Animazement 2010

Back in May, I mentioned that I went to an anime convention called Animazement. I know I said that I would post about it, but I never did! So here is my post now. I can barely remember stuff though.... And I only had a cell phone camera, which sucked. I apologize for the crappy pics.

So, this was my third year in a row attending Animazement. It's a 3-day convention usually held during the last weekend of May in Raleigh, North Carolina. The first year I went is still my favorite year, but this year was way better than last year. I really did not enjoy myself last year, and I was so close to not going again. Good thing I changed my mind.

The Guests:

Kappei Yamaguchi (the Japanese voice actor of Ranma, Inuyasha, and L from Death Note) was there! He's the one wearing the green bandanna. He was so energetic and nice and funny! Just adorable. Which reminds me, two years ago at Otakon, the largest anime convention on the US east coast, my sister and I wanted to get Yamaguchi's autograph. But like I mentioned, Otakon is a huge convention, and Yamaguchi was in high-demand because at the time, Death Note was very popular. So even though we waited in line for 2 hours, we weren't able to see him. It sucked, but thankfully, Animazement is a way smaller convention! ;)

Kazuhiko Inoue, the Japanese voice actor of Kakashi in the anime Naruto, was another guest! He's the guy standing up. He had 2 panels during the con. I went to both because the I missed the first 30 minutes of his first panel, and I needed to get an autograph ticket from his second panel. He was funny and cool. Someone asked him if he ever met Kishimoto, and he said that he has met him a couple of times & he mentioned that Kishimoto hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. He also joked that Kishimoto is coldhearted. Inoue's favorite colors are white & blue. He can sing & dance. He said that another Naruto movie is being made and that there will continue to be more as long as the anime is still going on.

Inoue & Yamaguchi's autographs:

This made me happy. And I even got to shake their hands. I was so nervous I only managed a 'thank you' to both of them before I quickly left; it felt a bit surreal. haha Inoue signed my copy of Naruto vol. 47, which is my favorite volume because of Hinata's confession. Yamaguchi signed the Animazement booklet; I wish I had brought my copy of Ranma ½ vol. 36, but I didn't even think about it.

The Only Cosplay Pic I Took:

Like I said, I had a crappy cell phone camera. The only reason I took this picture was for my sister. Well, and also because it was a good cosplay. Anyway, my sister loves video games, and she likes God of War, so I went for it. :p

What I Bought:

Anime conventions are expensive. Paying admission fees, hotel fees, and FOOD (3 meals a day; I don't understand how my friends can go with just eating one meal) and donating to the gas fund definitely adds up. I really had to make sure I did not spend too much money on merchandise. So I bought a few manga/manwha (Happy, Happy Clover vol. 4, Naruto vol. 47, Soul to Seoul vol. 4 & 5), a Sasuke Uchiha charm because I thought it was adorable, and a plushie of Toro, Japan's mascot for the PS3. Toro was for my lil sis. :)

Regrets?
Yes, I do have one actually. I didn't see Noriko Hidaka! She's the Japanese voice actor of Akane from Ranma ½, Kikyo from InuYasha, and Near from Death Note. I also missed her two years ago at Otakon. The reason I missed her this year is because I was at Kazuhiko Inoue's autograph session. Maybe, hopefully, she'll be there again next year. (Oh yeah, I regret not writing this post earlier because I forgot so many details!)

Will I Go Next Year?
Honestly, if had to choose between going to an anime convention or a YA book convention right now, I would definitely pick the book convention. I will always like anime, but reading books is what I love now. ;D

Chapter 490

Nothing much happened with the pairings in the recent Naruto chapter (#490), but I did love this line:

"Then when I saw Pain attack Hinata,

I was so mad, so full of rage,

I let the Nine-Tails take over

without even thinking about it."

Naruto said that. He's talking to the frogs about Kyuubi. Explaining what happened and how he felt each time he lost control. This isn't the first time Naruto's thought about Hinata since the confession, but it's good to be reminded. ;p Also in the chapter, we see more Kabuto & Madara, Anko with others (including a Hyuuga) searching for Kabuto, and the Cloud village having a meeting. Killer Bee's clueless, but he's just awesome. hehe

Chapter 488

When was the last time I talked about Naruto? haha These past couple of chapters have been ..eehhh. :P There was a little bit of SasuSaku (from Sakura's part anyway), but I couldn't even bother to make a post about it because in the end... Well, I ain't gonna lie. It just wasn't good. The story has not been doing well, imo. Keeps going back and forth. Kishimoto seems to just want to drag this out even more, and he's only good at giving us more unanswered questions. *sigh*

Anyway, it's been over a year since we got chapter 437. My favorite chapter. Hinata's confession to Naruto. Ever since then, we have not seen them approach each other or anything. It's like the confession didn't even happen. Now we have chapter 488. Guess what? Naruto and Hinata are actually around each other for the first time since that incident! Amazing, right? :D

Not.

After finally coming back to Konoha, Naruto's talking to all the rookies about Sasuke. The problem? He's not facing the entire group. In fact, his back is turned to Hinata. To me, it seems like he's avoiding and/or ignoring her.

Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but I really can't help my reaction. We waited over a year, and this is what we get? Did they already talk off panel? What is going on? And when Naruto is done talking, he just leaves! Disappointing.

What I did like about this chapter was that the rookies told Naruto off. They didn't agree with Naruto's decision about Sasuke. I'm glad they feel the same way as most of the readers. Also, when they were talking about Sasuke, there was a panel of Sakura looking down and sad about the whole thing. Hinata was glancing at her. I liked that part. I want them to talk!

I'm not even going to get my hopes up for something to happen next chapter. If there's actually anything with Naruto & Hinata, then heck yes, I'll be happy. But for now, it doesn't seem we'll be getting anything. Apparently Tsunade's awake, and I have a feeling that will be one of the focuses for 489. Mainly because Naruto really wanted to talk to her after his fight with Pain. Am I worried for NaruHina? No. I'm just impatient, and I feel like we've been waiting long enough for something from Naruto.

XMAS

Haven't posted in awhile! x_x Naruto hasn't been interesting these past few weeks. I'm not sure if Sakura will even get the chance to confront or see Sasuke. Naruto's passed out, and I'm hoping they'll take him back to Konoha. But even if they do go back to Konoha, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't see Hinata. :( Anyway, I bought some Naruto merchandise for my sisters as a Christmas present:

lol SasuSaku!

Those are spinning tops. I bought 'em at a store that sells everything for just $1! Good deal, eh? XD I wish there was one of Hinata! That would have been nice.

I got that bookshelf for Christmas. I really needed it! :} It's pretty empty so far, but I'm hoping to buy more books when I get the money. I also got Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl. I haven't read it yet (but I can't wait to) because I had to finish two books that I checked out from the library. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Shiver is the first book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I would recommend these series to anyone. :D I got some other things for Christmas, but it's just clothes & stuff. heh So that's about it for now! Happy Holidays!

474 & Yondaime

First I want to mention the recent chapter of Naruto (#474). Sakura loves Sasuke! I knew that already, but it just felt good actually having someone say it outloud after having first heard it nearly 300 chapters ago in chapter #181. :3 These were my favorite panels from this chapter:

So cute! Even though it's from Part I, it's still something new. And it brings back memories of all the SasuSaku moments from Part I. X3 The one talking in those panels is Sai. I'm glad he feels that it's his fault that Sakura did what she did. Still don't like him though. :p

colored version by PET

Looks good, don't it? Check out them lips on Sasuke. :3 hehe
Also, I finally received the Yondaime stamp that I mentioned in one of my other entries. (If you haven't seen it, then click here to see the other Naruto stamps I have.) Doesn't he look nice? :D heh

There's the Yondaime stamp, the Naruto postcard it came with, and a Hinata sticker that was placed on the back of the postcard. :D So it's been a nice week of Naruto.

Little Big Planet

I don't play much video games. The only ones that I play from time to time are Bejeweled 2 and Amplitude because those are easy. :D And even though I've only played it a few times, I do like the PS3 game Little Big Planet. It's a cute game. :3 On the online game play, players can create their own levels that others can play. The reason I'm bringing it up is because someone created a level for NaruHina! :D heh I took some pictures with the help of my sister:

The little character you see is my sackgirl. I tried to make her look like Hinata. lol Since I haven't played more levels, I haven't been able to find the right hair for her (that's why she has on her hood like Shino). Xp So if you have a copy of Little Big Planet & you want to play this level, then you can find it by typing 'Hinata' in the Search Text on the online game play. The level is "Naruto mission: Save Hinata" by STROHAMMER. ;3

Naruto postcards and stamps

Naruto postage stamps were released on October 23, 2009 in Japan. You can view all the stamps on Japan's Postal Service website. Only 10 characters are used for the stamps, and... I personally only care for about 6 of those characters. I'm going to try and collect those characters at least, but I wouldn't mind having them all.

Anyway, I found out about the stamps from a Japanese user on the Postcrossing forum. We did a trade and these are the postcards & stamps she sent me:

Hinata postcard with Naruto stamp.

Sakura postcard with Sakura & Sasuke stamps,
including special Naruto cancelation.

I received both on November 5, 2009. I was so excited when I got them because it's NaruHina & SasuSaku-related to me! XD I did another trade with her the other day, and I asked for the Yondaime stamp. Whenever I receive it, I plan on posting it. :D