UsachanMaN (Level 15)

EDIT: Lol I just noticed I'm missing the "z" in "Rendezvous" in the title of the blog lol (....silent letters....*sigh*)

Hello everybody! :D

Well, ever since Bigheart711 posted the trailer for the anime Natsuyuki Rendezvous, I’ve been eagerly waiting for it to be released! Now that the first episode came out, I wanted to share my thoughts about it with you all!

Plot Summary

So basically the story revolves around a young man, Hazuki Ryuusuke, who has fallen for a local florist named Shimao Rokko. He then starts working as a part-timer at her shop just to get close to her. Just when things were starting to work out for him, he runs into a man living with her. Later, Hazuki learns that the man is actually Rokka’s deceased husband that only he can see.

Will Hazuki’s relationship with Rokka progress? And how will he deal with her clingy ghost husband?

Thoughts

· Loved it!

· If you guys read my posts about seiyuus, you’d know that I have an insane obsession with Yuuichi Nakamura. Since he voices Hazuki, I knew I wouldn’t pass the chance to watch the anime

· There is pleasant humor and sarcasm

*Just floatin' 'round aimlessly*

· The anime feels real (besides the hovering ghost part…lol). Themes such as death, marriage, love, moving on, etc; are all realistic feelings, situations and occurrences that happen in all of our lives.

Similarities to other anime:

· This anime is more mature, targeting young adults (i.e. work-life, marriage, etc)

· Has the same feel as “Usagi Drop”, “Honey and Clover”, in level of maturity.

· Similar to the anime “Anohana”, since they both have a ghost that only one character can see, and deals with the “moving on” theme.

· Hazuki’s narration reminds me of Okazaki’s narration in Clannad

Interesting Points:

· The opening and ending themes are very pleasant and calming

· The animation and the vibrant flower colors are really nice

· The ending theme sounds a lot like Bleach’s Re:Pray theme, by Aimer (as well).

*********************************

If you guys are in to anime that feel realistic, dramatic, humorous, but still has serious and depressing themes, I encourage you guys to pick up this series!

UsachanMan over and out! :D

Intro

Hello Anime Vice! :D It's been a while since I blogged, so tadaaa~ !

Well, as the title of the blog says, I'll be doing a brief tutorial on how to create your own manga page using the Manga Studio Debut 4 program, by Smith Micro.

Enjoy! (I'm still a beginner at this, so bear with me :D)

*please note that the character(s) and ideas that I include in this tutorial are original (i.e. my own work). Please don't use it without referencing me, and dont remove my initials (NA) on the right-hand bottom corner of the pages. Thank you!

Tutorial

NB: BEFORE STARTING, MAKE SURE YOU'VE OUTLINED, PLANNED, OR BRAINSTORMED HOW YOUR PAGE WILL LOOK LIKE! I usually sketch out a rough outline in my pocket sketchpad before I begin my work.

Not much action is going on in this page, since its one of the opening pages of my comic, its mainly just an intro to one of the secondary characters :P

Oh yes, and please excuse my crappy handwriting XD

Step 1

Sketch the page using the "pencil" tool found in the right-hand tool box:

*Note, the reason why the cat is in a different color is because I imported it from my own documents. You can do that by hitting "File" > "Import" > "Image File...". Also, I chose to sketch in light blue, you can choose whichever color you want. I find it handy to sketch in a color other than black since it wont get confusing when you trace over your sketch in Step 3.

Step 2

Time to PANEL! The next tab over (after "Sketch" tab) is the panel tab. The program provides you with various kinds of panels and layouts. I believe you can also draw out your own panels, but I'm still not quite sure how to do it.

For this image, I want there to be 3 panels, 1 big one on the right to get the man's entire sitting figure, and 2 small panels on the left for the close up of the man's face and the cat.

Step 3

Time to OUTLINE! Ok, so its time to outline the sketch, and that`s the next tab over, called "Draw". For outlining, I usually use the kabura pen setting

(Aside: I moved the cat from the ground to the character's lap in the first panel)

Step 4

Patterns

Under the same "Draw" tab, the program has loads of brush types under the pattern brush option. I'll start adding patterns and such on the images in the panels (the button to the left of the eraser option). After clicking that, you get a menu full of different pattern options.

It'll be tedious for me to screencap every step of what I've done, so I'll just show you a picture of each panel, and tell you the brushes I used.

Panel 1 -

Couch : For the couch, I used the "Flower Gradation Airbrush" under the Pattern Brush option. I shaded the folds at the bottom of the couch, the cat's shadow, as well as behind the character's head with the marker option on the left of the Pattern Brush option.

Ground: For the ground, I used the "Lace" pattern under the Pattern Brush. I shaded underneath the couch using the "Cross-hatching" pattern.

Cat: For the cat, I used the airbrush pattern at various shades of gray.

Man: For the man, I used the marker option for his hair and for the shading of his shirt and book. For his skin, I used the airbrush pattern.

Panel 2 -

Man: For his hair, I used the marker option. After that, I topped it with the airbrush option. I then used the kabura pen and added the white highlights. For his skin, I used the airbrush option, and shaded him using the airbrush using a darker shade of gray.

Panel 3 -

Couch : For the couch, I used the "Flower Gradation Airbrush" under the Pattern Brush option. I shaded the cat's shadow with the marker option on the left of the airbrush option and also with the marker option.

Cat: For the cat, I first colored him with the marker, then I used the airbrush pattern at various shades of gray.

Man's arm: For the man's arms I used the airbrush option for the shading

Book: For the book, I used the marker option to shade it.

Step 5

Time to TONE! Ok, so this program comes with loads if screen tones that you can use as a background. For this page, the background I used it called "Vertical Lines Fem". Basically, you drag the tone from the menu and place it on top of the panel. Then you trim it to the areas that you want it to appear. (in my case, I trimmed it so that it appears only in the background and not on the characters or the couch).

Step 6

Time to add some SPEECH BUBBLES!! So now we go to the next tab over, and that's "Character". You get a wide array of dialogue bubbles, and you can choose whichever kind you want.

Now you can add text into the bubbles by using the dialogue box that appears when you double click on the speech bubble. See the image below for instructions:

So following the above steps, you can add the text you want in the speech bubbles, and you're good to go!

Final:

So when you`re done, save and once saved check your documents, and under the file that you saved this project in, you`ll find a finished image of your page:

The End!

So we reached the end of the tutorial! Hope you found it helpful!! XD If you want to check out more of my art, I've uploaded some on my Usachan's Artist Corner thread.

If you`ve got any questions don`t hesitate to post them here and I`ll be sure to answer them as best I can!

UsachanMan over and out!

Hello Anime Vice! I know this isn't anime-related, but I really wanted to share this with you guys and girls. Please take the time to read this blog post thoroughly, I would really appreciate it. I will try to keep this as concise as possible, and if you're looking for any further info please follow the links I provide or just ask me :D

The Sharp Park Wetlands

So basically the Sharp Park Wetlands are being drained in order to create a golf course; which is endangering the California Red-Legged Frogs. Once these wetlands are drained, the frog's natural habitat will be gone, and their populations will decline. Please visit this link for more information: Save The Sharp Park Wetlands!, and if you want to sign the petition to get the Mayor to cancel his veto, please visit this link to the petition

The Atrazine Pesticide

I just learned about this pesticide in my biology course yesterday and it really is mind-boggling. I'll try to keep this as simple as possible, but basically this chemical is being used regularly in agricultural practices and it has great effects on frogs since it disturbs the endocrine system (what's in charge of hormones in the body). Since frogs have permeable skin it makes them even more susceptible to this stuff, and the fact that they rely on hormone-regulated steps of development (i.e. metamorphosis), atrazine has a great negative impact on them.

Some of the consequences of atrazine on frogs:

• turning the male testes into egg-producing organs (in layman's terms, turning guy frogs into girl frogs....you can see how that would definitely be problematic when it comes to reproduction).
• makes the frogs take longer to mature, making them live longer as tadpoles which makes them less-likely to survive
• Adult frogs are smaller than usual - that makes them more vulnerable since they wouldnt be able to eat larger insects (i.e. crickets) which they could've been able to if they were developed normally. Also, it makes it easier for snakes to eat them now that they are small enough to fit their jaws.

As you can see, this pesticide is very dangerous to frogs, if you'd like to save the frogs and ban this pesticide from use then please sign your name on this petition.

For more information regarding atrazine and saving the frogs, please visit this link: ATRAZINE: The 21st Century's DDT

Thank You!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and sign the petitions I linked to this blog post. Why am I doing this you might ask? Well I'm a a second year environmental science university student that's really really reaaaaaaaaaaaally passionate about my studies. I signed the petitions and I thought to spread the word just in case there were people out there that wanted to contribute but didnt know about it. I think that we can all make a difference, and since we humans are the ones that keep messing up I think its our responsibility to take part in the solution.

(The info and facts that I used for this blog were from the official websites I provided above, and from my own personal knowledge that I obtained from my studies.)

Thank you so much for your time and contribution

- UsachanMan (Nancy)

Bonkers 

Gummi Bears

Marsupilami

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep was reaeased in NA on September 7, 2010 
Soooo i was wondering if anyone actually played/is playing it. And if so, what are ur thoughts and comments about it.

I'm currently playing it, but i'm not that far (i'm still playing as Terra). I'm taking long because i want to finish all of the reports so I can unlock the secret ending.