Hello and welcome to Keba's Anime and Manga Place (KAAMP for short)! Here at KAAMP, I write about anime and manga that I have seen/read as well as my views on them. I'll also post about my original stories from time to time.

Just beware that some of my posts contain spoilers. I'll put them in spoiler tags just in case.

KAAMP's history: KAAMP was created in July 2002 by yours truly. It was a sloppy-looking website on Yahoo's now defunct Geocities. I posted my anime fan art on that site. Also, for a time, I posted my thoughts on the few anime series that I had seen. Now that I look back on it, my thoughts were rather ill-informed (is that even a word?) because I had only seen bits and pieces of anime dubs. Now that I've seen more series, I think that my commentary on various anime will be a little better than before.

So, come on in and stay awhile! KAAMP is now in session.

Idea for Next Year's Event

The Sketch Marathon is drawing to a close (no pun intended), so I'm trying to come up with an idea for next year. I was thinking of focusing on writing this time. I was going to turn the "events" World that I have into a place where anyone can post anything in regard to stories and OCs.

Post types may include:

  • Character building/bios
  • Story snippets to proof read
  • Idea/plot/setting development
  • Crossovers
  • OC chats
  • Links to stories/Fan Comics that need work/feedback

Speaking of feedback, prepare to give some if you want to join. The event is about helping ideas grow, and we can't always do that alone.

So, would anyone want to do this? Or should I go back to the drawing board (again, no pun intended)?

Thanks for the B-Day Wishes!

As the title says, thank you. I had a great day and now I'm wrapping it up here on theO.

I'm thrilled that I got my act together to post the SS in time. Now I have to work on those Challenge prizes that I promised forever ago. And those half-finished drawings. There may be a lot of livestreams in my future.

I know I'm not gonna finish the Sketch Marathon, but I came pretty close. I'll post that within a few days. Aaaaand I have to think of what next year's event will be. I do know that I want the focus to be on writing.

So, I guess that's all I really have to say. I hope you had a merry Christmas, and if you don't celebrate, I hope you still had a great day! ^_^

Otaku Discussions: Voices in Your Head

If you've ever read a book with dialogue, you've probably imagined the speaker's voice. Well, at least I can say that's true for me. The same goes with manga. I look at a character, read the speech bubble, and I can "hear" the character's voice.

Then I watch the anime that the manga is based on.

Sometimes, I'm thrown off by the voice actors. I tend to think "that character isn't supposed to sound like that!" Although, in other cases, a character's voice can be so close to what I imagined that it's freaky.

I haven't read many manga series. In fact, I can name all the ones I read before watching the anime. They are Fushigi Yugi, Fullmetal Alchemist, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Blue Exorcist. I'll give a (hopefully) quick rundown of the first three, since I haven't seen any clips of Blue Exorcist yet. Also, please note that I'm referring to characters' Japanese voice actors, not the English dub ones.

If my memory serves me correctly, I read the entirety of Fushigi Yugi before ever watching the anime. Since the series is 18 volumes, I had a pretty solid idea of what the main characters sounded like. Once I saw the anime, I was actually pretty disappointed by the actors who voiced the main couple, Miaka and Tamahome. They sounded outright annoying compared to what I had imagined. As more characters were introduced, I realized that my perceptions were very different from the vision of the people who were making this anime. Until they introduced Chichiri. From the moment he spoke his first verbal tic, my eyes opened wide in amazement. His voice was exactly what I thought it would be.

I know that in the two anime continuities of Fullmetal Alchemist, the voice cast is, like 90% different. I've only seen FMA-1, but I know which characters retained their actors for the second series. I'll focus on a few of those, such as main characters Edward and Alphonse. I wasn't really sure what to imagine for Ed's voice. I knew that in the dub, he was voiced by a man, but I thought that Ed should sound more... prepubescent. When I saw the anime, I didn't know what to think. Ed was voiced by a woman who could deepen her voice enough to sound like a teenage boy. Nothing like I had perceived, but it still worked. Al's voice was perfectly spot-on though. The one that bothered me was Bradley. His voice was completely different than what I thought it would be. It sounded too familiar... like I had heard it before. Then it hit me: the actor had also played the third Hokage from Naruto.

When I saw clips for The Seven Deadly Sins, my ideas for the characters' voices were shattered. Meliodas's voice was a bit too low for me. Diane's was too high. Hawk sounded too girly. Ban's voice sounded too... I don't even know. The only one that sounded remotely similar to what I had pictures was Elizabeth. Well, maybe I'd get used to the voice-acting choices if I actually saw the anime. Until then I'll still hear the voices I had imagined whenever I read the manga.

Conversely, when I watch an anime first, and if the characters' voices are distinct, I can hear those voices while reading the manga. This was most unfortunate in the case of Sailor Moon. Whenever Luna spoke, I could hear that Julie Andrews impersonator from the original English dub. Sure, Luna still has a distinct voice in the original Japanese version, but somehow, even after a decade or so, I can still here that English voice actress say, "Serena, you must transform!" like a distressed grandmother.

So, who here has read a manga and then seen an anime that was inspired by it? Which did you experience first-- the manga or the anime? How did that affect your listening experience? Are there characters whose voices sound exactly like you imagined? What about ones that were completely off? Just let me know if you heard the original vocal track or a dub.

Let's Play a Game

I was thinking about how different anime sometimes have similar characters or plot elements, even though the anime series are completely different. So I was thinking about listing various archetypes and seeing which anime comes to mind. Some of the descriptions I provide will be oddly specific.

Example: Name one anime with a character who breaks his finger and focuses on the pain to free himself from an illusion.

You wouldn't believe it, but I have seen at least three anime where a character has done this.

Rules:

1. Only name one anime for each question.
2. Do not name the character that the anime describes (I don't want spoilers for ones I want to see but haven't).
3. Do not name the same anime twice (alternate continuities, reboots, and sequels count, but are not encouraged).
4. PM the answers to me (so no one else can copy you).

The person who can name a different series for every example given wins. If you can't think of an example, leave the space blank. Your chances of winning will be diminished, but if everyone leaves a space blank, there could be a winner.

1. Name an anime in which an adopted character learns of his dark lineage, and decides to oppose his family's evil ways. This character also grows a tail at some point in his life.

2. Name an anime in which a girl travels back in time through unconventional means, and meets a boy who eventually becomes a love interest.

3. Name an anime in which a group of characters have markings/symbols/kanji on their bodies.

4. Name an anime that involves zodiac signs.

5. Name an anime where a character dies, is resurrected, and dies again.

6. Name an anime that is set in a school where the majority of the cast is of one gender, heterosexual romance is not addressed, and is NOT dirty.

7. Name an anime with a male animal familiar to a magical girl.

8. Name an anime that contains a character who does everything he can to avoid having innocent people die. This character is missing an arm.

9. Name an anime that focuses on three characters: two female, one male.

10. Name an anime that contains a genius girl with blue hair.

11. Name an anime in which the main character is a girl who is a big eater.

12. Name an anime where the main hero dreams of attaining the high rank of a leader.

13. Name an anime where characters exert special powers with their eyes.

14. Name an anime that contains fights and action, but the characters don't say their attack names out loud.

15. Name an anime where a character aspires to become immortal.

16. Name an anime where a character actually does become immortal.

17. Name an anime with an antagonist that seems evil at first glance, but really isn't all that bad.

18. Name an anime in which the main character is not conventionally attractive.

19. Name an anime in which the lead male and female do not become a couple.

20. Name an anime which consists of mostly male characters, but has one or more females that can fight alongside the guys.

21. Name an anime in which there are two siblings and one is adopted. One has a crush on the other.

22. Name an anime aimed at a teenage audience, in which the majority of characters are adults.

23. Name an anime with a magical girl that doesn't have a transformation sequence.

24. Name an anime that has a character that can change into an animal.

25. Name an anime that has a character that can change into different people, but not animals.

26. Name an anime that contains a character who can destroy heavenly bodies (planets, moons, stars).

27. Name an anime in which the protagonist is a vampire.

28. Name an anime that has a girl with a tail, but no animal ears.

29. Name an anime that has a character with a scar on his face.

30. Name an anime with a "mascot" animal that cannot talk.

Good luck. Depending on how many people do this, I might give an actual prize.

I don't even think I could complete something like this. @_@

Progress and Indecision

Just thought I'd give a little update on how things are going.

The progress:

  • Sketched my SS gift last night. Not gonna wait until three days before the deadline just to get sick and then post a few weeks into the new year.
  • Sketching Challenge Prizes. I know what I'm going to do for the first two. Have to watch the anime that the third requested character is from. Fortunately, that won't take too long.
  • Working on the Sketch Marathon. I won't finish it in time, but I'm shooting for 42 sketches by the end of the year.
  • Digital drawings/comics. Three started, one to be planned. Might actually finish one of the four before the year ends.
  • Expanding my manga collection. Now I just have to read them. I realize that this isn't exactly an accomplishment.
  • Starting to finish up some older anime that I had on hold.

The indecision:

  • Thinking of what my next discussion topic should be. I have some ideas, though.
  • Anyone up for a livestream maybe next week? (Is there a different service where I can get sound? That could be interesting.)
  • What is my Sketch Marathon cover going to look like? Still have no clue.
  • Survival Instincts. Should I post the second arc even with all the kinks? It ends on a more negative note than the first arc. I still don't know what to do to wrap up the third arc. (Oh, beta, where art thou?)
  • A new Challenge. I want the focus to be on my songs. The prizes would be my demos. Only have of my demos (6/12) are recorded, and none are copyrighted yet. If I make the Challenge three months long, I will have them all recorded to deliver as prizes. The problem is that the participants can't listen to the songs as inspiration. Might have to PM the lyrics.
  • Deciding what to watch after finishing up some of the anime series that I started.

...

Thoughts?