Poll Winner #9

The time has come, for yet another poll result! What is otaku? In modern Japanese slang, the term otaku is most often equivalent to "geek". In short, otaku is a term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.However, it can relate to a fan of any particular theme, topic, hobby or any form of entertainment. Now, we will see who is the best anime NEETs and Otaku!

Kohta Hirano (Highschool of the Dead)
5 (50%)

Konata Izumi (Lucky Star)
4 (40%)

Kuroneko (Ore no Imouto)
1 (10%)

Keima Katsuragi (The World God Only Knows)
1 (10%)

Sena Kashiwazaki (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)

1 (10%)

Itaru Hashida (Steins;Gate)
0 (0%)

Origami Cyclone (Tiger & Bunny)
0 (0%)

Alice (Heaven’s Memo Pad)
0 (0%)

Kirino (Ore no Imouto)
0 (0%)

Shiro (Arakawa Under The Bridge)
0 (0%)

Jintan (Ano Hi Mita Hana)
0 (0%)

Well, the zombie killer, Kohta Hirano take the top place to be the best gun otaku in a zombie infested world. He may look weak and unreliable, but when he get his hand on any gun, his true nature will be revealed. At the second place, the lovable anime otaku, Konata Izumi, manage to show that being an otaku is awesome. It seems that we got a tie at the third place, between Kuroneko, Keima and Sena, all being an avid anime fan. The rest, not so lucky it seems.

'Understanding otaku -hood, I think, is one of the keys to understanding the culture of the web. There is something profoundly post-national about it, extra-geographic.'

And the battles continue......

Black Rock Shooter

It isn't the world you know. There wanders a girl with jet-black hair, ebony clothes, and a strikingly blue, glowing eye. Her name is Black Rock Shooter. With a huge cannon in hand, she throws herself into a fierce battle...

Meanwhile, in another world, middle-school student Mato Kuroi is drawn to Yomi Takanashi, her classmate with an unusual family name. Mato does her best to talk to Yomi, who just won't open up. Yu Koutari mocks her best friend Mato's efforts but at the same time, supports her. Mato also finds herself surrounded by other colorful characters at school, like the eccentric school counselor, Saya Irino, and the hot-blooded captain of her club club, Arata Kohata.

Then, one day, the window of opportunity opens. After Mato sees that Yomi has her favorite picture book, "Li'l Birds At Play", they strike up a conversation and Mato is invited to come over to Yomi's house. There, they gradually break the ice, until a girl in a wheelchair appears. This is Yomi's best friend, Kagari Izuriha...

Two worlds. Mato and Black Rock Shooter. This is the story of their "pain".

The story revolves around Mato Kuroi and another 4 girls in the real world which is linked to another world: the dream world, and each of them has another self in this 'dream world'. 

The actions and emotions of the girls from the real world are experienced by the girls in the ''dream'' world quite differently, they get all the pain and sadness and fight to the death without emotions or sorrow only for the girls of thereal world to suffer less as they follow their lives normally. The story may seems a little confusing at first, but make sense later on. So, don't just make assumption that the story line is rather twisted until you watched the rest of the episode.

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The plots concern about other dimensions or alternative realities that offer a nod to the genres of "dementia" and "psychological". In  BRS, epic battles are fought in these other zones, and they are portrayed with a dark and unique art and animation style that varies considerably from the bright palette that is used for the slice-of-life and drama scenes that comprise most of the rest of the series. In addition to this, friendship (and its strength) proves to be a strong theme , and it becomes even more heavily evident in the latter on.

The character designs and the animation is amazing. It's largely fluid despite going off model and derping out with in-between frames every now and then. The CGI is used pretty tastefully. The color design is great, especially in the checkerboard-laden battle sequences. The weapons and guns, wow, is godlike! Black Rock Shooter is very visually appealing. BRS opening theme is really good, the seiyuus too, but the sound effect could be better to give more mood, especially on the battle scene.

Overall, this is a superb anime. It could be better if it span into an average 12 episode anime, but still, it is full of dramas and action. Watch it several time, now!

Music Carnival Cosplay Pose-Off Showdown

Another cosplay event was held  as Popular Bookstore host the Cosplay Pose-Off Showdown for Music Carnival in Petaling Jaya. Held in 17 March 2012, this event is a small but worth it for cosplayers who want to show their skills and talents. Prizes given worth up to US$ 700 (RM 2, 200) in total and any cosplayer can enter this competition without any fees. 

They need to show off their best 3 poses to the judges and audience to qualify for the final. And after that, they need to present their awesome dance move in five minutes to make the judges impressed and the crowd cheering. A lucky draw was also held and the prizes sure is fascinating.

This is indeed a small but great event for cosplayers to know each others and sharpen their skills.

The guys from Comic Fiesta is Back! They are awesome.

Naruto, ready to fling his large shuriken!

Ciel Phantomhive girl version. Also known as the 'Cake Dress'.

Indiana Jones whipping and ready to rumble!

Some Gundam characters.... I guess he is hiding something fishy behind that mask....

The only group cosplayers. Bunch of Shinigamis tried to GB Haninozuka. Watch out!

Mio Akiyama with cat ears!

Rin kagamine posing, with a gun....

That's a nice looking halberd you got there....

Nyaan~

She's looking at you and ready to hack and slash.

"I'm the Pirate King!"

Cosplayers posing together after the end of the first round.

And the finalist is announced!

And the first prize goes too......... Naruto! The greatest ninja! I guess going mainstream has it benefit.

Cosplayers taking picture together! What a blast!

Nendoroid Miku Hatsune cheerful ver.

As her popularity never seems to lose any momentum, everybody's favorite singing idol is is here to cheer you up; but now shrunk down to Nendoroid size!

The package also includes separate arms, heads, legs and accessories to match her many moods and motions, including a singing pose, the very silly 'Hachune Miku' face and of course her fan-favorite trademark leek.

Kawaii-ness overload!!!!