Denkyu: Anime Webzine

Yaki Soba (fried noodle)

Ingredients for 4 servings:
Yakisoba noodle or chinese egg noodle
Cabbage, bean sprouts
Thinly-sliced meat, seafood, or your choice of other Ingredients
Yakisoba sauce
Veg.oil : 1tbs

1. Heat a frying pan and fry meat, seafood, or other Ingredients with veg. oil, stirring occasionally.
2. Add yakisoba noodle and fry, stirring occasionally.
3. Add chopped cabbage and bean sprouts and fry, until cabbage is cooked.
4. Put yakisoba sauce and mix.
5. Serve with finely chopped seaweed.

Written by True Anime Junkie

Saturday – 07/02/05: Getting up around 6 am, I showered before heading out for the con with my friend Kevin at 7am. We got to the con a little after 8 am and headed for the pre-registration line which was fairly long by that time. While waiting in line I dropped my new camera. It survived. but now it has a nice dent on the corner. Everything seems to still work on it. We got our passes and walked around checking out what was going on at the Marriott. There was a 24 hour arcade set up, so we played a few games. Then we went to the Tokyopop panel at 10AM. There are some pretty cool manga coming out soon. I then proceeded to check out the dealers room. It was very large and very crowded. People were shoulder to shoulder. I really did not find much I was interested in, considering lack of money being a factor. However, I did pick up some nice Naruto, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke pins. I also picked up some AX stuff: pins, shirt, mug, and keychain.

Then it was off to the ADV preview panel. The guys from ADV always have a good panel. There was no more news on the live action Evangelion. They did say that Evangelion will be coming to cartoon network within the next couple of months. They also hinted that the anime network may be coming to satellite TV. Most importantly, the anime network is now supposed to be showing all shows in subbed and dubbed, everyone should be happy now. I can’t wait to get some form of cable/satellite again.

I also had some questions answered about how DVDs will be released. As you know they have been releasing a lot of the older series in brick pack format or slim-pack sets for a third of the cost of buying the original individual volume DVDs. Here is how it will work: New series are still going to be released in the single volume DVDs first (which may come slim packed soon, they said it was not 100% decided yet because of retailer objections). Then about 2 years after a series has been out and depending on its popularity, they will then release the series in one of the cheap sets. Here is the difference though, the single volume released DVDs come with extras (interviews, etc.) and inserts (posters, booklets, stickers, etc…), but the cheap brick sets will not have any of these. So basically if you can wait two years after a series is licensed and released and you do not care about having any of the extras, then the cheap sets are for you. I would expect the single volume released DVDs to start holding their value and possibly going up in value one day, but that will greatly depend on how many they produce of each volume and how hard they are to get. The guys from ADV also hinted at the possibility of a series being available for download in the future, of course you have to purchase the download. They had a session of stupid fan tricks for prizes, very funny. Kevin won a prize (Gantz DVD) to not sing. The game of musical chairs was great.

After the panel I walked around, mingled, and took pictures. We then went and checked in at the Hotel and went and grabbed some lunch. After lunch I walked around the con and headed back to the Dealers room, the pins I already mentioned I bought between the two trips to the dealers room. I did see a cool predator cold cast from Japan. I seriously considered getting it, but it was $500. It was a predator riding on a home world horse (predator horse). It was signed and numbered and only 500 made. It was about 18 inches tall, overall a really nice piece. Since it was so large (how to get home?) and I really did not need to spend the money, I passed on it. There was also this awesome life size metal sculpture of an Alien warrior. If I had $4000 to waste and a way to get it home, I would have got it.

Then I headed to the ADV ultimate fan service panel. They showed a lot of funny previews. The two that stick out in my mind was the live action comedy that used mannequins and the extras off of the Madlax DVDs. They were both hilarious. Kevin won another damn prize, he must have the luck of the Irish.

After that I walked around a bit and took more pictures. Then I headed back to the room and we hit the hot tub. We hung out in the hot tub for about an hour, just talking to some other con goers. We discussed the norm: anime, sci-fi, and Bruce Campbell. One good thing about cons is you get to meet a lot of new people with similar interests as you. ^_^ After the hot tub we went to see a showing of Spriggan in the big film room, but they changed it to some dog anime. That did not interest me, so I walked around a bit and hit the arcade before I went back to room and to sleep

Sunday – 07/03/05: We got some breakfast at the hotel restaurant and headed over to the convention center. I walked around taking pictures for a little bit. I then headed over to check out the artist alley. Kevin went and got in line for the Maaya Sakamoto concert around 10AM. I picked up a few Naruto prints, a few sketches, and some bookmarks. I spent the rest of the morning taking pictures. I got in line with Kevin around noon. There were some cool guys in line with us. We all just hung out listening to anime OSTs and reading manga. A couple of guys had PSPs, I know I want one now. The PSPs have nice video playback quality. One of the guys had, I think, 26 episodes of a series on a 1GB card. Kevin and I took turns holding our spot in the line, and it was a nice spot at the front. We were in line until a little before 4PM, then they started sitting everyone. We got some nice seats in the third row. They gave out some nice concert programs with an autograph insert (not an original). The concert finally got started a little before 5PM. I have to say I really enjoyed Maaya. I love the fact they did not drown her voice out with the music, like so many American performers do. Of course they did not allow any photographs or any type of recording.

After the concert I headed down to the artist alley to pick up a couple of sketches I commissioned. I was getting hungry so went to Jack in the Box or should I say “Jack in the Crack”. After eating that gut busting food I stopped by the room and headed back to the con. Along the way I met a real nice and HOT Californian girl. We talked for a bit and parted our ways. Then I happen to come up on the great Tetris Battle Royale, it was the highlight of the con. LMAO!! The winner was the blue T shaped piece; the loser was the red L shaped piece. I got the last five minutes of it on video, which I hope to spread on the web here soon. I think there was a different tetris battle earlier in the night, but I believe it was totally different pieces.

I then headed over to the arcade and video area at the Marriot. That’s where I discovered the great chocolate factory (well I actually discovered it on Saturday night but I did not play it). You know the claw machine filled with sugary snacks. Before too long there was a large crowd around the machine. We were all working together to fill our sugary needs. I also caught a couple episodes of Petit Cossette and Ninja Scroll in the video room across from the arcade. After dealing with a contact falling out of my eye I headed back to the room dropped of all my sugary snacks and tried to take a break in the hot tub. Within five minutes of getting in the hot tub a hotel employee threw everyone out. Really why should they close the pool area at night, that’s the best time. After I got into dry clothes I went and checked out the dance room. I really was not feeling it so I headed back over to the arcade and played the candy game again and some shooter game, can’t remember the name.

When I had my fill of the arcade I headed over to where the tetris fight had been earlier. There was a game of Hide and Seek going on, so I got in on that. Con goers sure love free sugary snacks, especially drunk ones! We played that for about an hour, we they started playing capture the flag. That was a lot of fun. While I was using my ninja skills in the bushes I just about stepped on some people doing it in the bushes. I guess people will do it anywhere. I played until about 4AM, then I headed back to my room to sleep. I do not know how long the rest continued playing.

Monday – 07/04/05: We did not do too much Monday. We got up, packed, and checked out of the hotel. We then stopped by the arcade for a bit before we went to the Evangelion 10th anniversary panel. After the panel I headed to the artist alley again to pick up another sketch I commissioned. After that we left and headed to Kevin’s parents place. They had a cookout at Kevin’s brother’s house which is right next door to his parents. After the cookout we all went to a school on a hill/mountain behind Six Flags (Magic Mountain) to watch fireworks. That was so cool. You were able to see the entire city from there. There were fireworks going off all over the city and four major shows fairly close to where we were. The Six Flags show was really cool; the fireworks were going off at eye level. I took some photos and video.

Overall Opinion: It was a great trip. I loved the con, I will go again. The only down sides would be: the long flights (with the layovers), all the long lines for all the major events at the con, and not enough info in the con program. When I do go again I will leave earlier, try to go with or meet a group out there, and just have even more fun next time.

Written by Fabric Alchemist

These “socks” or shoe-coverings are pretty hot on the Japanese club scene, and at my sister’s insistence, I tried making her a pair. It’s super-easy (even without a machine!) so here’s a few instructions on how to make a pair for yourself. They’re easily customizable, and you can dress them up any way you want to make them your own.

What you will need:

–1 1/2 — 3 yards broadcloth (recommended), depending on size.
–elastic or ribbon (optional)
–matching thread
–trim (optional)
–measuring tape
–pins

1. Pre-wash your fabric. Do this every time before you start a project.

2. Measure around your knee. This will be the measurement for the top of your sock. If you’re doing elastic, add about an inch for stretch.

3. Measure down your leg, from knee to top of foot. This is the measurement for how long to make the sock.

4. Depending on how flared you want the socks, measure loosely around your ankle and over your show: for a big flare, measure very loosely.

5. Now, take a piece of newspaper or paper bag and draw out these measurements, adding 1/2 inch all around for seam allowance. Lay this pattern down on the fabric, folded in half. The middle of the pattern should be on the fold of the fabric. Cut two out. You should have something like this: (picture #1)

6. Fold this in half, wrong side out, matching the angled sides together. (Picture #2) Pin this, and sew along the angled side.

7. Hem the bottom (Picture #3).

8. Now for the top. I used stretchy material because we were salvaging an old, sparkly skirt — which meant I really didn’t need elastic. But for broadcloth, you ought to use elastic. Make a bit bigger hem than you did at the bottom, and sew it nearly all the way around. Don’t sew down the last inch, because this is where you put the elastic (or ribbon, if you want a drawstring instead) in. Cut the elastic as long as your knee measurement, with enough to tie a knot. Push one end of the elastic through the hem you’ve made, and when it comes out the other side, tie the ends of the elastic together and finish the hem.

9. Structurally, you’re done! (Picture #4, #5) Now you can have all sorts of fun dressing these up with any kind of trim or t-shirt paint you can think of. We opted for a Gothic Lolita look, but you could even add wires or LED’s to make it *really* techno ^_^ Go crazy with it, or leave it plain: it’s up to you! 1.     2.     3.

4.     5.

Written by Kerokero-Chan

“Akumas,” the name given to those who corrupt the very fabric of society. Their goal is to destroy, destroy, and destroy under the order of Count Millennium. Created by science, evil, and tragedy, these weapons of destruction roam the land during the nineteenth century.

The only one who can stop them are the Black Religious Group. An organization of exorcists created to destroy the Akuma. The goal of this group is simple: Retrieve the mysterious power “Innocence,” scattered across the world.

“Innocence” is rumored to be the weapons of the gods and can destroy the Akumas. Of course, the Count knows this as well and has sent the Akumas to recover and destroy the 79 Innocence around the world.

Allen Walker is one of these exorcists. He is a “Cursed,” a name given to those who created and is possessed by an Akuma. Trained under the exorcist, Cross, Allen Walker begins his quest under the Black Religious Group.

Look out for this series to be released by Viz sometime this year.

Japanese Volume: 1-4 and continuing
English Volume: To be announced
Artist: Katsura Hoshino
Publisher: Shueisha
US Publisher: Viz

Written by Andromeda

Amanda is a nine-year-old girl who has finally talked her mom into letting her have a pet. Going into a pet store, she decides she wants something different, something exciting, something no one else in her class has. Looking at everything the pet store has to offer, her eyes fall upon a cage full of ferrets. That’s it! Her other is a bit reluctant and is even warned that ferrets are bitters, but Amanda talks her mom into letting her have one, one that is nice and cute and isn’t biting her like the others had when she first stuck her hand into the cage. Relenting to her child, the ferret goes home with them and is given the name Peach. But there are two conditions… Amanda has to take care of her new pet and if Peach bites, she goes straight back to the pet store.

Peach is a ferret who thinks she’s a princess, and a prissy one at that. In her eyes, the world is completely different from what it is. Believing she has been captured by a handra, Peach tries to find ways to escape and manages to do so quite often. Trapped in a dungeon she is fed food that is not fit for a princess and is forced to drink water seeping in from the wall. Every time the handra comes for her she relies on her instincts and fights it off by biting it. As the days pass while she’s in captivity, she now finds herself to be a warrior princess, having to fight in the arena against different foes to the amusement of the handra.

Peach Fuzz is a cute tale of a young girl and her pet who seems to have a very vivid imagination. Amanda wants so much for her new pet to love her as much as she loves it but Peach is making it very difficult for the two of them to get along. When Amanda is bitten by her new pet, she doesn’t tell her mother and even lies in order to keep Peach. Her mother, Megan, on the other hand can only think of how much this new pet is costing them. All the little things add up and is putting a strain on their finances. She’s looking for any excuse to take the ferret back to the pet store. Megan even tries once but ends up coming home with some tropical fish. That clerk at the pet store is an extremely good salesman.

Peach Fuzz is written and illustrated by Lindsay Cibos and Jared Hodges. I had the honor of meeting them at Anime Festival Orlando 6 and they signed my copy of the first volume. They both reside in Central Florida and use their two ferrets as inspiration for this story. Peach Fuzz was the grand prize winner of TokyoPop’s Rising Stars of Manga competition.You can see other original artwork by them at www.jaredandlindsay.com

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