Last week we were given the first trailer for the new live action Jem adaptation. To put it nicely, fans were not pleased. I was aggravated enough that, after watching it the first time, I was in a bad mood for the rest of the night. What gets me is that they made a point to get fan input early on in the production. I even bought into it and followed their news regularly. Yet other than their names, and to an extent their relationships to one another, nothing in the trailer stood out as Jem and the Holograms. It was a major let down and did not feel truly outrageous in any way. Yes, they want to update the story. I can deal with the YouTube angle and the Lady Gaga/Miley Cyrus wannabe style. I can even forgive that they turned Eric Raymond into Erica Raymond. However, with all things taken together as a whole, everything I have been shown thus far tells me they've failed. They've failed big time. Let's call it a day and book the Limp Lizards.
When most people hear the name "Muppets," images of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy inevitably come to mind. Being a child of the 80's, I also tend to include the characters from Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock into the group.
Most Henson creations generally fall into this lot for me, and these various characters have been popping up right and left in entertainment news.
Back in March there was an update on the Fraggle Rock movie that saw Joseph Gordon Levitt attach his name to the project. There is a new Sesame Street movie in the works as well, and our beloved Muppet Show cast is returning to prime time TV with an all new show!
The news that I'm the most excited for right now is the premier of a new documentary - "I am Big Bird," which is a look at the man behind our favorite eight foot tall bird.
Since 1969, Caroll Spinney has brought life to two of my favorite Sesame Street characters - Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. At age 81 he is still preforming these beloved icons and has no intention on stopping.
That's 46 years, and counting! *insert The Count laugh here*
It's an amazing track record and shows the longevity of these characters. It's funny to think that Sesame Street started off as an experiment and is still going strong today.
You can learn more about the film, including screening locations and dates, at www.iambigbird.com
I might try and get some of the Podzilla 1985 and Pentanerd cast to make a road trip to Memphis to see this. Though July is a long way away when I could just buy it on iTunes.
One way or another, I plan to check it out and suggest that all Muppet fans do so as well.
News has been buzzing for a while with rumors of a Full House spin off. They were made official by John Stamos a few weeks ago on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and Netflix has opted in for a thirteen episode series scheduled for 2016. Stamos will be producing the series and guest staring from time to time as his character Uncle Jesse.
However, the main story is going to focus on D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), who is pregnant and recently widowed. She needs some help at home raising her two kids with a third on the way. Her younger sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and best friend Kimmy (Andrea Barber) move in to help. Kimmy also brings along her own teenage daughter, making it once again a household of six.
For the time being at least.
I grew up with Full House. It was one of my favorite shows and I was legitimately sad when it ended. However, I don't know how I feel about this new take on it. I like that they have original cast members returning, because that's always a positive.
But with this set up, will it just be a rehashing of the past?
Thanks to some early press for The Creative Arts Emmys, we already knew who the winner of this past week was before the show aired. Our designers were creating a look for Heidi to wear at the awards ceremony!
Sean took this big win, getting a great deal of exposure and the right to claim he's dressed a well known super model. It was a nice comeback for him since he'd been in the bottom for the past couple of challenges.
Overall, I wasn't impressed with this past week. There were a few nice dresses but I didn't really like any of them. They were all pretty bland or just simply not to my liking.
There were also a lot of bad, unfinished, and rushed dresses. This partly came from Heidi not liking what she was seeing in the work room. She gave them an extra $100 each to go along with their original budget, and a quick trip back to Mood for extra or different materials.
If a designer chose not to return to Mood they could give their extra money to another designer. Sandhya played the game and started asking others for their money if they weren't going. It paid off and she got herself an extra $400+ to play with. This move irritated some of the other designers who were also starting over, but they could have done the same thing. They just chose not to.
I can't blame her for playing this tactic, though for all of her extra money she still was only safe this week.
This past week on Project Runway our designers were each given a classic suit from various fashion periods. The jacket and pants from these suits would serve as their inspiration and fabric to create a new high fashion look. The added twist was that last week's winner, Sandhya, got to assign everyone their suits.
So far I've been a pretty harsh critic when it comes to Sandhya, but I'll give her a little credit here. She took a difficult suit for herself that had a bright yellow jacket and loud purple pants.
As for everyone else, she claims to have given them suits that fit their tastes. No such luck for Hernan, who has been a dick to her since the team challenge.
I'm glad she screwed him over this time, and I agree with a point that she made. If you're a good designer it doesn't matter what your materials are, you'll make something good.
Hernan did not.
He bitched about not being inspired by the cream and brown suit. Well guess what? Several other designers weren't too thrilled with what they got either. Mitchell was uninspired by his hideous denim leisure suit, but he still muddled through and made something he liked. Hernan just kept blaming the materials, even after Tim tried to explain that he was trying to drape fabrics that weren't meant to be draped. It was a lack of skill, taste, and humility.
We're now four episodes in on this new take of an old favorite.
So far it's been following the manga almost exactly, which hasn't been a bad thing.
I will say that I am glad a changing point has been made, but I'll get to that shortly.
Episode four covers one of my favorite chapters in the manga and original anime, Princess D's masquerade ball. At this point in the story the girls are aware that their main mission is to find their lost princess as well as the legendary silver crystal. Royalty is in town to show off an ancient gem that has never been revealed to the public's eye, so it's a good place to start their search.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! If you have yet to watch the newest episode please stop here and return after doing so. If spoilers do not bother you, or you've already gotten caught up to speed, then please continue.
This past week on Project Runway our designers had to do a little time traveling. They were told to create a look that will be worn twenty years in the future, but it had to be inspired by fashion from twenty years ago. So their imaginations had to translate 1994 to 2034.
In 1994 I was eleven years old. I was in fifth grade and getting ready for that transition into middle school. I think the closest thing to fashion for me was drawing new clothes for my paper dolls, but I'm pretty sure I was just obsessed with horses at that point in my life.
I remember a lot of spandex, neon colors and floral prints. It was kinda scary, really.
Back to the topic at hand.
Our designers got to make their first trip to Mood this season. They were very excited to finally pick their own fabrics rather than being given random assortments of stuff.
This time there were a lot more outfits that wowed me, but many of them gave the impression of a very bleak future. I don't expect it to be all peaches and cream, but having a positive outlook can't hurt right?
Episode two pairs up two of what seems to be the designers' least favorite types of challenges - teams and unconventional materials.
Personally, I love the unconventional challenges.
This time the movie experience was to serve as their muse and source of materials. Lots of fun stuff, from actual film reels and VHS tapes to concession items like straws and 3D glasses, were at hand for the designers to gather and work their magic with.
Their mission, to create three cohesive looks that could be in a collection together.
Easy right?
Never. It only takes one stubborn member in a group to bring things to a crashing halt. Many of the teams worked well together and pulled off the task at hand, but not all of them could coexist.
The worst group of all was Sandhya, Hernan, and Carrie. Sandhya won the first challenge and had the blessing of immunity, yet still insisted on doing whatever she wanted and not really worrying about the groups synergy.
Hernan wasn't much better and kept pushing his own ideas on the other two, while not budging and basically talking down to the girls.
I'm not really one to get up in arms about feminism, but I got real sick of him calling them 'Baby' and such.
Cowboy Bebop is the kind of anime that you can suggest to just about anyone, and nine times out of ten they will enjoy it.
When it first aired on Adult Swim back in 2001, during the good old days when the block didn't start until eleven or midnight, it was a big change from most of the anime I watched.
I had been living on the Toonami line up, which was also much better back before it became the DBZ show, and whatever bad dubs Fox was playing on Saturday mornings. Bebop just had a more serious tone and a grittier feel to it, although it was still occasionally silly in it's own right.
I remember it being a big deal in our anime circle at college. Everyone was watching it. We were all pissed that 9/11 caused us to miss out on a episode during its first run cause it was "too soon" to have the Teddy Bear Bomber blowing up twin towers on our TVs. We even held a mini funeral at the end of the series when a favorite character passed on.
It was a great show. Even better, it's one that has great replay value.
Not too long ago I revisited the series while gathering some AMV fodder. Normally when I do this I just have the show running in the background and work on other things while it's being ripped from my DVDs to my editing program. With Bebop I found myself actually watching it again from beginning to end.
So , after taking a look back, I'd like share with you my ten favorite Cowboy Bebop episodes. This list is based purely on how much I enjoyed each episode, so I'm sure not everyone will agree with my choices.
The world of the unknown is not something I write about very often on BZ85, but it is something that I have a great interest in. Those who know me personally are aware of my fascination with all things paranormal and unexplained. This site is a great outlet to pursue those interests of mine, and one of my favorite moments from running this site was when I got to interview Stanton Friedman. He is one of the most famous figures in the UFO culture and somewhat of a personal hero of mine, and you can always read that interview here if you missed it the first time.
It was even cooler than interviewing gorgeous nude model Christine Adams, who I really should catch up with sometime. I bet she has a ghost story or two I could ask about to justify bothering such a busy lady.
My own personal passion with the paranormal started with Ghostbusters, which was a VHS I rented so many times from the local store that the owners gave it to my mother. Like every other kid in the world, I wanted to strap an unlicensed nuclear accelerator to my back and go hunt some dead people. I never got to live that dream, but as I grew older I began to develop a legitimate interest in ghosts.
Call me sensitive, or a medium, or lucky, or just a plain liar, but I saw things, man. I saw things. I remember walking through my old childhood home and almost bumping into someone I thought was my father. I jumped out of the way to avoid him and loudly scolded him for not watching where he was going. I turned around and no one was there. I've seen lots of strange things since then, but that experience was so clear that it will forever haunt me. See what I did there?
Being a believer in the supernatural in the 90's meant not having many resources to study on the subject. The concept of ghosts and ghost hunting were still looked down on as a fake science, which, to be fair, still happens today. There was a show on Fox during that time called Sightings, and I watched that program religiously. It fueled my passion for ghosts, aliens, demons, and all the things that make us afraid of the dark.
Season 13 of Project Runway is off and running. As usual we never know what to expect from the challenges, designers, or the judges for that matter. They are already confusing me, for sure. The designers and fans alike were thinking "what?" when Sandhya Garg was announced as the first challenge winner. This season's group was told to create a look that would represent their design vision for a spring runway collection. They were also only allowed to use materials that were given to them in a locked trunk on their work stations. Mixed in with the basic solids and a few fun prints were some night mare fabrics as well. It was a make it work moment for all of them on this one day challenge. I will admit that Sandhya's look was interesting, but seriously her model looks like she belongs in a zombie movie. The oddly ripped sleeves and frayed cloths added to the harsh make up with sort of messy hair just screams horror film to me.
My favorite look of the runway belonged to Fäde Zu Grau. It was simple but had a nice clean and classic feel. I also really liked the way he blended two different prints to create the skirt. Guess I had boring taste this time cause his look was only one of the "safe" ones. So we'll get to see more from him next time. I have yet to really latch onto any designers yet. It's still a bit early for that. Though I did get to have a little fan girl moment for an entirely different reason during this episode. Designer Carrie Sleustskaya was rocking a necklace that was pulled from my all time favorite anime, Sailor Moon. During their final audition I noticed the heart and wings hanging around her neck and had to rewind to verify. Sure enough the charm was Eternal Sailor Moon's broach and wings from the final season of the original run. That alone made my night. Runway and Sailor Moon, all in the same shot!
It has been a few years since I've found a new anime to add to my stable of favorites. Back in the 90's it seemed so much easier for me to be absorbed into a fandom. Sailor Moon and Pokemon were both early titles for me. I am still a long term fan of both, seven-teen years later.
Even during college, in the early 2000's, I seemed to have an easier tome getting into new shows. The last major fandom I got into was Ouran High School Host Club, and it has been around for a while now.
Sure I've enjoyed a lot of new anime, but for a long while I was just not having any luck with new titles. I'd enjoy them, but I wouldn't feel the need to track down stuff related to them. I just didn't click with them.
Over the last year however the trend for me seems to have been broken. I've actually added a few more titles to library of favorites.
One of these series is Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club.
I truly enjoy this show 100%, and not just for the obvious fan-girl reasons.
The story, though simple and based around sports, is endearing, entertaining and damn funny at times. I don't think that I've made it through a single episode without giggling loudly at something. The characters all have strong bonds of friendship and rivalry with one another. Though let's be honest here, the suggestive themes of boys' love are rather obvious even to the non-fan-girl. Add that to some insanely detailed muscled bodies, that are usually wet, and you can guess what 95% of this show's fan base consists of.
It's nice to see some fan service for the female anime audience once and a while.
A long over due return has been announced for Sailor Moon fans everywhere. Many of us have been aware of the delayed reboot "Sailor Moon: Crystal", which will begin airing July 5th of this year, but more recently it has been brought to our attention that VIZ has obtained the rights to the English version of this classic.
Many of us grew up with the dub by DIC, but VIZ will be completely re-dubbing the old classic in a new uncut format. We will get to see a more accurate translation with no missing episodes, no censored content and no renamed characters. I am personally excited to see a dubbed version of the final season of the series that never made it to us loyal fans in the first run. VIZ also plans to release freshly dubbed versions of all three movies as well as the TV specials that accompanied the later seasons of the show in Japan. I'm thrilled at the notion of getting to see "Ami's First Love" in a format other than a fan-sub.
Beginning this Monday, May 19th, VIZ's newly subtitled version of the series will be available on Hulu. They plan to release two episodes every Monday and later this year episodes of the dub should be available as well. Later down the road Blue Ray and dvd releases are planed, and will be in half series box sets. So depending on how they package the movies and specials we're going to be looking at, at least ten box sets to get the entire original series. Start saving your money now Moonies.
It's been a while since I've watched an anime that I had to actually wait for the next episode to air. I've been so use to just watching a whole series in a couple marathon sessions that it's odd to go back to the episodic method. However Hulu is treating me very well and seems to have a new episode up for me each Wednesday.
What has captured my attention you ask? Well if you know me, or have read some of my past posts, you know I'm a shoujo-holic with a taste for harem series. As of late I keep finding series based on Otome games, and all I can say is if I could read Japanese I'd totally want to play some of them... Though I know someone who'd get a bit jealous if I did... Love you!
But I'm getting side tracked.... back to the issue at hand. "Brothers Conflict" is my newest guilty pleasure. It's highly farfetched and yet I can't help but want to keep watching. I'll try not to spoil too much for you all, but I make no true promise of it....
The Basics: Our heroine, Ema Hinata ( a sixteen year old high school student) is about to start a new life. He father has remarried and not wanting to impose on him and her new mother she decides to move in with her new siblings. Ok no big deal right? Maybe, except that she has only gained brothers in this union and there are thirteen of them. That's a lot of testosterone in one place. Granted they live in a condo complex, where the family resides on the top three floors and the bottom two floor have spaces rented out. So in a sense, other than the shared living space on the fifth floor, Ema and her brothers each have their own apartments for rooms.
As far as heroines go there have been worse than Ema. She's mostly likeable and has a caring nature. She's genuinely excited to have a family finally, having spent most of her childhood alone since her dad travels over seas a lot. She never planned that the new men in her life would see her more as a romantic interest than family. At times her submissiveness get's old, but it's believable in the long run. The thing that annoys me the most is her lack of reaction some times. She never really accepts or rejects any of their advances. Granted we're only nine episodes in, but really? If you want them as siblings draw the line and set them straight no matter how pretty they are.
Yes as the title may imply several of the Asahina men fall for their new step-sister. This family is a bit out of this world when you look at them as a whole. First off the oldest son is thirty-one years old, while their mother doesn't look a day over forty herself. Everyone of them is good looking and those who are employed all have good jobs, well minus Subaru doing road work, but he's still in college so we'll let that pass... Let's take a look at the trouble makers at hand.
Masaomi Asahina
Age: 31
Profession: Doctor (Pediatrician to be exact)
He serves as the father figure of the brothers, being the eldest and all, but he's not always the most reliable guy. He tends to spoil his youngest brother Wataru and has a habit of popping lollipops into his siblings' mouths to shut them up.
His attraction to Ema hasn't been covered much yet in the anime, though he did call her to inform the family of him staying late at the hospital when he would normally have called Ukyo, the second eldest. We'll probbaly see some development next week though if the previews meant anything.
I can't see him with her though. He plays too much a guardian role with her father gone all the time. He also doesn't seem as persistent or forceful as some of his younger brothers. Though that could be a good thing for Ema.
Ukyo Asahina:
Age: 29
Profession: Lawyer
Being the second eldest he's taken the mother role of the family, their own mother being a career woman left him doing most of the house work when he got older. He picks up the slack for Masaomi and keeps the household running smoothly along side his day job. Ukyo is also the one to keep the younger boys on top of their studies and tends to be the one to hand out punishment when necessary.
He's kind to Ema from the start, and welcomes the help with cooking and other various chores. Though he gets a bit jealous when the "I'll be home late" phone calls start going to Ema's phone rather than his own. His own little bit of flirting with her is more in the form of caring for her health and teaching her in the kitchen.
I like Ukyo, he's a nice bit of calm amongst the insanity that he's related to. They haven't touched on him too much in the anime yet either, but while reading about the video game I found out that he's actually kind of an awkward guy who doesn't really know how to react to a lot of things. I'm hoping they'll touch on his past a bit more since they've started doing that with some of the other brothers. Like Masaomi, I don't think he has much of a chance in the long run with winning Ema over, that whole parental aspect brings him down too. I still enjoy his screen time, though he hasn't done anything major yet.
Kaname Asahina:
Age: 26
Profession: Buddhist Monk
He is the Miroku of this series hands down. You're typical womanizing playboy who just happens to give spiritual sermons. He's the first to hit on Ema when she moves in, literally within moments of greeting her. He's also the first to steal a kiss, though it's just a peck on the cheek. He's surprisingly responsible though, and helps his older brothers out with keeping the younger ones in line when needed. He covers for a parent teacher meeting, for Yusuke and Ema, when Masaomi can't leave work for it.
Kaname amuses me, though he's not one of my favorites. He's persistent enough to not let his other brothers win, but he also doesn't get as much time with her as some of them do. He's a bit of a wild card, though I feel that Ema groups him in with the 'parental' crew as well. Not much of a chance but a little more than the other two older brothers. Due to his time away from home he hasn't had much screen time in the show yet either, so who knows what's to come.
Hikaru Asahina:
Age: 25
Profession: Writer
Like his mother, Hikaru spends a lot of time over seas, researching for his novels. He also usually cross dresses, it's generally a rare sight to see him in men's wear. Since he doesn't live in the condo with the others we haven't seen much of him in the show so far.
He doesn't seem to have any romantic interest in Ema, so far any ways. He's more interested in his brothers' reactions to the girl, and teasing them every chance he gets. We see him spying on them on several occasions with a mischievous smirk on his face.
I don't know enough about Hikaru to make any assumption about him. Though so far I don't think he's in the running and may actually treat Ema as a sibling as she wishes.
Tsubaki Asahina:
Age: 24
Profession: Voice Actor
Tsubaki is a troublemaker with a capital T. He's selfish, reckless and acts on impulse without regards to anyone. Well anyone but Azusa, his identical twin who keeps him in line. He likes to rile his younger brothers up over anything he can.
Like Kaname he flirts with Ema right away, and tries to kiss her right off the bat. Azusa stops him though before he makes any contact, though Tsubaki just laughs it off and proceeds to drape himself over the girl's shoulders any way. He flirts every chance he gets, even offering to sleep with her if she's scared to sleep in a new place. As he get's use to having Ema around he get's possessive of her and doesn't like the fact that his brothers have similar feelings to his own towards her. He's the first of them to seriously confess to her and is persistent about his feelings. He won't think twice about stealing a passionate kiss from her.
Tsubaki causes Ema quite a bit of stress, but I think he's manipulative enough to get his way in the long run. He can be over the top but I like Tsubaki, and getting past the whole sibling thing can see him with Ema. Though he needs to tone down the selfishness, not that it'll happen any time soon.
Azusa Asahina:
Age: 24
Profession: Voice Actor
Azusa is rarely without Tsubaki, being identical twins they have a very strong bond with one another. He'll do anything for his brother, but he's not above keeping him in line at the same time. The more collected of the two, he thinks things threw where Tsubaki is all impulse. He's also usually willing to let Tsubaki win when they both want something.
This changes when he realizes that he too is in love with Ema. For once he's willing to fight for himself over his dear brother. This causes a lot of friction between the two at home and adds to Ema's stress with the family. He protects her from Tsubaki, but is torn because he himself wants to do the same things to her. His real battle is with his self control, he's not use to letting go of it.
Of the twins I like Azusa more. I've grown to like the calmer characters more over the years. He seems like he'd have a easier time winning Ema over. Letting her go at her own pace rather than just jumping her and not giving her time to think about it.
Natsume Asahina:
Age: 24
Profession: Video Game Devoleper
And now we have the third wheel to our twins. Turns out they're really triplets, though Natsume here is a fraternal brother rather than identical. He also lives out side of the main complex in his own apartment. He has two cats, who ironically are named after Tsubaki and Azusa though we don't know the story behind that yet. Though he lives apart from them he keeps in regular contact with his brothers. He worries about Subaru a lot since they both share a love for basketball, though Natsume quit playing.
He doesn't meet Ema until the day of their parents' wedding and is a bit cold to her not knowing the situation. When he goes to apologize he learns that she's an avid player of the video games his company makes. Ema plays zombie shooters! They strike up a friendship over the games and he uses her as a bit of market test by letting her play the new game they are working on. He starts to getting feelings for her around the same time Azusa is realizing his own feelings. Though much like Azusa he doesn't act on them like Tsubaki would. He does his best to watch out for Ema, but get's very irritable when he sees how Subaru acts around her and even gets in his younger brother's face about it. He wants Ema to see him as a man, but isn't about to force her into it.
Natsume is currently my favorite among the brothers...though I don't like that he smokes. He feels like a bit of an outcast from the rest of the family but I get the impression he did that on his own rather than it being anyone's fault. I wouldn't mind Ema ending up with him, though I think she's better suited to a couple of the others. Natsume should just be the good older brother who watches over her and lets her vent her stress to him. Though I'm not gonna lie I had a mini fan girl moment when he finally kissed her. I'm terrible I know...
Louis Asahina:
Age: 21
Profession: Hair Stylist
Louis is the only brother that Ema's pet squirrel, Juli, doesn't hate. The two of them even form a little coalition to protect Ema, or "Chii" as the call her, from the other brothers. Unlike his siblings, Louis is actually an adopted child of the Asahina family. He has no memories of his birth family and at times still feels disconnected from his brothers due to that lack of a blood bond. This is part of why he wants Ema to feel at ease. None of Louis's younger siblings know about his adoption, but he reveals it to Ema when she's having some hard times.
He likes to style Ema's hair and make her pretty. Her smile is more important to him than anything else. It's unclear right now if he has any romantic feelings for her. I think he does, but he'd rather make her wish come true and act as the family she desires so much. I think he's a little too girly to be paired with her, but he means well and cares for her so I wouldn't be upset if he reveals his love for her as well.
Subaru Asahina:
Age: 19 (turns 20 early in the series)
Profession: College Student
Subaru is on his college's basketball team. He had been a regular player but once Ema came into his life his game started to falter. He's rather serious and has obviously cared more about his sports than most other things. When he was little he looked up to Natsume who also played basket ball. He wanted to be like his big brother.
Subaru's relationship with Ema started out awkward from day one. He was a bit shocked to learn a girl would be living with them, but to top it off she walked in on him when he'd finished up his bath. Granted he had a towel on, but it was still embarrassing for both parties. It didn't take long for him to start to like her, and that made his actions in general hasty. Once he admits to himself that he likes her he becomes determined to become a regular on the basket ball team again, if only to have her come watch him play.
Subaru is also the first to kiss Ema on the lips, though it's an accident. He's also the first to openly ask her to date him. Though he's yet to get answer from her. His awkwardness is adorable, it just makes you want to root for him. He's probbaly the one I want to see her end up with the most. They'd just be so cute together.
Iori Asahina:
Age: 18
Profession: High School Student
Iori is you typical prince-like character. He's well mannered, popular and athletic. He attends an elite private catholic school and is in charge of tending the gardens around the condo complex. It wouldn't be far off to guess that he might be a florist of sorts after school.
Iori is sweet to Ema, but he hasn't had a lot of screen time yet. From what I've been reading he's got a bit of a tragic past involving an ex-girlfriend, but it hasn't been touched on yet in any of the episodes.
Iori seems like a good guy, but who knows. I don't know enough about him yet to pass judgement, though in the looks department he's be a cute match with Ema.
Yusuke Asahina:
Age: 16
Profession: High School Student
Yusuke goes to the same public high school that Ema does. They were classmates well before they became siblings. He's a bit of a delinquent and far from being an A student.
He's the first of the brothers to fall in love with Ema, because he was crushing on her before their parents hooked up. Granted he'd never said anything to her, but their situation now makes it even worse. Her joining their family though gives him an excuse to hang out with her before, during and after school, without all of his brothers around. Though that changes when Futo starts attending their school as well. Ema's the first girl that he's ever had serious feelings for, so he's pretty torn up about the whole sister thing and flat out says he won't accept it.
I feel bad for Yusuke, his whole world got thrown into chaos because of a simple marriage. If his mom hadn't married Ema's dad he could have had a normal high school crush. Though knowing him he would have never said anything and just pined for her form afar. So maybe this better after all since he has excuses to actually talk to her now. He and Ema would make a cute pair. Being the same age and going to the same school gives him a little extra footing over his brothers, but his inability to convey his feelings is a major set back.
Futo Asahina:
Age: 15
Profession: Pop Idol (and a Middle School Student)
Futo is highly confident in himself, he has to be as a performer. This same confidence though has made him a bit twisted and two faced. To the public he's charming and loveable, but behind closed doors his selfish and manipulative. Even his older brothers think he's twisted and not quite right. He's very found of his older brother Louis, and proud of his talents. He'd much rather have him do his hair and make up over any of the studio's stylists.
He picks on Ema a lot, calling her plain and stupid. Yet he has no problem trying to monopolize her. He likes to rub it in Yusuke's face too. He has no problem corning the girl and forcing her into more intimate situations despite being younger than her. He seems to get a kick out of making her uncomfortable.
Futo frankly pisses me off. He's a little prick who needs to be put in line. Though setting aside his twisted actions I do think he actually likes Ema, not just as something to play with. Why else would he choose to go to the same school as her when he enters high school. He's still my least favorite of the brothers, but his chances with catching Ema are better than many of the others.
Wataru Asahina:
Age: 10
Profession: Elementary School Student
Finally we have Wataru, the youngest of the brothers. He's spoiled by many of his older brothers and it's because of this that I think he seems more like a five year old rather than being ten. He talks in a cute manner and is very excitable. He also seems to have a love for plush bunnies.
He seems excited to have a new big sister, and frankly I can't seem him as a romantic counterpart to her. Granted that can't keep him from getting a crush on her, but I doubt anything would come of it. Plus I'm sorry but for a boy he's damn girly. Maybe it's the wardrobe.... all those pastels. Maybe when he gets older he'll have a chance, but it'll probably be late by then.
So there's the situation at hand. One girl and thirteen brothers all after her heart. Pretty messed up right? Still I enjoy it and look forward to more episodes. If you've enjoyed shows like "Ouarn High School Host Club", "La Corda D'Oro" and "Uta no Prince-sama" I'd say give "Brother's Conflict" a shot. You'll probbaly enjoy it too. I'll leave you with the ending theme song as a little extra incentive to check it out.
I know I'm a little late in getting around to this final recap, of Project Runway All Stars, but I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted to go about it. I like all three designers, be it by their work or personality. So no matter who was going to win I wouldn't hate the out come. As far as finals go it was a rather tame watch in the work room. They had four days to create a mini collection to show, and they got to choose how many pieces walked. No special twists and they each even got to choose a previously eliminated designer to help them out for a couple of days.
This week our designers got to take a quick trip to France for inspiration and fabric shopping. They toured the House of Valentino and were invited as VIP guests to the latest couture show. They headed back to states with their imported fabrics and went straight from the air port to work room. They had a little more than 10 hours to put together their own couture creations. Couture looks are generally hand created pieces and can take weeks if not months to finish, so our designers had their work cut out for them.
This week on All Stars our designers where tasked with designing a look for a female veteran from one of the four branches of our U.S. military. Each lady was from a different branch and had their own special event to dress for. The pairings were as follows: Joshua = Army for a formal military event Emilio = Navy for a bachelorlette party in Las Vegas Uli = Marines for a wedding Anthony Ryan = Air Force for her 40th birthday party All the designers were inspired by their veteran models, but Joshua was the one to shine this week. As soon as his lady said she loved leopard print you knew it was a match made in heaven. The look he made for her was youthful and versatile. His client was very happy and confident in her dress and proud to show off her battle scars. Even her service dog got a little vest to compliment her.
I've fallen a bit behind these past few weeks, so allow me to catch us up to speed with this triple shot update.
First up was my favorite of all challenges, the unconventional challenge. The designers hate this one but we as fans love it. This go around they were taken to a Christmas store and had to make a design with items bought from within. The All Stars twist was that it the looks weren't suppose to look like they came from a holiday store.
There was lots of tinsel and glitter mixed with fun and frustration. Uli and her magical trim touch took the top spot that week, though her and Anthony Ryan's looks were very similar in presentation. We also said farewell to Casanova. He just couldn't get his ideas wrapped up in non fabric materials. He went through two or three looks and ended up with a dress from leftovers that the other designers had. Sad to see him go but that was the hand he was dealt.
Unconventional looks I liked:
Uli's golden and silver butterfly dress.
This week our designers went green. They were given the challenge of making a red carpet look from Eco friendly fabrics and their left over trims from past challenges. A lot of the fabrics they had to choose from were very pretty but I don't know if I like how they translated to the red carpet looks. I feel like they would have been better suited to sundresses and beach resort wear. Laura Kathleen took the win this week with her pants dress. Personally I hate it. Yes it looks comfortable but that's about it. I'm not a fan of that much pattern in that design either. The model just seems like she'd being eaten up by it. But I'm not one of the judges, nor am I an influence in the fashion world so who cares what I think. I personally felt that Casanova's dress fit the red carpet better and it had a heavy pattern too. Althea was on the bottom this week. Between a bad fabric choice and too many ideas going into her dress she just didn't make the cut. I think if her dress was just in a different fabric and maybe in a darker color it would have been pretty cool, rather than just sort of odd.
Looks I liked: Casanova's gown Joshua's gown Uli's short dress Check out all the looks onRate the Runway.
Pac-Man Christmas special. Watch it if you never have. It's terrible.
That time of year has rolled around again. I personally am having a hard time getting into the spirit of things so far, partly because of the warm weather we've been having. I grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania, I'm use to being buried in snow by now, but instead here in the Midwest, we're having days hitting seventy. Merry Christmas you don't need a jacket.
One of the things I look forward to every year, besides making cookies and decorating my tree, is watching Christmas specials and movies. I haven't had tv in a couple of year though so I've been making do with picking up my favorites on dvd and blue ray. I wanted to share a few of them with you. Maybe you'll decide to add them to your holiday watch list, if they're not on it already.
