Advent of AUSA II: Costumes & Expectations

Ah, at long last- it is finally AUSA time. I’m so happy. After the stressful week of school work and exams, I’m ready to escape from this world and become someone else for a few days. ^.^ Well actually, it’s would be a slight transition, lol. Anyway, with AUSA a day away from starting, I’m just a few hours away from completing my costumes. All weekend long, I will be cosplaying as various incarnations of Anthy Himemiya with one special costume that was inspired by the artbook (see left). It won’t exactly the same color but it is of similar styling and all I have to do is add all of the roses to the dress… and perhaps find a better hoop than the one I have to give it a little extra flare and perhaps pick it up off the ground a bit (this is because I am vertically-challenged ><) Other than that special dress for the Kabuki Ball, I’ll be appearing in the red rose bride grown, the school uniform (movie) and the movie gown as well. Although I doubt I will get it done this time, I hope to have my contacts and a photoshoot  in the Kabuki Ball gown complete by New Years. YES, it will actually take that long to do all that because of school. ><

I’m also highly looking forward to the Versailles concert on Saturday as well. I was slightly disappointed to see that the time slot for the concert was so short but any length of time equals a once-in-a-lifetime must see moment. On top of that, I get to see two very good friends whom I have seen since earlier in the year and my friend from T-Mode (Sabira) will also be there… hopefully sharing some more stories about her time with NYAF. (She is one lucky girl) What else… [giest] will be there too, though I doubt I will challenge them (drummer Sai actually) to a rematch to test our manhood! XD

Voice actors, lots of music, friends and cosplay… yep, this is going to be a good weekend (hopefully). The economy might be suffering; the anime industry also might be slowing down; panic, fear and hate might be the emotions many are feeling right now but that is why anime cons exist…. to take away that pain… even if only lasts for the length of the convention. Oh who am I kidding, GO AUSA GO! WHOOO! CONVENTION TIME! LOL.

Versailles Changes Name + New Single

I just found out from a friend that due to a legal issue in the U.S., Versailles was forced to change their name. They entreated their fans for help and got many wonderful and creative responses. The name the band settled on is Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet-. Not only have they changed their name, they have also released a new single, “PRINCE“. There new single can be downloaded for FREE at this website: www.hearjapan.com/store/album_info/PRINCE. The free download is apart of a special promotion for the band under their new name and way for the band to thank all their fans. More information about this change can be found at my friend’s website here: http://drotaku82.blogspot.com/2008/09/versailles-gets-new-band-name.html

I have already downloaded the new single. It’s really beautiful. Kamijo’s voice just keeps getting better. I noticed the change in his way of singing when he first created Versailles and after their first album “NOBLE” I was really impressed. The band continues to thrill me with this single “PRINCE“. I have to listen to the lyrics more closely when I’m not in the middle of preparing for class! XD However, as I said before, it is a really beautiful song. It isn’t as driving as Aristocratic Symphony. As I sit here and listen to it now, I’m thinking of an aristocratic –if now conflicted young noble– riding his horse though the forest while it’s snowing. Definitely a winter time song in my eyes; I’ve already added it to my playlist. ^^ The melody and tempo are nice with awesome guitar work as always. Go download it and enjoy!

CR Top Musical Artists of the Summer 2008

Alright, I’ve really had to think about this one. Next up on my wrap-up of this summer, I’ll be listing the top (hopefully) ten musicians I’ve been listening to this summer. Some are new, some are old and others are just there lol.

CR’S TOP TEN MUSICIANS OF SUMMER 2008

1. Versailles
2. D
3. UVERworld
4. Dong Bang Shin Ki (or Tohoshinki, TVXQ etc. however you know them as ^^)
5. Miyavi
6. L’Arc~en~Ciel
7. BUCK-TICK
8. -TIE- Namie Amuro & Hitomi Shimatani
9. Jyongri
10. Nightmare

Wow. That was such a hard list to compile. But after going through my computer and seeing what songs had the most playing time…. that’s what I came up with. This summer has really been about Versailles, my personal dilemma between Nightmare and UVERworld, D and L’Arc~en~ciel. I think it would be fair to mention that another person in my house has been going through her X-Japan stage and we have listened to a lot of their songs too.

Versailles has been great with their singles and two albums. NOBLE wasn’t quite what I was expecting but it is still a good listen. UVERworld is one of the new artists I’ve tried out this summer. I’m absolutely in love with their music and I’m sorry for ignoring them for so long. Nightmare is also another artist I’ve been trying out and for a while, I was having a hard time choosing between them and UVERworld. That’s been cleared up.

Every summer L’Arc~en~Ciel ends up on the list just because of their SMILE album. It just has a way of sneaking into the car, in the stereo, on the computer and my Zune XD. I’ve also been running their KISS album and DRINK IT DOWN single into the ground. I’ve been hooked on Miyavi since March and have at last caught up on his newer releases. I still have to go back and listen to some of his older stuff though. He was awesome before, he’s still awesome now.

My favorite bands D and Dong Bang Shin Ki never fail to win my musical heart. D went major earlier this year and so far are doing great. I can’t wait to get my hands on their FOLLOW ME Tour DVD. They are set to perform at a music fest? this month and have a new single in the works. Dong Bang Shin Ki or Tohoshinki as they are known in Japan went on a spree with releases earlier in the year and then sort of went silent for a bit (or I lost track of them lol ^^) But they have a new single out now so all is well. I love most of their songs, which have definitely on the love-song side but I’d wish they’d do another single along the lines of PURPLE LINE or the songs they used to produce in Korea. Oh well, so long as they keep singing, I don’t mind all the love. lol

Now for the really difficult part, naming the top ten albums/single + songs of this summer. X_X I have a few ideas but narrowing it down to ten is going to be hard.

I just want to remind everyone that these lists in no way express the views of official polls. These are just my personal lists of my favorite things that I’ve been doing over my summer break. I’d love to hear what everyone else has been watching, reading, playing and listening to this summer as well. I encourage you to leave comments. Alright, time to go have another battle of the musicians!

AnimeUSA Secured

Wow. I haven’t updated in a long while. 0_0 It seems writer’s block has affected my blogging too. >< Oh well. I’m just hear to say that AnimeUSA has been secured. Although it got off to a shaky start, this year’s con circuit for me has worked out a lot better than I can imagine and seems it will end with a bang when VERSAILLES comes to AUSA!!! I died when I read that. Literally. My heart has only skipped a beat three times in my life; that time it skipped several. LOL. I’m really excited. Not to mention all the fun I’m going to have at T-Mode in September; I really need to gather my money and wits.

As always, the costumes continue to be the same though I have a super special costume in planning from my new favorite anime series… Gankutsuou! Yes I know…. I’m late but never late than never. It was just fortunate I found the box set since it was a Geneon title. My three quest finally ended and I enjoyed every moment of it. But I digress. The award winning Rose Bride costume returns to AUSA along with the movie version and school uniform. Hopefully I can snag a new wig so I can do the TV version at last (I really don’t want to use the new one I brought for Anime Mid-Atlantic because it looks so nice as it is). Also, I’ll get to see all my friends again and both AUSA and T-Mode have balls this year. My con circuit is going out with a bang this year! WH00T!

I have to update my Utena page with the new pictures and costumes. I know I say this a lot but hopefully now I can update this more often? ^^