Are you ready for Halloween? Family Fun version

           Need Ideas for your Halloween fun? I have some to share :)


Let's start with something almost everyone can level on, Movies!!!
This first list is going to have movies suitable for families and those of you (Heiwa too) that don't like something super scary.

                                                      (Courtesy of Google- Ayay.co.uk)
 1. Nightmare Before Christmas (Disney)
This movie may seem somewhat odd but the messages are pretty clear. "We look mean but we're not mean in our town of Halloween" (This Is Halloween) The lonely skeleton is looking for something more than being the baddest in the land, he is looking for love. Not to dark and scary for a Halloween movie right?  

                                      (Credit to Google)
2. Monsters University (Pixar)
Usually sequels are not as good as the original however this movie is serving its purpose right here. This movie has more humor than horror. It has a great uplifting attitude mixed with some creepy crawlies that gives it the perfect Happy Halloween feeling.

                                         (Credit to Google)
3. Hotel Transylvania (Sony Pictures)
This movie would be a big hit right now sense the sequel just came out, I am hoping it will be as fun as the first movie was. The original is another good expression of monsters being not so scary after all, it relates to a teenage girl trying to spread her wings and a widowed dad not wanting to let go. All the while staying up beat and the afterlife of the party!

(Credit Google)      

4. The Addams Family ( Paramount Pictures)
This movie can be disturbing to some people but is very funny for those with a good sense of humor. You have a family that is different than the rest and is proud of it. They are very close, in fact the butler (Lurch) has some Addams blood in him. The first movie tests the family bonds when the strange Uncle Fester is reunited with the family with the aid of a money hungry "Doctor". Its a mystery, comedy and a scary movie.

                                  (Credit to  90's Movies)
5. Edward Scissorhands (Twentieth Century Fox)
    I can explain this movie in two words.
Johnny. Depp.
I will give more than two though. Edward is a invention whose creator died before he was finished. Not knowing what to do he stayed in his castle of a home until one day a kind door to door make-up sales woman found him and decided to bring him home.
The community is welcoming at first but things eventually take a turn for the worst.
You really have to see this movie to know if its for you but its definitely not super scary. It has some minor adult themes in it but nothing super obvious.

I could keep going on and on about Halloween movies but I have more to cover in this blog post!

                                      (Credit to Google)

Carving Pumpkins! It might be nasty when you think about gutting a pumpkin however it is really fun and a good bonding chance with your family, friends or significant other! The best part is that you get to decorate and feel proud that you made it yourself.
I will be carving some pumpkins this year and will probably post them here! ( If you have a request feel free to comment it and I will see what I can do ^-^)

Haunted Houses!! I would do a segment about them but if scary isn't your cup of tea than I don't think you would appreciate it much so I will skip it for this post ;)

Hay Rides!!

Now if you are thinking "Why on earth would I get in a wagon pulled by a tractor and ride around?" Well here is your answer!! Something about this simple thing is, for lack of  a better word, Magical.
My favorite Fall memory so far is going on a hayride with a friend at a festival. It was just something that was special and unique and gave a good feeling that I can't describe.
Don't worry if you have allergies, it will probably be so cold your nose will run anyways :D


Another fun thing to do is a Corn Maze, nothing gives you that feeling of being watched like being in a corn maze. Now you need to be careful because some really cool mazes will have people chasing you dress up as werewolves, chainsaw murderers, children and other monsters. I wont post a picture because those mazes change every year but trust me, they are cool.

Don't forget the joy of costumes! This time of year anyone can dress up and it be ok, so if you are really into anime and want to try a cosplay without having to go to a special event then its your time to shine!

I told a fan I would have a picture of me up here soon so here it is!
This picture was taken after Hickory-Con after Heiwa and I had walked through the rain so I had a serious frizz problem.

Now back to the Halloween stuff :P

When you settle in to watch your movies don't forget the best part of Halloween. The FOOD!!!!

                                            (Credit   to keepingupwithkitchenmom.blogspot.com )

There is all kinds of super cool recipes for tasty treats that you can make or buy! Don't miss out on the once a year festivities where its socially exceptable to eat finger food. Literally.

I really hope you enjoyed this blog post and that you will come back to read more :)

Good luck and best wishes,

                                            ~ Aki Ame Okami
 

Some of Our Fan-Art

All of the following images were created by Aki or I using picsart photo studio. It can be downloaded in the app store on your device.

This one is one of my personal favorites from Aki. I love the quote she decided to use with the picture. She did a very beautiful job creating this one!

 

I was on my way to work one day and listening to this song ("Last Words" by Thousand Foot Krutch). It made me think about Itachi, so I made this as soon as I got home that day. What do you think?

 Once again, on my way to work. I really hated my job... But I used something that Aki had said to me (jokingly) in a creative way. 

 Music inspires me to create fan art, I suppose... This song is "Run to You" by Third Day. No, I didn't mean to cut Roy's head off at the top of the picture... 

 I made this one after sitting in a literature class. I got bored so I started jotting down random picsart ideas, and this was one of them. The poem was by Emily Dickenson, but I don't remember its name. And I actually don't know what anime this came from or if it is just fanart.

 

Thanks for looking :) 

~Heiwa Kibo Hane 

Thoughts on "Vampire Knight"

So I thought I would share my thoughts on the anime Vampire Knight, since Aki and I just finished it.

From the beginning it kind of looks like the anime version of the teenage mainstream "Twilight" saga without the werewolves. Yuki, the main female character, seems to be caught between Zero and Kaname. She loves them both for different reasons. The show immediately separates its viewers into categories of different shippings because of Yuki's confused heart.

Kaname is a quite complicated character. He is only gentle with Yuki and the viewer finds out quickly that he really does love her. He has always protected her for as far back as she can remember. He hates Zero, which can be expected because of his love for Yuki. As the president of the night class, Kaname is in charge of all the vampires at Cross academy. I love his thought process going into the whole show, which the viewer doesn't completely understand until he explains it at the end of the second season. It proves his complete devotion for Yuki, while at the same time making him seem totally careless because of his treatment toward his friends. *Spoiler Alert* My thoughts on Kaname Kuron include too many spoilers for anyone who hasn't finished the anime, so please do not read the next paragraph if you don't want the spoilers.

I'm glad that Yuki ends up with Kaname at the end. After seeing how he protected her from Rido for so long and how he put Cross Academy together the way he did to continue protecting her, I feel like he deserved Yuki. I mean, consider it this way: what kind of man would spend his entire (immortal) life trying to get the girl when he could have literally anyone? He fought hard for her, although she continually broke his heart, so I personally think that the writers did good by letting that be the cannon ship. (I was a Zero/Yuki shipper until "Guilty.") He is so complicated because the viewer isn't allowed into his head until the end of "Guilty," where Yuki finally finds out who he is and what all he has done to protect her. It's hard to understand a character when you aren't allowed to know them or their true intentions.

Zero is somewhat more complicated than Kaname, but at the same time he is more understandable. He loves Yuki because of her gentle heart and compassion, especially toward him. He sees himself as a monster so it is natural for him to be in love with the only person who knows everything about him and still treats him decently. He is like Kaname in that he will do anything to protect Yuki, even though he knows that she is truly in love with Kaname. He has had more of a chance to get to know Yuki as they grew up together--like brother and sister. *Spoiler Alert* Once again, please do not ead the next paragraph if you do not want spoilers from this show.

The show is actually about Zero, not Yuki. No matter how much you want to argue that, it is true. Zero is the "Vampire Knight." He himself is a vampire and a vampire hunter. Kaname used him all through the show to prepare him to kill Rido, because Kaname knew that Zero was the only one who could. Zero's got more power than the viewer could have imagined by the end of the series, because he has blood from three different pure-blood vampires running through his veins. That means that he has obtained the power from these different vampires. Also, because he was born a twin vampire hunter and he consumed half of his brother's power, he has unimaginable hunter skills. He can't really be controlled by anyone. The thing that kills me about Zero is his compassion. As much as he tries to seem like a sad, lonely, mean jerk-face he really is a softy. Especially for his brother, whom he pretended to hate more than anyone. The story that goes with his brother actually had me in tears, because I really can't imagine being forced to kill Aki, even if she asked me to kill her. In the end, his brother's sacrifice to him made him stronger. And, to be honest, I now ship Zero/Elsa instead of Zero/Yuki. I don't even like Disney's Frozen (because of how mainstream it has become. People ruin everything.), but those two have a lot in common. Only real difference is that Zero's brother can't be saved in a Disney make-everything-okay kind of way. It makes more sense for him to die.

Yuki is probably my least favorite person in this anime. Aki and I like to call her the "plot threat" (because she has the heart of both Zero and Kaname. If you are a true anime-fan, you will understand the humor in this statement). She is so useless as well. The only cool thing about her is Artemis, her weapon. She doesn't remember anything before Kaname saved her when she was little. She can't make up her mind if she loves him or if she loves Zero, because both of them are very dear to her. She doesn't really want to fight off vampires because she assumes they can all be good (or because she is afraid of them. It is unclear which because she switches back and forth too often). She is the cause of all of the drama and bad things that happen at Cross Academy, especially in "Guilty." I guess I can't dislike her too much, because with out her there would be no show. But I feel like she could have been more useful in some way! Instead, she goes about her day seeing how many different ways she can try to get people killed.

Ruka, Akatski, Rema, Senri, and Ido are a humorous and fun addition to the vampire group. I love Ruka and Akatski's love-hate relationship! I ship them (Aki does too--more than me). Akatski acts like he doesn't care, but he still never gives up on her. That's an inspiring man, right there. Rema and Senri are adorable as well. My favorite part of their relationship comes from "Guilty," when she tells him he needs to love himself more (if you have seen the show, then you know what I am talking about. If not, then you should watch it to find out). Ido is more fun in the end of "Guilty" than through the entire season, in my opinion. Especially when he is forced to watch over Yuki. He seems to gain a new respect/friendship for her then and it's adorable to see how he takes care of her. The other blond guy didn't have much of an impact on me, since I can't even remember his name...

 
Overall, I would say that this was a pretty good anime. It had a lot of different plots developed that didn't quite make sense until everything was explained in "Guilty," so one season can't really go without the other. The author was quite the genius overall, though, after you learn all the reasons for the different plots. Not a single thing that happened in the show did not have a reason and all of it was planned by Kaname. That is either complete devotion or complete crazy and I'll leave that up to you to interpret. If I had to grade the show, I'd give it an A because everything had a purpose and it was explained nicely in the end.

Thanks for letting me share!!

~Heiwa Kibo Hane

just gonna leave this here

Ani-Maze-Me Link                                                       
I am gonna leave this here for you all, its a link to our FB page.   I have some good posts coming soon so keep in touch!

~Aki Ame Ōkami

Hickory-Con 2015: My First Convention and Blog Post!

Hello there! I am pleased to report my findings from Hickory-con!!!

Lets start off with what Heiwa and I learned at our first convention.

1. Show up on time! If you are late the lines get long. Heiwa and I had to stand in line behind a brilliant person who thought to eat lunch while they were waiting. By the time we made it inside I was starving.

2. Bring Cash! Nothing feels worse than standing there and staring at an AOT sling bag for a reasonable price and realizing your with out cash. ( They also had a flawless Free! bag that I wanted. Darn first time fails :P)

3. Don't Be Afraid Of People! There is going to be a lot of them at any given time so you better not be afraid. Personally, I am terrified of large crowds so today was a huge step for me.  Also, be agile. I cannot tell you how many times I ducked under over sized props or dodged fangirls running towards their favorite characters merchandise.

4. Get A Good Nights Sleep! Our dear Heiwa didn't get her full 8 hours so about an hour, hour and a half, into the convention she got a little (lot) tired.

Last but not least....

5. Have Fun! Heiwa and I (mostly me) spent the night before hand stressing the convention the next day. The biggest thing to remember was that everyone going to the con wanted to have fun.


Lets start off  our picture segment with anime related cosplay!
This here is Juvia! (FairyTail) Just kidding of course. This was a vendor at one of the stands, She was really into the lighthearted feel of the event and great to talk to. Her stand was really unique actually, She was doing green screen pictures where you pose in your costume and they edit in your choice of preset back rounds. Such as but not limited to: Japanese back round, Flower garden, outer space, ancient ruins, under water, ect.
They were very reasonably priced and good quality. Heiwa and I were gonna get pictures, but we didn't have any cash... Big mistake!

Next we have Evans and Crona from Soul Eater (Can be found on Netflix) These two girls were really awesome to watch them with their friends, they had another friend who cosplayed as an AOT character. They totally knew how to go to a con. I look forward to cosplaying with friends like that someday :P
Hope that doesn't sound creepy.

Non anime related cosplays!!

This girl was really nice to talk to. She was very crafty when it came to making her costume and was more than willing to share the wisdom.

I have been told that these are "HomeStuck" Trolls. The costumes were great and there was more than the 4 in the picture but I caught them at a bad time :P The guys face is a little blurry but I promise you his costume was on point.

Heiwa and I knew we needed a picture when we saw these two coming. It was awesome to see the knight walking up the side walk, Heiwa decided he must have been her knight in shining armor. I told her it didn't count if he was cosplaying. Army boy was mine :P

Still hoping that wasn't creepy...

Heiwa and I caught The Queen of Hearts on her way into the con. She actually has her own facebook page which I will link here. I still think that DingBat Cosplay is a great name. I checked out her page and she really has some cosplay skills and a great personality! Go check her out!

The vendors!!!! I only have a picture of one booth however its worth looking at.

This vendors had glass blown HP wands and it was so cool. They had a sorting hat and invited people to sit down and see what class they got. It had a great personal touch which made it even better. This is a link to the wonderful woman seen at the booths page. Lindee and Chris wands, the magic with in you Go check them out :)

Next up the always fascinating Cars!! (not what you were expecting? ^-^)

We are going to start with the impressive De Lorean from Back To The Future! It is a classic by any means and I was really impressed that the small-ish town of Hickory was able to get it. Apparently on days that are rainy they open up the doors and show the inside of the car off as well as the outside.

Next we have a new addition this year, Anyone remember the awesome movie(s)
Men In Black? How about their car?

Well here it is! The car from the movies. It is a 1986 Ford LTD Crown Victoria.
The owner conveniently placed all of the information in the paper in windshield (as shown above in the bottom left corner of the windshield).  The owner also had the sound track(s) of all of the Men In Black movies playing on repeat. I could almost see Will Smith in the drivers seat, it was that perfect.

They also had the one and only (just kidding, there are probably a thousand of them.) Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo Inc. The van itself was very impressive however we didn't take pictures because they asked for donations to their Great Dane Rescue operation for a picture. I so would have done that, except my outfit didn't have pockets so I didn't have cash.

Thank you so much for reading my first blog post :)

~Aki Ame Okami

Hickory Comic-Con!

Today Aki and I got to go to our first real comic-con!  We traveled to Hickory- Con in NC to participate in the largest one-day convention in Western North Carolina. We were only there for about two hours because we had other responsibilities to attend to today, but we had a blast! Even though the convention was more comic-book targeted than anime targeted.
We got some pictures of the best costumes we could find, and we've decided to post them here for you guys to see. You can also find more of our pictures, and pictures of other participants on the facebook page for the convention here: Hickory Comic-Con Facebook Page

This woman had a very elaborate costume! Both Heiwa (shown left here) and Aki (shown left below) enjoyed getting a picture taken with her! 

 Aki is shown left here.

 This cosplay was one of our favorites! The cosplayer made the arrows all by herself, and she did a very nice job!



























Shown below are some "Homestuck" cosplayers. They were kind enough to let us take their picture. 

 The lady in blue (Juvia, from the anime Fairy Tail) was using her talent of photography to take green-screen photos of the con-goers. Aki and I should have gotten a picture, but we forgot until we  left.

























Some more of our favorite cosplayers! They were also kind enough to let us take their picture.

 The convention center had the "Back to the Future" car out front for photo opportunities.

This woman was the owner of "DingBat Cosplay," and she had a very elaborate costume! She can be found at DingBat Cosplay 























In addition to the "Back to the Future" Car, they had the Mystery Machine and the "Men in Black" car. We were able to get a picture of the latter.

 When I saw the young man on the right, I (jokingly) told Aki that I had found my knight in shining armor! But she said that it doesn't count if he is dressing up for a comic-con.

We enjoyed our morning at the convention, and we learned a few things:

Most important, always be early to a convention. The lines get longer as the day progresses.

Second, if you do come late, consider eating your lunch while waiting in line to get in. You may not want to (or have time to) eat later.

Lastly, wear comfortable shoes (and deodorant. Please). Standing or walking all day can be painful in uncomfortable shoes (and Con-funk is real).

All photos are courtesy of Aki Ame Okami.

~Heiwa Kibo Hane