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.

10 Things About My OCs

I was tagged by Kita.

Rules:
1. Pick three of your OC's, and include thumbnails.
2. Share ten random facts about them.
3. You MUST post these rules.
4. Tag three people when you're done.

I think I'll go with the three main characters from Survival Instincts because (a) there's three of them and (b) Kita was hoping for at least one.

Naomi Wood
External Image

1. Naomi loves to garden. She's been doing it since she was very little.
2. After gardening, Naomi's second favorite hobby is reading.
3. Naomi lives with her father and brother, Ethan. Her mother passed away when she was very young.
4. Naomi belongs to a religious group known as the Children of Terra. This group tends to populate rural areas. Naomi is no exception.
5. The Children of Terra tend to dress in clothing that cover most of their bodies. Naomi dresses this way in public, but she can remove her hair scarf when she's in her own home.
6. Naomi doesn't have a favorite color, but she tends to like pastels.
7. Naomi's family is very important to her. Many family photographs adorn the walls of her room.
8. When Naomi learns of her powers, she becomes very upset with herself, since the practice of magic is forbidden in her religion. As the story goes on, she becomes better at controlling them, and will even voluntarily use them.
9. Naomi believes that Marshall (the boy she meets in the city) is a good person and a good friend. She is not aware that Marshall may like her a bit more than that. This is because Naomi believes that neither she (age 14) nor Marshall (age 16) are of dating age.
10. Naomi's ability to levitate and float have some connection to Dice (the stranger that she and Marshall meet in a warehouse). Neither one is certain why.

Freddy Marshall
External Image

1. Marshall prefers to be called by his last name. He HATES his first name.
2. For a time, Marshall worked at a pizza parlor for a summer job. He found dealing with the customers to be very stressful.
3. Marshall likes video games. His favorites are tournament/fighting games.
4. Marshall is an only child. He lives with his mother, whom he fights with quite a bit. He never met his father, and doesn't know what happened to him.
5. Neither Marshall nor his mother know how to cook very well. His diet consists mostly of processed foods.
6. Before he met Naomi, all of Marshall's friends were boys.
7. Marshall's favorite color is green.
8. Marshall lives in the suburbs, on the outskirts of the city that he runs away to.
9. Marshall had planned to run away from home before, but when the story begins, this is the first time that he had actually done so.
10. Whenever Marshall uses his telekinetic powers, he feels pain in his arm. The heavier the object he moves, the stronger the pain.

Dice
External Image

1. Dice doesn't know his age. He guesses he's a few centuries old. Although his healing ability keeps him from physically aging, it didn't keep him from growing from a child to an adult.
2. Dice hates the name he was given.
3. Save for his yellow eyes, Dice appears human, though he isn't. Other things that set him apart from humans are his ability to instantly heal and recover from fatal wounds. He also has heightened strength, speed, and senses.
4. Dice reasons that long hair gets in his way. His strength is what enables him to rip it to a suitably short length.
5. Dice spent a great deal of his life in isolation.
6. Dice knows very little of how humans live, save for abstract details that he learned secondhand. Since he doesn't know about the rules of society, he lives by his own moral code.
7. Dice finds it harder to come up with a lie to tell than to tell the truth. He will be the first to admit that he's a very unconvincing actor.
8. Although Dice doesn't need to eat to survive, he still finds it pleasurable.
9. Dice generally doesn't like fighting. If he does fight, he does it for a reason.
10. Dice is unaware that the name he gave himself isn't really a name. Ironically, he thinks that Naomi and Marshall have strange names.

Well, I hope that wasn't too redundant for those that have read what I've posted of Survival Instincts. I was trying not to give spoilers.

I know I'm supposed to tag people, but I don't know who to tag. You can do this one if you want to.

Da List

Well, it's about time that I post my wishlist. After all, I'm one of the people running the SS this year.

I'm going to be copying and pasting some of last year's list to this one. Like last year, I'm going to limit the options to 10 anime and manga (plus OCs).

External Image
I'll be eliminating AoT from the list because of this awesome pic from last year.

The Manga and Anime

In no particular order...

Fullmetal Alchemist I'm just that predictable. I prefer the manga/Brotherhood continuity. If you didn't know by now, I'm a total Greed fangirl. I also like Alphonse. Heck, any of the characters would be fine, since I like almost all of them on some level.

Death Note It's been some time since I've seen or read this one, but I still like it. L is my favorite.

Magi I've only seen the first series (Labyrinth) and I haven't read the manga (yet), but I'm enjoying it so far. My favorite character is Alibaba, but all of the main characters are so likable that I'd be happy with one or more of them, too.

Cardcaptor Sakura I finished the whole anime, but I don't know if the manga diverges from it. My favorite character is actually Kero. I like Sakura and Yukito, too. In fact, I remember that Yukito's birthday is on Chistmas (like mine), so maybe you could do something with that.

Gurren Lagann Again, it's been some time since I've seen it, but my memories of it are vivid. I can't decide on a favorite, so any of the main characters will do.

Sailor Moon I've been on a major kick with SM, lately. I've read the manga, seen all of Crystal, and I'm currently watching the original anime. I don't care about spoilers, and the continuity is your choice. My favorite is Sailor Saturn, but any of the Guardians (I guess that's the official term now) is cool with me.

The Seven Deadly Sins This is kind of my new obsession that I shouldn't like as much as I do. I'm up to date on the manga, but I haven't seen the anime (thanks, Netflix). My favorite characters are Diane, Ban, and King (not necessarily in that order). From what I hear, Diane's birthday is supposed to be on December 24 (a day before mine). Also Ban x Elaine makes me melt with happiness.

Naruto/Naruto Shippuden I haven't watched it in some time; I kind of paused it right when they're gearing up for the war. I know the manga ended a year ago, and though I haven't read it, I've been spoiled rotten due to the series's popularity. I have a particular fondness for Kurenai's team of Hinata, Shino, and Kiba. They're pretty neglected, so I want them to have some love.

Inuyasha I'm 100 episodes in, and I've been introduced to most (if not all) of the major players in the story. Shippou is still my favorite character, but I like the other main characters as well.

Yu Yu Hakusho It's an oldie but a goodie. I've gotten through most of it. I'm at the part where the main characters are in that crazy house with those three guys. I can't decide whether Kurama or Kuwabara (did I spell that right?) is my favorite. I'd be happy with Yusuke, too.

The Original Characters

I'm just linking pictures. You can find out about the characters in the picture descriptions. You can read the stories here. For additional information (and some silliness) click here.

From Survival Instincts: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

From Destination: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

From The Rebels of Planet Aadau: [1] [2] [3] [4]

One final note: I don't actually celebrate Christmas. I'm just doing the SS because my birthday falls on Christmas. So please don't add anything religious.

Thanks and happy holidays. I can't wait to see what you give me! ^_^

The Anticipation

I've been having that "I want to draw but I don't know what to draw" feeling a lot lately. Actually, I kind of know what I want my subject matter to be, but I don't know about settings and situations. Mainly, I want to draw my OCs interacting with each other, but I don't know what to have them actually do. I've got a new unused set of colored pencils that I want to use, just so I can experiment with OC color schemes. Still, I don't know how to pose my characters. (I know of some sites with poses, but it's deciding on a good pose that's bothering me.)

Despite the things I mentioned, I'm afraid to start anything because of the impending Secret Santa. I've started on the Challenge prizes, and I'm almost done with the first sketch, but as soon as I get my SS recipient, those will be on the back burner. Heck, all my other art will be on the back burner.

Speaking of other art, I'm slowly catching up with the sketch marathon. I'm still about 10 weeks behind, but I'm getting there. I think I might post the whole thing at once. Or, at least, in large chunks at the end of the year.

I'm also working on three other pictures. One's digital and the other two are traditional. I should be inking those traditional ones soon.

Another thing I gotta do is post my wishlist. I'll get that up in a few days.

It just hit me that the year is almost over. I think it has something to do with the snowfall that I was driving in last Friday. And it's true that the entire population of Chicago forgets how to drive on the first snow of the season. I guess that means I have to think of another event for next year. It probably won't start in January, but I'm still brainstorming right now.

I might as well list my ideas. The first is to put a spin on the 30 Days event, like with only OCs or something. The second would be a "manga artist support network" in which we each make a short manga. The third would be writing crossovers with each other's OCs (no drawing required). Of course, these ideas aren't very fleshed out.

If you made it through this entire post, I salute you. Lousy concluding paragraph is lousy. LOL.

Otaku Discussions: Simulcasting vs. Binge Watching

Here's a new little thing that I've decided to do: Otaku Discussions. Hopefully this will be the first of many. (Shout-out to TDE for giving me this idea.)

Our first topic involves HOW you like to watch your anime. Would you rather watch an anime as it's currently airing? Or would you prefer to wait to the end and watch it in large chunks?

Personally, I've been trying to catch up on a bunch of older anime (60+ titles), so I guess I'm binge watching by default. In fact, the only currently-airing anime I'm watching (kind of) is Naruto Shippuden, and I'm almost 200 episodes behind. My plan is to do a lot of binge watching on that one once it ends. And it NEEDS to end.

Lately, there haven't been a lot of new shows that I've been interested in, so I haven't simulcasted anything recently. The last anime I simulcasted was Sailor Moon Crystal. Hopefully, once the second Attack on Titan comes out, I'll watch it as it's aired. That is, if I can clear through some of my backlog.

So, now that you've read my answer, how about yours? Feel free to leave comments.

And finally, something I must get off my chest...

Dear Netflix,

YOU SUCK!

~Keba

It's 5:00 Somewhere Livestream

I don't know where that reference comes from. *Is a dork.*

But it's 5:00pm CST, and I said I'd livestream.

Update: No one came. T^T