Posted by: Twinkly on: 22/01/2012
Fellow citizens in the European Union. You may have heard about America’s recent debacle with SOPA and PIPA. What you may not be aware of is that they already signed something called ACTA and the EU will soon be voting whether or not they want to sign it too. The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is just as bad (if not worse) and could and will do terrible things.
Please sign the petition: Click Here
Wikipedia Page (for those who like hard-core reading and some serious outrage): Click Here
All you need to know summed up into 2 minutes and 21 seconds worth of video.
Posted by: Twinkly on: 13/07/2011
I haven’t blogged in months. It makes me feel kinda guilty. Not that guilty though
. My entries aren’t that great though so I suppose it doesn’t matter.
So I’m really late with blogging about the fact that I am FREE. That’s right, highschool is over
! I’ve finished my exams (and I’m confident I did well) and I am now enjoying my extended summer holiday by not doing anything. Well, that’s not strictly true, yesterday I went shopping and bought loads of new clothes for college (you don’t really have much of a wardrobe when you spend most of your time in a school uniform). For the first time I actually got caught up in shopping and had some fun with my Mum (though listening to her call things cute when I don’t just freaked me out). I finally bought cardigans which is rare because I hate how close they cling
.
You don’t want to hear about me shopping though, do you? Lets face it, that’s even more boring than the usual stuff that I blog about. So, I finally started working on my visual novel and have encountered an infuriating problem. I’m r=trying to customise the yesno prompts (such as “Are you sure you want to quit?”) and the buttons for yes and no have an active area larger than the button. When I’m in open space they become active even if I’m more than 100 pixels away from the buttons. It’s driving me crazy
; nothing I do fixes the problem. So, for now I’m going to turn my attention back to character designs rather than user interface. I’m working on an icon pack but I’m a bit lazy about finishing it.
I’m really into lolita fashion again and I found this nice place that sells budget lolita that isn’t bad quality that I rather like. I had been looking into fan plus friend for a while but I’m just not that crazy about their stuff. QutieLand, the place I’ve been checking out. has some clothes I really love that are affordable and they received a lot of positive reviews
. I’d rather like to look into purchasing some stuff for my birthday from them this year.
I’ve not been watching anime nearly as much recently (I’ve gotten used to watching American T.V. shows while I do other things but I can’t with anime). This year has been really good for anime. I’ve been watching quite a few of this years new titles.
Post again soon!
Twinkly 
Posted by: Twinkly on: 18/03/2011
I haven’t watched an anime that made me this desperate for the next episode since Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 was airing back in 2008. Believe me when I say that I loved Code Geass. Madoka Magica is the dark magical girl anime we’ve all been waiting for
. It’s been the topic of many a theory this season (though I find that theories lessen the impact of the actual story and so I don’t enjoy theorising) but it’s been interesting to see how people have interpreted the opening and ending and how accurate these were. One person believe Kyokou was always depicted eating because she was hungry for more power and I suppose in a way she was.
Madoka Magica has a fairly bog standard plot line. Magical girls fight bad guys. However this is not just the case. The girls do not team up and are in permanent competition with each other. Kyubey (the alien creature) seems to have sinister motives. Where do the witches magical girls fight come from?
In terms of animation and art it has it’s really good moments (Mami’s fight with Charlotte, episode 10
, transformation sequences) and it’s really bad moments (about 4 cars drive by in unison
, Madoka has some really bad hair moments
, bizarre line art and not particularly great character designs). The show has some really weird art for the villans which is very unlike anything I’ve ever seen in anime. They also put a lot of hints (it would seem) in the background and in opening and ending sequences as to what might happen. The fight scenes are also made original (if very odd) by the unusual art.
Music for this show is just hands down amazing
. I love Yuki Kajiura (who did the soundtracks for Kara no Kyoukai – The Garden of Sinners, a great soundtrack, and Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, another great soundtrack). I simply cannot wait for this soundtrack to come out with its haunting choirs, it’s enchanting pieces that are reminiscent of a time long gone and those eerie pieces as well.
This show very nearly beat my Magical Girl favourites Nanoha and Sakura. It terms of plot it wins hands down but Nanoha has the better art, transformations and it has Fate (who owns everyone who ever existed) and Sakura has cuteness, fun and childhood nostalgia. Madoka Magica is my favourite anime of the year so far (and most likely of the whole year still to some) and I am enjoying every second. I hope that a North American anime company licences it so that I can import it and add it to my collection. I also hope for the next episode to be out soon as, due to the earthquake, tsunami and power issues, episode 11 is currently on hold. Apparently Shaft like to use every second they have to finish episodes (after the earthquake they were looking for bits and pieces of episodes 11 and 12 that had gone astray in the quake). I look forward to the next episode and hope that Japan will get that plant under control soon so that then they can just worry about fixing the country.
I also recently got into card collecting on My Anime List and now have 15 member cards (including official, limited and special). In other news, I started bothering with my website again and have some wallpaper and icon projects planned for when my teachers aren’t trying to kill me with school work and exams.
Post again soon!
Twinkly 
Posted by: Twinkly on: 13/02/2011
I know I said I’d review it as soon as I got it and I got it on the 30th December 2010 (a day later than expected which wasn’t bad considering the snow and airport closures) but hey I’m lazy
. So then I will now do what I said I would do.
Story 7/10 (I’m being non-biased…sort of):
The original Nanoha story was no master piece and this is probably even more void of plot. It was hard to understand how Nanoha could grow so close to Fate in 10 episodes (not even the whole series) but in 2 hours and 10 minutes? I suppose you could say that Fate triggers a desire in Nanoha to right the wrongs she sees in Fate’s eyes. That and Nanoha is insanely nice to someone who blew her out of the sky
. It seems hollow at times and, without the fluff from the original, stretched a little thin. Now however we have wonderful back story for the glorious Fate
! We finally have a decent story of what happened with Fate, Alicia and Precia. This, to be frank, is actually more relevant to the direction the series was going in than the Nanoha focused aspect of the original. We see how Precia felt and what really drove her to her actions. We see adorable little Fate
learning to control her powers and fight for her mother. Nanoha also gets some training in there too.
Art and Animation 10/10:
The original had pretty decent art and animation and the film, with its bigger budget, is even better. We also see Fate get the transformation sequence she so deserves. My favourite part has got to be the smoothly animated and total gorgeous hair flick at the start of the transformation. It’s absolute magic
!!!

Nanoha also gets a shiny new transformation sequence. I simply love the attention to detail in hers. Fate’s has more detail for her weapon where as Nanoha’s once cool weapon construction sequence is played down and instead you get a really nice armour sequence
. From screws twisting into place to detailed animated rings; it’s all really cool! Here’s one of my favourite bits:

The hair is noticeably smaller (what happened to the total giant hair people
?!) but that’s probably for the best. I enjoyed every flutter of clothing, the dark cityscapes and the amazing fight scenes. Sadly they rid themselves of that wonderful running scene from episode 1 where Nanoha is running up the road away from the jewel seed. I always thought that scene was quite interesting to look at in the original.
Sound 10/10:
The music is pretty much the same as the original. Some people would say that Nanoha has a bad soundtrack and to be honest it isn’t hot but when you put it with Nanoha it’s just so right I can’t explain it. Those brass instruments combined with the strings create the feeling of it’s dramatic action and some of the tracks really do sort of say sci-fi adventure. Then again…

We have a nice new insert track by Nana Mizuki called “Don’t be Long” which plays in the scene where Fate decides to help in the fight against her mother and also “Innocent Starter” and “Make a Little Wish ~ Lyrical Toybox Version” make appearances as instrumentals. I simply adore “Innocent Starter” as a music box instrumental; it’s so cute
!
Characters 6/10 (Nanoha) 10/10 (Fate):
Sadly, Nanoha takes a beating with the increased focus on Fate. None of her family have speaking roles and her friends now play such a small role they’re almost surplus to requirements. We have plenty of scenes with just Nanoha but they don’t use them for any real character development. Instead we have narration by Nanoha and we don’t get the same sense of “she’s struggling to use magic and have a normal life” like you did in the original. Thankfully we also lose lots of the meaningless fluff (such as the trip to the hot springs. What is it with those, seriously) but that space is filled Fate. In short, series is for Nanoha and film is for Fate. I guess I will be getting a box set of the original series this year after all. Nanoha’s maturity seems ever more alien for a girl of her age not that focus has been shifted and you don’t really get the same charm from the film as you did from the series. Rather the film is more about boosting the franchise. Despite Nanoha’s more than literal 2D ness I feel that her reasons for wanting to Fate’s friend are clearer this time around. She (from what I recall) comments more this time around on her how she thinks Fate looks sad and that she wants to talk it out with her. Below is Nanoha going to help out Fate after Chrono and Lindy tell her not to and Nanoha kicks arse with Starlight Breaker (at least I think that’s the one I got the screen shot for, was a while back so…):

Fate really comes to life in this and shows us why she is the way she is. How her mother’s neglect led her to be even less like the child she desired and how desperate she was for her affection. More than ever we understand the heartbreak Fate feels every time she is brushed aside and ignored. Fate is now a fully formed character. As a result, if you watch the film and the series in conjunction then you really get the full picture for everyone.
Of course for all you Nano-Fate fans, their relationship has been preserved in all its glory. The last scenes with them just made me squeal at their cuteness and really made me nostalgic for the original.

Overall 9/10 (Okay so maybe I’m biased):
I love magical girls (okay so very biased)!!! I didn’t hold my hopes too high for anything amazing and so I was not disappointed by the wonder that was Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st. I enjoyed every shot, every flutter and every sad or pained face that Fate made. I’m really looking forward to the sequel (which was announced in November 2010 if I remember correctly) Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Move 2nd A’s (seriously the Japanese need to sort out their word order if they want to use English, it’s the 2nd Movie people!). I wonder if the Wolkenritter and Hayate will keep their main focus as they did (I really did love those episodes where they talked about how much they lover Hayate and wanted to save her) or if they’ll shift more to fighting and flashy effects (oooh shiny fun
).
Here are some packaging pictures. Included in the standard DVD is a little booklet that has drawings of Nanoha and Fate as well as complete chapter list and what appears to be a very detailed summary (can’t tell because I can’t read Japanese).



At some point I’ll analyse Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (also known as Puella Magi Madoka Magica). It’s one of the most talked about shows (not in terms of anticipation but more in terms of theory and speculation) this season. I’ve read loads of theories and I look forward to sharing my thoughts as well as looking at all the little things that fans have been pointing out (potential hints of what is to come in the opening and such like). You could probably write an essay on all the little things in Madoka Magica
. I also can’t wait for ending, Magia by Kalafina to come out this Wednesday coming up! Connect by ClariS is also a really nice opening song too.
Gosh this was a long one. Post again soon!
Twinkly 
Posted by: Twinkly on: 31/12/2010
Christmas was uneventful this year. We didn’t have any family over nor did we go and have dinner with family; it was just as I like it almost all day
. Later on in the evening we went to visit my Aunt and Uncle, their two daughters (my cousins) and Grandma (who was at their house for Christmas). We played trivial pursuit for at least an hour and a half on the Wii
; I was bored stiff.
The food was great! Roast chicken, roast ham, roast potatoes, cauliflower in cheese sauce, prawn cocktail, Thai bites and mini brocheters (I’m not sure how you spell it) were all present at this years meal. My parents had other vegetables (which I didn’t eat because I’m not a fan). We had crackers which meant cheesy paper hats
and awful jokes.
Presents time! If my birthday was the day of manga then Christmas day was the day of DVDs. Pictured below are Code Geass R2 vol 1, Black Lagoon Complete Box Set series 1 and 2, Claymore complete box set, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex the 2nd Gig complete box set, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni complete box set (When They Cry) and Venus Versus Virus volume 7.

On Boxing Day we had our Boxing Day buffet with more prawns and dipping sauce and ham
. I love my Christmas food; it’s a shame that it only comes around once a year. We also rented the House series 5 box so my family could catch up on what they’d missed. I watched it with them even though I’d already seen it all; a little bit of family bonding. It was nice always being ahead of the, knowing that Kutner was going to die or that House was having hallucinations even worse than he thought.
Post again soon!
Twinkly 
Posted by: Twinkly on: 24/12/2010
It’s time for the rundown of my birthday and time to wish you all a Merry Christmas
! That’s right, the unveiling of a nice Christmasy emote
.
So what did I get for my birthday? It’s time for presents
! So I got a multi-regional, 7 inch DVD player, Chobits Omnibus edition volumes 1 and 2, Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus edition volume 1, Darker than BLACK the complete 1st series, Code Geass R2 volume 2 and Venus Versus Virus volume 8. I received part two of CG and vol 8 of VVV before the parts that come before them. I haven’t read Venus Versus Virus volume 7 yet so I can’t read volume 8. Below is a snap shot of all my presents laid out; yes that is a very small pile of washing in the background
.

The Chobits and Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibuses came with original colour inserts and bonus inserts. CCS had 15 pages of bonus colour pages and the 2nd Chobits Omnibus had 48 pages of coloured goodness
. The artwork is simply divine and there are many gorgeous drawings. I took some pictures of some of the inserts for you all to enjoy. I picked my favourites of course but man it was tough to choose (I didn’t want to overload the entry with images
).








Pretty aren’t they
? It’s so nice that they included those bonus colour galleries, they really add to the books. My birthday was pretty boring, I didn’t do much. We ordered pizza and I had chocolate cheese cake, which was really yummy
. I got lots of nice Facebook wall posts too. I spent most of the day working on a piece of Christmas art
. I know right, I actually stopped being lazy long enough to do something for Christmas that took hours and posted it before Christmas! You can find this year’s Christmas celebration piece right here, I hope you enjoy it.
This year I also received some very nice Japanese birthday cards. The one my sister gave me is simply adorable! I took some pictures of those too so that you can all enjoy them too.

From my parents.

A folding cut out card from my Grandma. It makes it look nice and 3D.

From my sister. The little girl is stuck onto the card on one of those thick squishy pieces of white type so that she sticks out. The card is just so amazingly cute
!
Also I bought a Miku Hatsune poster a few months ago I thought that I would take the time to show you. It was a toss up between this one or one of her looking seriously cool on a motorbike; I decided I really liked traditional, cute Miku.

I promise that on boxing day I’ll give you all a rundown of Christmas
. All the food, the tree and the presents
. Also my Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st DVD was not amongst my birthday presents. This is because Yes Asia had difficulty processing my Mum’s credit card details and so we had to order again. It’s not going to arrive until the 29th December. However with the awful icy conditions and snow that we’re having across the entire of the UK, many airports have been closed and it likely to be delayed further. When it arrives however, I will give you a full review with screen shots and packaging pictures (I didn’t get the limited edition though so it’ll just be the box). Also my friends had problems with the postal service so whatever they got me for my birthday has yet to arrive as well.
Post again soon!
Twinkly 
Posted by: Twinkly on: 20/12/2010
Remember a while ago how I said that I would make a twinkling emoticon. Well it’s finally happened! It. Is. Here.
![]()
Look at them twinkle
. I have also released a new and improved sleeping emote, a blank emote and a stunned emote that shakes its head! That’s right; new animated emotes are joining the crew. I’m going to try to do more art this Christmas too. I plan to do some Black Rock Shooter fan art, Lucia Alpine fan art, my Christmas piece and write some more of my two stories. I’ve also got some art course work planned and some anime and manga catch up. Here’s to hoping I do all of that
.
Post again soon (with some Christmas cheer)!
Twinkly ![]()
Posted by: Twinkly on: 20/11/2010
You might remember that back in August I said I would post about work experience in September…well as you can see I never did
. Work experience was rather boring; probably the worst thing that happened was me getting horrible foot, ankle, knee and back pain from standing almost all day in a shop. Some days it was cold, some days it was unbearable hot blah blah. The most interesting thing I did was take a package to the post office and buy some stamps because that involved leaving the store
.
Anyway, are you all looking forward to Christmas? I am! My birthday is on the 23rd December so I have two things to look forward to. This year I’m getting anime on DVD, manga and a DVD player because we needed one that would play them from several regions because some of the discs are from America. One of the titles is…Magical Gril Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st
! That’s right, as some of you might know they decided to release it with English subs so the Americans don’t have to licence it. This is good as Nanoha hasn’t been to successful in terms of sales apparently which is why they don’t seem to be making plans to licence StrikerS or any of the manga series’.
In school related news, my I.T. teacher has decided to let me do some extra units to get an even better qualification. Currently, with number of units I’m doing I can get the equivalent of three GCSEs grade A but with the added units I can get the equivalent of 4 grade A GCSEs
. Should be a breeze I reckon. Also I’m doing a free standing mathematics course which will help a lot when I come to do maths at A level. It also gives me another qualification. Mock GCSE exams will be starting soon; it’s an absolute nightmare
. One of these is art and that means what I should be doing now is working on my exam prep book but I can’t be bothered. I also have another German speaking test coming up soon (that one is not a mock) so lots of preparation to do.
I took an interest in game design recently. I started making some graphics for it but I’m still not sure what exactly it is that I want to do or where I want to take it. We’ll see.
Reading and watching lots of different things but I’ve yet to finish any of them. Some, like Gurenki, I can’t finish yet because they’re still running. Speaking of Gurenki – Creo the Crimson Crises, it’s actually turned out better than I thought. One I first started reading it, it was fluffy, annoying and there wasn’t a lot going on. The end of chapter five however when Suou’s “sister” Akane suddenly started bleeding was when it really got interesting. It went from a fluffy and light story with yuri subtext to a story with drama, secrets and actual yuri (none of this implied, meaningful looks and holding hands stuff, Creo finally acts upon her feelings for Suou). Not to mention the art is just to die for gorgeous
; now if it only it were available in the UK. Unfortunately it will probably never be popular enough to licensed when it appeals to such a niche market
.
Post again soon!
Twinkly