games but I did know about them (I lacked a Nintendo at the time ^^;) There have been many Links so the Link I like the most is Toon Link as the first Zelda game I completed was Phantom Hourglass. I remember when that design got badly flamed when it was first designed for Wind Waker but I think it was the right thing to do. Link is the classic example of a hero especially when it comes to saving the Princess Zelda. I recently got the 3D Ocarina of Time game but I don’t have a 3DS XD so I shall have to wait till September to take my role as Link once again!

Aerith Gainsborough: If I was in a games world I would be Aerith. One of the most famous female characters from Final Fantasy and with also one of the saddest deaths in gaming history. She was one of the first female characters I got introduced to when I was young thanks to my cousin, I was on holiday in Ireland and he had the game so I spent hours watching him play it. When it came to that infamous scene with Sephiroth and Aerith I was so shocked and upset when I saw it. But I was really happy when she reappeared in Crisis Core and to show my dedication to Aerith I cosplayed in Crisis Core costume which I really enjoyed doing.

Because I have quite a few favourite games characters I’m going to split my blog into 2 parts so I hope you enjoy!

Sonic The Hedgehog: Come on, who doesn’t love Sonic! Ever since I got a Master System when I was 8 for Christmas with the first Sonic game it’s been a fantastic friendship. I grew up with the blue guy for 18 years and have played nearly every game that has been released. I remember when I saw an advert for the cartoon series and screamed with delight and I couldn’t sleep the night before cause I so excited to watch it! Even though I didn’t have a Mega Drive I would always go to my friends house to play Sonic and most recently I got the mega collection on DS and PSP. I got a GamesMaster magazine recently for Sonic’s 20th Anniversary and it brought back so many good memories and with Sonic Generations around the corner, this fan cannot wait to play it!

Professor Layton: If you need a problem solved then Professor Layton is your man! The English gentleman who will charm you and make you fall in love with him XD I only discovered the Prof Layton games last October and it was currently on the 3rd game so I had a bit of catching up to do. When I first started I was rubbish at the puzzles and had to resort to finding the answers online… very bad I know ^^; but I got a lot better in the next two. The storylines in the games are brilliant and if you don’t shed a tear in the last game then you have a heart of stone. Roll on Spectre’s Call.

Jill Valentine: I don’t think I’d be the first to say that Resident Evil scares the bejesus out me. When I first played the first game my friend tricked me to walk down the famous corridor where the zombie dogs jump through the window, he laughed his head off while I screamed his flat down ^^; but it was the first time I got introduced to Jill Valentine, the kick ass heroine and one of my favourites. Number three is my favourite game with Jill but to this day I still can’t complete a Resident Evil game as I’m terrified what lies behind the opening loading door…..

Red (Pokemon): *hums the theme to Route 1 in her head* I first played Pokemon Red when I borrowed it off my school friend, I had already started watching the anime and could not get over I was playing the game and catching my own Pokemon. When I finished my exams my parents bought me the special Pokemon Game Boy colour and Pokemon Red and I played it non stop during my school holidays. I liked the fact that we had Red to start with instead of choosing the sex of your character because without him we wouldn’t have the hero who started of the games today and helped spawn the new characters. Red is such a cool character, he stands up for what he believes in especially for his Pokemon.

That's it for part one, bye for now!

Boy oh boy this heat is too much!!! T___T 
I’m not built for this weather ^^; though I shouldn’t complain since the good weather doesn’t last for long.
But as I type this the thunder and lightning starts and I’m very tempted to hide under my bed as I’m truly terrified of both O_O and wow the rain is now falling thick and fast!

Anywho, since my last blog I’m still writing my blog and sorting out my photos from Venice which is taking longer than I thought.
But since then I have been busy as usual.

First of all I was very lucky enough to have won a competition from Manga UK to go to their 20th anniversary party as well as an overnight stay in a hotel room and some DVD/blu-rays.The hotel was amazing and the DVD’s were brilliant. I brought my boyfriend David with me to the party and we hung out there for an hour but we had to leave cause David had a sore ankle and wasn’t feeling to well ^^; The party was good but I didn’t drink anything cause it was a bit pricy for me and there was no soft drinks (I’m not much of a drinker tbh)

Then I went to see 2 comic book movies in one week. First was Green Lantern.. I’ve only just started getting into the story so I was worried I wouldn’t get the movie but I really enjoyed it! Ryan Reynolds was to me perfect to play the main role. The plot was easy to follow even though the final fight was very quick. It is different to comics but I still loved it. Definitely getting it on DVD when it comes out.
The next movie I saw was X-Men First Class. Now I know I said I would see it straight away in one of my past blogs but due to time I couldn’t watch it till last week.
I did enjoy the movie, I thought it was very dark at times but it had to be so you could understand how the characters are now in the first 3 films. I loved the bromance between Xavier and Magneto but the best part was the cameo which I will not spoil but I was laughing so much when they appeared!

My next main focus now is Ayacon which is in August. I have 2 rewear cosplays which are Belarus from Hetalia and female Ranma from Ranma ½. The 3rd cosplay is a surprise even though I am nervous about it. It’s nothing fantastic, it’s more to do with confidence ^^;

So that’s all my news this blog, bye for now!

Hey everyone, hope all is well with you ^_^
Many apologies for the delayed blog but the last few weeks have been manic ^^;

First of all there was the London MCM Expo. I have to say it was one of the best Expo’s I have been to! It was really busy but I managed to do all of the things I set out to do including meeting up with friends, doing photoshoots, meeting voice actors etc I also got to see some of my fellow bloggers like Tonyo, Rick and Chris.
The one thing that did surprise me was the love of my Ranma ½ cosplay :D I was not expecting it at all ^^; Even as soon as I got out of my car in the car park someone shouted out, ‘Ranma!!’ :D
Plus I did a Ranma 1/2 shoot with my friends Luke, Faye and Steve which I loved ^_^
The masquerade was amazing as always with many jaw dropping moments for me.
I can’t wait for October’s one now ^_^

Then last week I went to Venice with my boyfriend which was our first holiday abroad without our parents, it was a bit scary for both of us but once we settled in we loved it ^_^
Venice was beautiful in everyway. The people were friendly, the scenery was breathtaking and the exploring was loads of fun to do ^_^ I was really sad to go cause it was the longest time I’ve spent with my boyfriend in a long period and Venice had captured my heart. One thing I did enjoy when weren’t in the city was watching the TV, I loved it! Sad I know XD
When we got back we had already decided we would go back next year. I took over 700 photos while I was out there so it’s going to take a while to upload LOL

All I’ve got to do now is finish all my photos from Expo and Venice…. it could take a while so bear with me ^^; Plus I’ll do a full blog about Venice in my next blog hopefully.

Bye for now!

So it’s less than 2 weeks till Expo and as always I’m not ready especially cosplay wise ^^;
It’s a usual thing for me, the only time I was ready was last October Expo as I didn’t have much to do.
This time I’ll be rewearing an old cosplay and wearing a brand new one.
On Saturday I’ll be Esther Blanchett from Trinity Blood and Sunday I’ll be female Ranma Saotome from Ranma ½. I need to alter most of the costume for Ranma as I bought a kung fu uniform which is a bit tall for me but was the only that would fit me. So hopefully I shall finish in time.

Also at Expo I’ll be going around taking photos of my fellow cosplayers so if anyone wants a shoot than let me know and I shall do so if I’m not busy 

Now on to the next part of my blog:

Most of my friends know how much I love Yu-Gi-Oh! It is one of my all time favourite animes ever and it was one of the key shows that got me into anime. I still have every pack of cards I’ve ever bought and have a special folder for my rare cards, every manga, most of the games, most of the dvd’s, still have the video tapes with all the episodes I recorded, I even have my movie ticket from when I saw the first movie in Ireland. 

The series influenced a lot of belief in myself as I could relate to little Yugi throughout it all. And it inspired me to help make my favourite cosplays of Yami Yugi and Pharaoh Atem

And now 10 years on for the anniversary of where it all began, there was a movie released in Japan called Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Of Time which unites the 3 heroes from the 3 series: Yugi Moto (Yu-Gi-Oh!), Jaden Yuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX) and Yusei Fudo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s) to fight together to defeat the time travelling Paradox. When news broke of it to be released on dvd here I was really happy as I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to see it in cinemas…. but I was wrong.

Manga UK announced that on 14th and 21st of May they would show the 3D movie in selected cinemas around London and various cinemas of the UK. So last Saturday I headed for one of the cinemas to watch the movie but not before reviving a certain cosplay 
When I got there, I saw a few cosplayers including a Jaden, Sirus, Zane, Dark Magician Girl, Bakura and Dark Signer Carly so it was time for me to get into cosplay as the King of Games, Yami Yugi! Boy it felt good to wear it again! 

So we all sat down to watch the movie and it was bloody epic win!!! It was so good to hear Dan Green as Yami again *swoons* The 3D effects worked really well in the movie especially with the monsters during the duels. The only complaint is that I wish it was longer, 60 minutes can go really quick XD

When the movie was over we all cheered and recited many quotes from it, my favourite being, ‘Snychro what?!’ Once you see it you will know why XD
When we left the manager was outside and I didn’t realise why until he handed me something… it was one of the movie posters displayed in the cinema!!! There was only 3 and he gave them to 3 cosplayers, I didn’t hear at the time but I heard after he had to give me one for the great costume I wore  I couldn’t believe it, I really couldn’t! It’s one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Items I’ve ever gotten!! It’s really big so I need to find space on my wall to put it 

So here’s to another 10 years of Yu-Gi-Oh! And thank you Kazuki Takahashi for creating a series that has helped me in many ways in the last 10.

It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and read a manga, usually I don’t give myself enough time to relax and have a chill out session.
My boyfriend lent me a manga series as we will be cosplaying characters from it at Ayacon and I wanted to get a feel of it. The series is called Aria and it also has a prequel called Aqua to which both are sci-fi‘s. I hadn’t seen much of this manga and it’s shame I didn’t pay much interest in it before.

The story begins with Aqua. It’s the 2301 and we meet Akari Mizunashi, a 15 year old girl who immigrates from Manhome, Earth to Mars-which has been terraformed into a liveable planet and been renamed Aqua. She moves to the city of Neo-Venezia which is a replica of Venice, Italy.
Akari has arrived to train to become an undine which is a gondolier who shows tourists around the city. When she first arrives she meets the president of the company where she will work, the only thing is the president is a cat. You may think this is weird but having cats as presidents are good luck mascots for the companies due to their coloured eyes, also the cats on the planet are as intelligent as humans but cannot speak.
The cat is called Aria which is also the name of the company Akari trains at.

We soon meet Alicia who also works at Aria Company, is a full fledged undine and is one of the most popular undines in Neo-Venezia, those in training look up to Alicia for she can make rowing a gondolier a beautiful site to see. Plus she has a gentle soul.

And so Akari’s journey begins as she trains to be as good as Alicia but more importantly have fun at the same time. She has an upbeat attitude and never lets anything get her down. She loves to explore all the wonders of the city while making new friends along the way.
We also meet many other characters and learn how each of them helps run Neo-Venezia from the weather to the gravity of the planet.

I won’t spoil the story for those but for you to get the full experience of the manga you need to read Aqua first (which is 2 volumes) then continue onto Aria.
This has to be one of the most relaxing mangas I have ever read and I could truly feel like I was in the story. I love the city of Venice so the art and history of it in the manga is really good. The art scenery is breathtaking especially when its spread on 2 pages. The stories are very heartwarming and leaves you with a smile on your face.
There is a anime which is split into 3 seasons, I have the first one which I watch after I have caught up with the manga.

So if you can please give it read and hopefully you will not be disappointed ^_^

>.< It can be your best friend one moment and your worst enemy the next. I found this out the hard way last week after I got back from Kita.
I was tired enough by the time I got back from Birmingham last Monday so I wanted to start uploading the photos I took throughout the whole weekend, as soon as I start uploading I get a pop-up (even though I have blocked them) about some rubbish so I clicked out of my internet to get rid of it. When I tried to open the internet again it wouldn’t work O_O I tried again and again and again but no joy. It was like this for a week till PC World told me my laptop had a virus, the 3rd one now in 5 months!! (I’ve got rid of it now, thanks to my Aunt).

The next thing on my list is my iPod, I’m slowly learning why people don’t like them. I came home from work last Thursday evening, went to listen to my iPod and a message appeared saying I need to reinstall it on my laptop… only problem is that I had no internet at this point ¬_¬ so at this point I had no music or no internet. Once I did get it finally working it wiped the music I had got from previous collections in years past T_T and the wi-fi no longer works on it… seriously not impressed.

Then there’s my mobile but I’ve had so many problems I’m not going to detail them LOL

And even though it’s a pain I still love technology ^^; I’m already planning on what to get next in regards to mp3’s and mobiles, even camera parts.

I suppose there will always be the good and bad when it comes to technology *sighs* ^^;'

A small blog from me this week

The time has finally come… my first proper con this year, Kitacon! This con holds special memories for me, some good some bad, but I will love this con as it was my first one I attended outside of Expo ^_^

I’m nearly all set, just need to pack my stuff ready for the 3 day weekend :D All my cosplays are ready and they are:
- Kim Pine from Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
- Belarus from Hetalia
- Magnolia Featherstone, my original Steampunk OC

Throughout the weekend I will be doing photoshoots with friends and fellow cosplayers (packing extra memory cards just in case!), going to a few panels, joining in on quizzes, spending my monies and singing in the Kita’s Got Talent?! Omake on Sunday…. I’m panicking about it now! ^^;

Luckily I have next Tuesday off for recovery and will hopefully write a blog about Kita or maybe even do a video blog for the Team Times youtube page ^_^
To those who are going I can’t wait to see you again and have fun times!

Bye for now!

I think a lot of people will be reviewing the Pokemon Black/White game this week but I’ll put a quick input of what I think… I love it to bits! So far I’m on the 3rd Gym Leader as I had to wait for my game to arrive (thank you play.com ¬_¬) the scenery, the battles, the new Pokemon… brings me back to my teenage years when I first played the game. And you always remember the first time in a new game when one of your first Pokemon evolves ♥
I’ll give a proper review when I played more of it.

Last Saturday I went to Bunkasai at Conway House, Red Lion Square in Central London. Bunkasai was a one day event, this was the first one and was hosted by Akemi Solloway. They still have the Japanese Arts Festival which will be held in July this year. I haven’t been to an event before like this so I was very excited before I went.
When I arrived at Holborn station I had no clue where to go (I soon realised after I left the wrong exit ^^;) but I found some cosplayers nearby and we eventually found Conway House.
I soon met up with my friends and hung out with them for the time I was there and I also met my fellow blogger and photographer on here, Rick! (It was finally good to meet you!)

The event itself had enough things to do. Outside the hall you could learn Origami, how to play Japanese Chess or even have your name written in Japanese Calligraphy (which I did before I left). Inside the hall was where the main events were. They included Taiko Drums, Buko (Martial Arts), Lectures on tea ceremonies, the creators of BlazBlue and Guilty Gear interviews and the European Cosplay Gathering.
And they also had stalls there from United Publications to the Japan Centre which was enough to fill the otaku void… especially mine, I treated myself to a Higurashi art book, a couple of mangas and a DVD!
Plus the food was delicious, you had a few choices so I went with the curry.

Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for the whole event as I had to get home early but Rick stayed for the cosplay competition and got fantastic photos of it all. I hope he puts up a link in his blog this week.

The event in all was very good which gave you plenty to do for the time you were there, the atmosphere was nice and everyone was very friendly. I shall definitely go again and to the Japanese Arts Festival in July ^_^

This is one of my favourite comic series and TV series from my teenage years. I actually discovered the TV series first as I didn’t know much about the comics before hand but I’ve definitely caught up now. I spend quite a lot of time shopping on eBay for used comics, currently winning the bid on a set of Jubilee comics… woohoo!
I loved the idea of humans with powers, always have done so when I saw this series I fell in love with it.
There are so many version of the comics so there are quite a lot of stories but my favourite has to be The Curse of The Mutants which involves Dracula… I won't say anymore so go read it!
The movies were brilliant in my eyes, I remember watching them in the cinema with awe especially the 3rd movie.
My favourite characters are Rogue, Storm, Jubilee and Wolverine.

And now there will be an official anime release of X-Men on 1st April. One of my friends put up a link to the trailer on her facebook and it looks fantastic! It looks very old school but still very impressive. I’ll definitely be watching the subbed version when it’s out.
Then we have the new movie X-Men: First Class which is out in the summer and is a prequel of the previous movies.

I for one can’t wait to see them!

Bye for now!