Living in a Fictional Universe for a Second

By Seito

Have you ever sat down to think what cosplaying is? I mean, yes. Cosplaying is literally the combination of “costume play”, which is a community of people who dress up and use props or items with the intention of representing a character or idea. Cosplaying is usually complimented with “role-playing” or playing the role of the character, bringing it to life. But is cosplaying really that simple or is it a whole new culture? There’s something really special about dressing up and acting how you want, while spending your precious time with friends who share the same hobby. Sometimes it might seem odd, but cosplaying brings out your true self from the perspective of another character.

In order to get satisfying results and an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, these projects require discipline, dedication, and passion. Some steps should be taken before actually working on a cosplay such as: noting down everything you need, buying many items, and organizing a friendly budget for your wallet. As a cosplayer, I advise keeping it simple for your first cosplays designs and broadening your techniques by searching tutorials online. You shouldn’t blame yourself if the results are not what you expected, there will be more opportunities. I’m sure you’ll develop better skills over time. Also, if your character has a prop or a simple outfit, it’s favorable to risk and create it yourself. In the end you’ll be rewarded with the achievement of a completely different experience.

Now, from an experienced cosplayer’s point of view, we can agree that staying up late night-after-night waiting for the paint to dry, enduring those back pains from sewing, and spending hours perfecting the wig’s style are situations that make your result priceless. The convention day finally arrives, you’re anxious to see your friends, and meet new people. Upon seeing the doors to the convention you’ve been insisting to attend, those butterflies in your stomach become a raging dragon. Your dreams shatter once you see that three-hour-long line, but don’t worry because most of us relate.

Overall, what makes cosplaying an amazing experience are the smiles in your fan’s faces, their compliments, and the gratifying sensation when they recognize your character. Also spending time with a bunch of proud geeks, just like us, and saving those memories in pictures— mostly in our hearts. I guess you could say cosplaying makes you feel like you’re living in a fictional universe for a second.

Picture by: https://www.facebook.com/think.nu.official

Kill la Kill Complete Anime Review

 By. Seito

  If I were to sum up this whole series in a sentence it would go like this: “A group of over-developed students with family issues who cannot decide if they should dress or not” (Those who watched it might catch on). Of course the show’s plot goes way deeper than just that. Let’s start off with the main character, Ryuko Matoi. 

   Ryuko is an exchange student who transferred into the Honnouji Academy where she meets her one and only friend throughout the series, Mako Mankanshoku, and the student council president Satsuki Kiryuin, alongside with many other school club presidents. Matoi has recently lost her father to an unknown murderer’s action leaving behind Matoi’s future weapon, half of the scissor blade longsword embedded in his body, and she suspects the Academy’s faculty is involved. This school functions under special uniforms called Goku Uniforms made from “Life Fibers” which end up being the main cause for most of the conflict. Because on the Rims of the Academy there’s a secret force called the Nudist Beach who is completely opposed to the mass production of the Goku Uniforms since the school principal, Ragyo Kiryuin, seeks to dominate the world by manipulating Life Fibers. So Ryuko’s purpose is to avenge her father’s death by defeating the other scissor blade half’s owner who may possibly be associated with Ragyo. And did I forget to mention Ryuko finds a talking sailor uniform under her house that feeds on her blood? Don’t worry, they become really good friends. 

   The series kept me glued to the screen 24/7. I’ve never watched a whole series so quickly, running in at 24 episodes. One of the best factors I enjoyed was the continuous action and plot twists the show offers you. Though, I also focused on three really important aspects that I personally consider flaws. The plot and character development seemed too vast for 24 episodes, but the producers at Trigger had to fit it in. Also, most characters encountered themselves in dead-end situations but they were constantly granted with power-ups, one after another. And although the anime itself had plausible reasons to why they showed so much skin, there’s enough fan service to make some watchers uncomfortable. I personally believe two of these flaws could’ve never even a problem if the production would have gotten the possibility to extend the run time.

But overall, it’s an anime you have to experience on your own and draw your own personal conclusion. Every viewer has different opinion about it but the intense moments in the story and amazing fight scenes complemented with a range of colors and decent camera angles are details that kept me watching and made finally give this series a strong 6/10.

The Pixar Theory

By. Seito 

   I’ve been indulging in Pixar movies lately, especially Brave, which is one of my favorites. Ever since Toy Story came out, Pixar fans have noticed the Easter eggs and hidden clues in the movies that may possibly hint at a theory where every Pixar story is based within the same universe! (Note: Jon Negroni originally created this theory. Click the link to see more!)

  Sounds crazy right? I mean, how can monsters, talking cars, and super heroes be related within the same timeline? It does take a lot of thinking, and maybe a few plot holes, but it actually makes sense if you really enjoy science fiction. Plus, there are still many sequels down the pipeline, such as Finding Dory, The Incredibles 2, and Cars 3 that may help clear things up.

Let’s start off with the movie that would be the chronologically earliest, the aforementioned Brave. The main character, Merida, finds a witch hidden in the woods, who’s experimented with humans, animals and magic. The witch even turns Merida’s mother into a bear. This witch ultimately walks through a door and disappears, possibly leaving behind animals with human intelligence. That leads to Ratatouille. Remy is interested in a human activity, cooking, despite being a rat. Even though animals like Remy can’t talk, humans are intrigued enough by their intelligence that they begin creating devices to help them talk. Of course, I’m referring to Charles Muntz’s device, from the movie Up, that helped Dug and other canine companions translate their thoughts.

  

  And while animals were slowly evolving, humans and artificial intelligence evolved alongside them, leading to The Incredibles, where humans have developed super powers. Syndrome, the movie’s villain, also had a huge amount of artificial intelligence including super computers and robots. This artificial intelligence is eventually passed down to toys. Toy Story hints that abandoned toys eventually lose the ability to “live”. This might mean that human activity is what gives energy to the toys.

Also seen in Buzz’s batteries and in the movie UP.

  BnL, a company seen in several Pixar movies, took over the world using these machines, and years later polluted the planet and forcing the last remaining humans escaped on a giant a space ship. WALL-E is a robot that collects items once used by humans. It’s his collection that kept him going, reinforcing the idea that humans give energy to the machines. This also includes the cars in Cars, who constantly visit locations once populated by people. The humans in the BnL ship eventually come back to earth and plant a tree. This tree could be the same one seen in A Bug’s Life. The only surviving species, the insects, are astonishingly similar to humans.

 Finally, in Monsters Inc., we wonder how the planet got populated with monsters, be it because of mutations caused by the pollution or human-bug breeding. But these monsters discovered that their main source of energy is human interaction. They even use machinery to create wormholes inside doors, just so they can finally have some human interaction.

The little girl in the day care in Toy Story 3

  The monster Sully and the human Boo have a really friendly relationship in the movie that unfortunately comes to an end. Boo grows up and while looking for a way to find Sully again, discovers the magic inside the doors and uses it for herself. This might mean that the witch in Brave is Boo! It’s also rumored that Boo is the girl inside the daycare in Toy Story 3. While this theory might be a never-ending loop, it does prove that Pixar is a genius when it comes to story telling. 

The witch in Brave (carving the Pizza Planet truck)

The Pizza Planet truck found in various movies

Mime in the background, same villain from The Incredibles