A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Kirito, Kurama, Koro-sensei #atozchallenge

The Black Swordsman. Beater. Kirigaya Kazuto. These are all the names of the Sword Art Online's main character, Kirito. He is a loner and computer nerd who isolated himself from his family.

He enters the game on that fateful day with only playing the game again on his mind.
He was one of the lucky beta testers before the release of the game.

When they find the first boss, he is accused of being a beta tester and a cheater. He takes on the accusation with a snide comment of he was better than a beta tester. Thus, the epithet beater was established. He took on the role with a mind to protect the other beta testers stuck in the game.

He becomes one of the only solo players to be on the Assault Team, which are the elite players that take on the dungeons and boss rooms.

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Yoko Kurama, a fox thief who hid in the human world by merging with a human baby became the character of Kurama in the Anime series Yu Yu Hakusho.

We first meet Kurama (kuh-rah-mah) as an antagonist in the show who steals artifacts from Spirit World with two other demons, Goki and Hiei (he-ay) (He's another freaking amazing character that didn't make my awesome character list cut but he was close!). Yusuke is sent after them. to get the objects back and to send them back to Spirit World.

Later, Kurama and Hiei become friends with Yusuke and Kuwabara after fighting in the Dark Tournament as teammates. He is the tactician of the group with the quick wit and cunning of his demon spirit.

🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙

Koro-sensei is the quintessential over-the-top character. He can go Mach 20, he loves junk food, he has a weakness for naughty magazines, and, oh of course, how could I almost forget to mention that he wants his classroom students to kill him before he destroys the world at the end of the school year.

This is the basis of the story for Assassination Classroom.  It is a highly comedic and dramatic story that will rip your heart to shreds at the end (trust me, I was ugly crying at the end of second season. And I do mean UGLY CRYING).

This non-alien creature (Yep, you read that right. He is not from outer space.) wants to teach the class of misfits. The government agrees because that way they know where he is at most times.  He is a brilliant and caring character. 

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Alucard, Asuna Yūki, and Allen Schezar #atozchallenge

 As an Anime fan, I find that different characters are essential.  Also, I like different genres.  These three characters are different as night and day as well as the anime genres.

Escaflowne (es-cah-flow-nay) is from the 90s. It's about a girl from our world that gets transported to Gaea (guy-yah), a world of dragons, humanoid species, and mechas called Guymelefs (guy-mel-ef).

Allen Schezar is a gentleman with great secrets as well as a soft spot for protecting the "damsel in distress." He is also a ladies man as he sort of hits on the female main character, Hitomi.

He is one of the Knights of Caeli, an elite group of swordsmen from Asturia. His past is checkered with bitterness and death stemming from his father's fascination with the Mystic Valley and Atlantis.

💖💖💖💖💖💖


Asuna Yūki comes from the Anime Sword Art Online.  It takes place in near-future Japan where full-dive virtual reality is possible.  The game, Sword Art Online (SAO), premieres as the first VRMMORPG of its kind. 10,000 players enter the game world of Aincrad (eye,n-krad) on the first day.  Soon they discover they are trapped and that if they die in-game they die in real life.

Asuna is not a damsel. She is (excuse the cursing) a bad ass bitch with a blade.  She becomes one of the strongest players in the game and in her guild Knights of the Blood.  Her moniker is "Lightning Flash" because she wields her rapier in a swift and deadly fashion.

As the game progresses, her softer side is shown when she and Kirito form a relationship and adopt an NPC AI called Yui.

💀💀💀💀💀💀

Alucard has been one of my absolute favorite characters since I first watched Hellsing. This anime is a strange combination of Horror and Comedy. It comes in two incarnations Hellsing and the newer Hellsing Ultimate.

There is no way to describe him other than he's crazy as all eff, seriously deranged, and psychotic to boot.  He has a tendency to go overboard on his enemies in a fight.

As an ageless creature, Alucard is the ultimate vampire. He is all powerful and very bored.  His ennui leads him to turn Seras Victoria, a police woman, into a vampire.

He works for Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, a woman that takes no sh*t from anyone but deals a great deal onto her enemies. She runs the Hellsing Organization, which is responsible to protect England from vampires bent on destruction.

His archenemy is the Paladin Alexander Anderson who works for Iscariot (Vatican Section XIII) a top secret section of the Vatican.  He is as insane as Alucard.

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Theme Reveal Ooo La La!!!!

So this is where I totally tell you my theme for this year's A to Z.

Last year was fun with the spookables and ghosties.  I learned quite a bit.  Surprisingly it payed off.

 I watched Gantz 00 on Netflix on the 11th and, OMG!, Japanese yokai everywhere!  Gantz is a gory story about dead people fighting in a death match against monsters in the cities of Japan.  They can die on the field or die by not killing all the monsters in the time allotted.  It was bloody, sick, and twisted CGI movie.  It has manga and an anime to boot.

But what got me to want to do this theme is Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale.  It is the second film in the most amazing anime, light novel,  manga, and video game series! Monsters of Aincrad have invaded the augmented reality game of Ordinal Scale.  The dangers become real when Kirito's friends  are targeted by an unknown enemy.

 I got to see it in the theater (Yay!) and it was amazing!

So now we come to it.  My theme:

My Favorite Anime Characters!

via GIPHY

That's right! I'm delving into the world of anime. From demons and devils to swordsmen and heroes, I will cover a range of genres and of species.

Warning:  There will be Spoilers  I mean it!  Spoilers everywhere! Maybe even masses amounts of them.  If you're not into finding out the secrets of the anime universe, you are henceforth warned to stay away. Perusing these posts is hazardous to your spoiler free life.

This is the only warning I will give.  Be it at your peril.  Mwhahaha!

UNDERRATED TREASURES BLOGFEST!

Today is a world of Underrated Treasures, Peeps.  Brought to us by the awesome Alex J Cavanaugh.  These are things I love despite their obscure nature.

First off is the movie Slipper and the Rose.  This movie was made in 1976 and stars Richard Chamberlain.  Yes, I mean the Richard Chamberlain of Thornbirds and Shogun fame.

It takes place in 1700s Europe in a fictional country called Euphrania.  They need a political alliance with a larger nation to survive, but the Fairy Godmother has other plans and introduces Cinderella to the prince.

The landscapes are beautiful and the costuming!  The stunning array of knee breeches, embroidered coats, waistcoats, and even the lawn shirts is only rivaled by the OH-MY-GOD-I-CAN'T-BREATHE corseted bodices and pannier skirts during the ball scene.  Also the epic powdered wigs come out to haunt us with the premature aged effect along with those great beauty patches that look like ginormo -- I don't even want to say it. Hee hee.

It follows the Charles Perault version of the story and it is a musical.  Wait!  Before you run off to the hills in terror, let me tell you it's not like Rogers and Hammerstein (although the Disney version with Brandy wasn't bad).

Plus, it deviates from the original story.  Le Gasp!  Ol' Cindie is sent away!  In actuality, that is my favorite song.  Tell Him Anything is the "Get-Him-To-Hate-Me song, sacrificing her happiness for the good of her nation.  So rather than have the prince hate his father, she wanted the blame to be put on her.

It may have the gouda, cheddar, and colby jack moments, but who wouldn't want to see old men in froufrou with bouncing curls as they sing about protocol.  Heh heh heh.

Oh Ji Ho as Song Tae-ha

I have two tv shows that are underrated. First, Korean Dramas are underrated in general because you have to have the patience to read subtitles. Only I'm not talking about Boys Over Flowers, To the Beautiful You, or Playful Kiss.  Nope.  Those are some of the most popular ones.  I'm talking about Chuno specifically.

Chuno, or Slave Hunter, is a historical drama that has everything that makes for great watching: love, death, friendship, comedy, drama, romance, betrayal, epic sword battles, loss, and some gorgeous eye candy for those of the feminine persuasion.

Its about a nobleman who becomes a slave hunter, a slave girl that becomes a noble, and a man on a mission to save a prince.  Along the way, their paths cross in a complex interwoven web.  From court intrigue, assassinations, battle sequences, beautiful music, and a Romeo and Juliet-esque back story, this show is definitely underrated.

The Ghost Hunt Crew

The second is the anime Ghost Hunt.  I know a lot of animes are super popular.  Dragonball Z, Black Butler, Hellsing Ultimate, Sailor Moon Crystal, Sword Art Online and S.A.O II are just a few.

This is a manga/anime series based on a book series written by Fuyumi Ono.  (I want to read them so bad!!)

The series is about a teenager named Mai Taniyama who finds a video camera in an abandoned school.  She ends up causing an accident where the camera breaks and a man is injured.

Naru (as she calls him) hires Mai as his assistant while Lin, the injured man, recovers and to pay for the camera she broke.  She finds out that they are using equipment and experiments to find out if the school is haunted.  Think something along the lines of Ghost Hunters.

Lo and Behold, the principal who hired Naru also hired a monk, a miko (priestess), a spirit medium, and a Catholic priest.  This motley crew make up the assemble cast of the anime.  It's kinda like one of those bar jokes.  A monk, a miko, and a Catholic priest walk into a bar . . .

It's underrated because the book series did not get fully manga-ed or animated.  So there are missing story lines and hidden secrets still unrevealed -- well, unless you google them and read all those lovely spoilers.


Lastly, I want to talk about a book called Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde. It's not your typical

dragon story.  No, this dragon doesn't eat the girl; he helps her get revenge.
DU DU DUN!!

I love this book for the characters and how they tolerate but not trust each other.  Reading how Selendrile manipulates, pokes, and prods Alys to do things. Alys, on the other hand, learns that there are many shades of grey.  Even the dragon learns a thing or two by the end of the book.

It doesn't contain the insta-love or love triangles or, in some cases, decahedrons that newer YA seems to have.  Nope.  This book has more animosity between the main characters than anything.