Katsucon 2016 was KatsuCOLD!

Another President's Day weekend has come and gone, and I spent it as I have every year since 2003...by attending Katsucon with my Hubby! As usual, there was some drama, but I'll get to that later.  Friday, Hubby Christopher Wanamaker and I drove down to the Gaylord with our friend, Marvin Aristide.  I wore my Totoro kigurumi and was fully decked out with the matching slipper feet, earrings, purse, and backpack!
 Having finally figured out how to use my IPhone properly, I was able to view the schedule and  attend almost every event or panel I wanted to. I made it a point to attend the Funimation industry panel.  I am really looking forward to getting the 2 "Black Butler" movies that were mentioned.  "Black Butler: Book of Circus" will be released on April 19 this year, and "Black Butler: Book of Murder" is set to come out on May 17, 2016.  I can't wait!  "Black Butler" is one hell of a series about "one Hell of a butler!" (I reviewed it in a previous blog post.)
As for my cosplay outfits, I wore the following: my "Totoro" kigurumi on Friday, my "Rainbow Brite" costume on Saturday, and my hamster kigurumi on Sunday. Needless to say, I had appropriate and cute accessories for each outfit! 
Of course, I managed to snag some great souvenirs!  I bought some accessories for my kimono, as well as a few DVDs I wanted.  I had to replace my copy of "Kiki's Delivery Service," because the one I already had got scratched (Don't ask me how!  I have no idea how it happened)!  I also found the "xxxHolic" movie (which was sold as a CLAMP double feature--along with the "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles" movie), "Haganai Next" (I got the first season at a DC Anime Club Swap Meet), "Lupin The Third: Bye Bye Lady Liberty," and some hentai titles (Don't judge me!).
As I mentioned before, there was some drama.  A fire forced everyone to evacuate the Gaylord on Saturday (2/13/16). I was wearing my Rainbow Brite outfit, and was FREEZING outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I felt really sorry for the guy (I don't know who he was) who, unfortunately for him, was in the hotel's indoor swimming pool when the fire alarm went off.  Apparently, the fire was caused by an electrical issue in the kitchen. (Though, there were rumors flying round that someone pulled the alarm as a joke!  If that had been true, I suspect that a bunch of cosplayers would be in jail for murdering the alarm puller!)  Sunday was Valentine's Day and the last day of Katsucon. I wore my hamster kigurumi, which, in hindsight, I wished I had worn on Saturday when we were evacuated.  I'd have probably been a little warmer!  Nothing much to report about Sunday.  I did my table shift as part of my duties for the DC Anime Club, which was founded and is presided over by my husband.  Sunday was also the day I bought (or had Hubby buy) some of the DVDs I wanted, as previously mentioned in this post.  All things considered, I had a great time at Katsucon and can't wait to attend MAGFest over the coming weekend!

Me dressed as "Rainbow Brite," holding my trusty Sprite & sidekick, "Twink!"

Snowy Satruday 2016: Food Fights, Fish, & Finding Yourself Snowbound!

Surprisingly, I haven't written anything in this blog for almost a year!  That's not to say that in the past year I haven't watched some amazing anime!  I've just been so busy, I guess I forgot to update the blog.  I'll blog about "Michiko & Hatchin" & "Good Luck Girl" another day.  Today's post is regarding anime I watched during the blizzard of 2016!  On this snowy Saturday (1/23/2016),  I watched "Ben-To," an anime about the ultimate food fight!

While innocently reaching for some half-priced bento, Yō Satō finds himself beaten up on the floor of a supermarket. He soon learns that getting half-priced bento is an all-out brawl between customers. Yō is invited to the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club by one of the top fighters, Sen Yarizui, in order to train to compete in these battles.

Bento brawls are big, all-out, free for all battles for half-priced bento boxes, where victors are decided by who claims the bento first. The brawls are governed by a set of unspoken rules among the brawlers, mainly to keep each brawl fair and even.

• Every brawler must wait away from the bento area until the God of Discounts, the ones who put the half-priced sticker on the bento boxes, put the sticker on the bento boxes and leave to the break room before beginning to battle. To take one beforehand and to harass the God of Discounts is disrespectful as the last thing they need at the end of their shift are people harassing them for their discount.
• If another brawler manages to get a bento for themselves, they cannot be attacked. If two or more brawlers get their hands on the same bento, then they fight among themselves until the other lets go of the bento.
• A brawler can only take one bento, to take another would be greedy and would spoil the victory for another.
• Brawlers should never do anything to cause a bento to spill, doing that would mean one less bento for someone to get.

Asides from that, whatever methods one can use in obtaining a bento can be used from simply brawling to using baskets and chopsticks as weapons, even running around avoiding fights altogether are valid strategies. Sometimes brawlers fight in groups, such as the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club (Yō, Sen and sometimes Hana) and the Orthros pair who will often fight with each other while going after separate bento or team up to take out a threat before brawling with each other.
Those that fight for bento boxes are often known as "wolves". Inexperienced bento brawlers are considered "dogs", usually considered as such when they do not understand the essence of bento brawls and use tactics that are looked down upon. Those that go against the rules and will selfishly go after bento and harass the staff are known "boars" and have no respect among brawlers. Bento brawlers will often do everything in their power to stop boars from obtaining bento as they go against everything brawlers stand for and thus do not deserve the bento. Strong and notable brawlers are often given titles (which are usually associated with personality or appearance), though how they get their title (and in the case of Yō, the title itself) are usually less than impressive.

A little more violent than my average anime diet, I found it amusing nevertheless.  I definitely think it's worth a second watch, although I do think the ending could've been better.  Then again, it's not the first time I've been disappointed in an anime ending.  For example, "Michiko & Hathin," which I watched last year, but never blogged about, was entertaining, but ended on a rushed, anticlimactic note.  But, as I previously stated, that's a story for another day!

Following "Ben-To," I found myself re-watching "Wolf Children," one of my favorite anime movies.  I remember the first time I watched it was a free 10-minute preview via my cable's OnDemand feature.  By the end of the preview, both Hubby Christopher Wanamaker and I were so hooked on "Wolf Children" that it was the first DVD we sought out at the next anime con we went to! 

I concluded my anime marathon with a movie from my favorite anime director, Hayao Miyazaki.  "Ponyo" is an anime movie loosely based on "The Little Mermaid."  However, seeing as I have previously blogged about it, to do so again would be redundant.  However, I will say that that animation quality is AMAZING!  The movie, if you have not seen it, is one I definitely recommend adding to your movie collection!

I am a little behind on my blogging, so look for one or 2 more updates before Katsucon weekend! (February 12-14, 2016).  I'm hoping to expand my anime collection at that con and also at MAGFest, which is the weekend following Katsucon this year!