Saturday, September 22, 2012

[JT] CGC: Magic: the Blendering

In case you haven't realized, I've been trying to make the CGC a weekly thing.  I've been trying to figure out what to talk about this week since I'm not doing the Tempered Steel deck discuss anymore (more on why in a bit), and had a bunch of little things I wanted to talk about, but nothing jumped out as something that needs to be discussed NOW.  What I decided on was to bring back an old series I started at the beginning but haven't touched in a while, Blender, and mixing it into the CGC. 

For those of who have haven't seen any of the previous Blenders, all it is is just me ranting a bit on different topics.  No real rhyme or reason.  Just getting my thoughts out in the open to try and make some sense of them.  The only difference this week is that it will all (or at least almost all) link back to M:tG.

Pulse 1) R.I.P. Venser

So, want to know why I didn't do another Deck Discuss?  Well, FNM tonight was the last standard I got before rotation, so rather than try and max out on the Tempered Steel aspect, I decided to make the deck closer to my original inspiration for it: Venser's Deck (i.e. an artifact deck with no Phyrexia watermarks).  Yes.  This is how Spellbook got it's start, but I had to give my favorite 'walker his day in the sun before putting him to bed.  The deck was basically the same as the last UW Steel deck, but I took out all the Phyrexian spells and replaced them with Mirran spells (Memnites, Stoic Rebuttals, etc.).

I lost out right.  Only one win on my record, but that was via a bye.  So I lost all my rounds.  I did have one epic match against another person who had a WR "Farewell to Scars"-esque deck, using Gold Myr and Priest of Urabrask to ramp.  Game 3 I had a Venser at 9 counters, bouncing a Treasure Mage each time.  All I needed was one Grand Architect and I could cast Myr Battlesphere and have complete board control with Venser giving me 4 more Myr Tokens each turn.  I just couldn't get it done though, and Venser (as well as my life) dwindled to my opponents monsters.

I wish I could have given him a send off that was more fitting his majesty, but at least I gave it a shot.  I'll miss you, buddy.

Pulse 2) Spellbook

There are so many things that I need to consider right now with just the format alone that I can't pin down anything.  I get a fix for one thing using one way, but then I realize it clashes with something else.  For example, there is NO way Venser could only be able to use one Memnite summoning, but any more and we get out of singleton, and away from the basic EDH style.  So we make it a 60-card variant, but that by itself brings other problems.  So we go back to EDH...  And it just cycles.

Making a game is hard -_- 

Pulse 3) The Legend of Zelda? In my card games?

Remember my Link of the Many deck?  Well, I am working on other parts to sort of make it a series of decks.  The first one is a Ganon deck using Kaerveck, the Merciless.  Granted, I SHOULD use a green general since the whole mythos behind my Link deck has Power identified with green.  But I felt since Kaerveck would complete the color cycle, it fit too well.  I'm thinking a bunch of goblins and a few minions with a few other throw backs to other LoZ-universe baddies.  This'll be fun.



Also working on a Water Temple deck with Wrexial, the Risen Deep.












Pulse 4) Factor Friction

Just a quick shout out to Spruke (@ThaGatherin), who released his new EP, "Factor Friction", this week.  It's an awesome dubstep/synth-pop album and you can find it on Amazon.  Here's "All is Dust", featuring the always lovely Laura (@TheEvilLaura).


Pulse 5) A New Standard



Since I never got any suggestions from my CGC last week calling for suggestions for a new standard deck, I've been thinking about a few deck ideas and found two I am absolutely in love with: Deadeye Control (combo-ing Deadeye Navigator with a few "Enter the Battlefield" creatures for repeatable effects; the most important one being Angel of Serenity from Return to Ravnica.) and Bruna combo-ed with Righteous Authority.  Right now I'm leaning towards the Deadeye Control build (the fact that the name itself is bad ass has NOOOOOOTHING to do with my decision.  Nope.  None at all...).  I've never build a control deck though, so this should be fun... 





Damn....  five pulses... that's the most so far.  Not only that, I really was able to blend together a bunch of CGC stuff.  I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of impressed with myself for that.  Anyway.  I'm off to tweak this deck.  Let me know if you have any thoughts on these or the posts I linked back to!

No whammy!  No whammy!  No whammy!  STOP!  Damnit...  mulligan...

-JT

Saturday, September 15, 2012

[JT] CGC: Something Standard this way comes...

OK.  So I was going to do part two of Spellbook this week, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I need to wait a little bit longer to do it.  With all the different things I am considering for it, there is nothing concrete for me to write about.  Maybe I'll do a Blender on it later, but for now, I want to talk a bit more about standard, and what I'm going to be doing in a few weeks.

As we all know, the first Friday in October marks the launch of Return to Ravnica.  The moment that midnight, Friday morning hits, my entire Venser/Tempered Steel deck will no longer be standard legal.  As I said in my previous CGC, if you're playing FNM, you will eventually need a standard deck.  This brings us to the point of this CGC.

I can't figure out what deck to use once rotation occurs, and since I can't I decided I would try and let you choose.  I want you all to suggest decks for me to try out.  Not full deck lists or anything (unless you want); just certain key cards or combos I can build a deck around. Now, I'm not giving free domain here.  There are a few things I want you to keep in mind when suggesting things:

1) Budget

As you've seen, I prefer to play on the budget side of things.  If I can get a hold of more expensive cards somehow (mostly from random FNM packs or trading), I'll use them, but I do not want to go out of my way to pick them up.  I just cannot justify spending $40+ dollars (the lowest price of Bonfire of the Damned right now -_-) on a card that will eventually drop in value once I have no more use for it.  I am not quite as strict with this anymore, though.  Since Innistrad will have another year to rule, and RtR will have two, I don't mind trying to splurge a bit on higher level/cost cards like a Geist of Saint Traft or four.  Which brings me to my next point...




2) Five Shades of Blue

Have you taken the "Which guild are you?" test over on the Mothership?  I have, and all it did was prove what I already knew: I am five shades of blue when it comes to M:tG.  This means I will play any color combination that has blue.  The test also proved another point that I had surmised from the very beginning of my M:tG experience:  I am Azorius.  All the other U/X guilds were suggested, but UW Azorius was the one that was most dominant, which makes sense since I have unwittingly chosen the UW Intro Pack for both M11 and M12.  So while the deck does not have to be UW, doing so will make me more likely to play it, and will also help point (1) since I already have the lands for it (OK, I only have one Hallowed Fountain right now, but I have no qualms with splurging to get 3 more).  Now for the last point, and I'm certain at least half of the people who starting thinking of a blue aligned deck already considered this...



3) The Ubiquitous Delver of Secrets





















Yes.  Yes....

We all know how amazing Delver of Secrets is.  Just look at any format where he is legal and see how many utilize it.  I know I have written it off before (multiple times), but I have taken a small liking to Jeff Goldblum here.  None the less, he is done to death and back again, but is the perfect card for me.  I love using UW Fliers.  I love hitting early and then keeping the tempo from then on.  He's perfect, and combos so well with two other (in my opinion), under-appreciated cards:  Angelic Overseer and Divine Reckoning.  So, I will admit that a UW Delver deck is the early favorite for the deck I will start out using after rotation.  I hear a lot of people who are saying Delver is going to be so underpowered because Mana Leak and Ponder are leaving, but some of the things I have seen from RtR have me curious, Azorius Charm in particular.  The main reason I am pointing this out though is a sort of challenge.  I WANT you to give me a deck idea that I can get excited about, and possibly still do well with, so that I do not have to resort to this annoying little fly.

The other front runner for new deck idea is going to be a Neo-Venser deck, utilizing Deadeye Navigator.  There are some awesome ETB effects that will still be in Standard that might make a viable deck.  I just don't know how powerful it will be in the upcoming meta.

[EDIT (9-17):  OK!  So, the more I see of RTR, I am REALLY starting to like the idea of an Azorius Enchantment deck... Maybe with Deadeye Navigator.]

So there you have it.  PLEASE give me ideas.  I want a deck idea that I get as enamored with as I did with Venser's Steel, and I will seriously consider and ponder any legitimate deck idea that is presented.  So either leave a comment or feel free to tweet me @NerdPop140.  I look forward to some awesome ideas.

Now if you excuse me, I have an annoying little fly buzzing around that I need to take care of...

-JT

P.S.  Before I go, I'll leave you with this eBay listing for some INCREDIBLE Delver alters.  Delver of Secrets, I chose you!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

[Jas] Cosplay Costume Party - Valentine (Guilty Gear) Pt. 1

Intro: For such a long involved costume like this one, there is no way I can cover the whole thing in one post. Unless that is, if I cut out pretty much EVERYTHING. Which I could always do, but I don't want to do that, so I'm going to break it into parts so that I may go into a little more detail on the whole process, yeah? 

Part 1: Skirt + Hat  + Wig


Valentine is a villain from the Guilty Gear game franchise. I chose this costume for a very small con actually, called EAE (Erie Anime Experience) which is this coming September [JT's note: Ummm.... *looks at date*...  nevermind.  I'll let her figure it out.]. I find her super adorable and of course I pick someone with a terribly confusing costume. Because why would I choose someone easy...right? RIGHT! So....in this part I'm going to talk about the skirt and hat, which were the first things I attempted of the costume. (The hat took longer than I thought...and was pretty involved)







Valentines Skirt: I started on this part of the outfit, using pleather (Which is a BITCH to hem/sew in general, because it’s so thick. I wanted to cry and pretty much had to hand feed it through the machine by tugging on it. I thought I was going to sew my fingers to the skirt. I pretty much did cry while sewing the hem. Presser foot = USELESS!! I’m actually surprised that my needle didn’t break…which has happened before (Oddly enough I have an irrational fear that it will break and launch into my eye and somehow I’ll die).


All pinned together on the floor
I made the entire skirt without a pattern…minus the pleat pattern that I cut out of printer paper. I made it a little small. OTL and had to remake the upper band and add snaps, so that it would fit better. (Or I could just lose weight…but that’s too hard because I’M FAT! *is slapped*)
ALL OF MY TEARS!!!!

Excuse my poor lighting
All in all it was the easier part of the costume to sew/complete. It took the least amount of time and came out pretty good, considering I was winging the whole pattern thing…which I do frequently. I also made it high-waisted so I can pull it up, or down if needed to change how long it looks. 

Materials:
2 yards of pleather (just to be safe, I had a lot of extra which I used for other stuff aka wings on my huge ball thing)
12 metal studs
Zipper
Snaps
Paper (for pattern)







Valentines Hat: I was trying to put this off......but, for some reason I started it right away.... >_> Anyways. So let's see, I made the base with craft foam. So that it would hold a general shape, then from there I put fabric over top and sewed it all together. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help from my trusty dress form...and I still stabbed myself with pins MULTIPLE times. (multiple = over 100 most likely)

Me wearing the base, ignore my UGLY FACE

Dress form...I love you
The craft foam base was completely hot glued together. Which resulted in minor burns. Cosplay HURTS!!!! IT HURTS SO GOOD!!! Anyways. So everything was pinned together on the dress form and that was also how everything was measured. It took A LOT of time to get everything right. I had to make sure the ends hung down long enough.

Then, I used black lining to make the patterns on the white arrow section of the hat. SO MUCH PINNING! Though I'm happy of how it turned out....sewing it was quite a pain, I had to force the needle through half the time...once again I'm surprised that I didn't break the needle while sewing all the lining to the hat. 

Good thing I don't have finger nails....
I crafted all the decals out of model magic...which, in retrospect, bends and easily cracks. (which is bad) So I'm a little concerned about attaching all the bones to the hat. Which is why I haven't done that yet...I'm waiting until I reach the actual con to attach them. So for now I just have them all done and waiting to be attached on game day!!! Also....model magic sticks to things like paper, which is why the bones are sitting on craft foam...the bones on the sketch book back totally stuck to it. Ew. 
Remember these!?!

Now, I wanted the hat to be able to stretch fit a little, so I didn't sew anything TO the craft foam base. Instead I used these handy little buggers that you may remember from elementary school when you made paper toys with moving parts. Yeah?  Well, they worked wonderfully to hold the hat craft foam base to the fabric. I poked them through 2 layers of fabric and the craft foam, and they hold rather nicely. (I'm going to paint them to blend in...obviously) I also used them to attach the other decals to the hat. Since, hot gluing the decals to the fabric wouldn't have worked that well. I also attached the rim by hand, sewing it on....carefully. I forgot to take a picture, and I'm too lazy at the moment....

This is as completed as it gets for the moment

So...you won't see a totally completed hat until EAE, but you can see all the steps taken to make it what it is....

Hat on my head. LOVE! 
Secret: I totally want to wear this around in public...I happen to love it dearly. XD

Materials:
Black fabric 
Model magic in white
Hot glue
Craft foam
Push-through thingies
Black lining 









Wig half cut! I look so unhappy
Valentine's Wig: So, I ordered a long one because I couldn't find a short one in the right color D: Which meant I needed to trim it to the proper length! Wig trimming is a million times easier than lengthening/adding wefts or any of the other complicated wig-styling nonsense. 

Thankfully Valentine has a relatively normal hair style, unlike many other game/anime characters. Plus she has that massive hat on her head which covers half the wig anyways.... man I love that hat....

I still need to trim it a bit more, but I need to buy some new hair cutting materials before I finish it completely. Though...look at all that hair on the carpet....yuck. I should have put paper down....
SO MUCH HAIRRR!!!!


Stay tuned for Part 2!! Which could contain any of the following: boots, under skirt, jacket + cuffs, or the giant ball!! 


Sunday, September 9, 2012

[Nyxiie] ConView: Belated Otakon '12

[JT's note:  YAY!  She finally wrote something! :P]

I’m finally getting around to writing this lol.  You can also view my vlog from Otakon on my youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NyxiieCosplay/videos

So, I went into this con not expecting much since last year was a major disappointment, but it surprisingly turned out to be better then ever!!

[JT's note: You never want to see Nyxiie smile at you.  Trust me.]
Thursday was spent mostly in the car driving to the con. We got caught in a crazy storm right before we hit Baltimore, and once we arrived we met up with our roomies before heading to the con center to pick up our badges. Then the rest of the night was spent in the room where many shenanigans took place. Mostly fixing my partner in crime's, Chandler, Catwoman cosplay.

Friday morning came around and I ended up waking up first, around 7am, and quietly tried to get into my Harley cosplay, but I'm pretty sure I failed at being quiet lol.  As soon as Chandler was up we hastily started getting everything ready for our photoshoot at 2pm. We ended up leaving the room around noon, I believe.


[JT's note: DON'T BE FOOLED!]
I have to say, our DC cosplays were a huge hit!! We received so much positive feedback as Catwoman and Harley Quinn, it was so awesome!! And our photoshoot was a blast!! Unfortunately though, our Ivy decided she didn't want to do the photoshoot, so we were missing our Red, but the photoshoot was amazing none the less. After our shoot, one of other good friends filmed us for his Otakon video, which you can find here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfHlISJABsQ&feature=plcp, and during the shoot we ran into a really awesome Batman villians group who convinently needed a Harley and Catwoman! We grabbed a couple photos with them and exchanged info before we changed into our FFX-2 Festival Goer cosplays, which is probably the most comfortable cosplay I have ever worn!! Seriously, it was like being in my pj's! We had a mini photoshoot in the evening which turned out pretty sweet!! Then we grabbed some dinner and headed back to the room to chill with our roomies.


Then Saturday came around and we had another photoshoot at 11am that morning, so Chandler, Kate, Jess, and myself all helped each other get into our Vocaloid cosplays. I was so excited to finally cosplay with Kate and Jess since we had been talking about it for years!! It was so much fun to walk around with them and hang out in the con. Afterwards, Chandler and I had to run back to the hotel and change into Harley and Catwoman for a Batman shoot at 2pm with the epic group we had met on Friday. We literally just made it in the nick of time too, I think that was the fastest I had ever changed and put makeup on in my life! XD The Batman shoot was amazing and we met some really cool people that we ended up chilling with for the rest of the con!

I ended up getting sick Saturday night and was unable to make it to my Avatar shoot on Sunday, which pretty much ruined the rest of the day for me. But we did get to hang out with our Batman friends again and browsed around the Artist Alley for a bit before we had to leave. Despite getting sick, the con was pretty amazing. I met some amazing new friends, got to see wonderful old friends that I hadn't seen since Katsucon, and they all convinced me to come back again next year!! 8D

[JT's final note: Hope you enjoyed Nyxiie's inaugural piece.  Yes it's belated.  Yes the con was a while ago.  At least she got it done though.  She'll hopefully have another ConView for you soon too!]

Friday, September 7, 2012

[JT] CGC: Rotating Steel - UW Tempered Steel v2.0

Standard rotation can be a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, standard is the premiere M:tG format, so if you want to play at FNM-level tournaments and beyond, you will most likely have to have at least one standard deck at all times.  The problem is though that since standard is the flagship format, the value of cards that rock the format might be utter garbage in other formats.  Once the card rotates out, that value will plummet.  This is why I started playing budget decks.  I don't see the point in investing all of my money into cards that will eventually depreciate in value, especially since I only play standard for fun and focus on sealed play.

On the other hand, however, budget players like myself do get a form of a last laugh.  Remember when Seachrome Coast was $20+ a piece?  With rotation looming ever closer, I recently was able to pick up an entire play set for $20.  Remember how Sword of Feast and Famine and Sword of War and Peace were ~$35 and ~$40 a piece?  They're now down to ~$15.  Yes.  I only get about a month or so to use them, but do you want to know something?  I only play standard every other week or so anyway, and I only trade for them (not buy), because I am considering turning the deck into a Modern deck post-rotation.

So, speaking of the deck, here's the build I used tonight:

Creatures (25):
Riddlesmith x4
Treasure Mage x1
Spined Thopter x3
Porcelain Legionnaire x3
Grand Architect x4
Etched Champion x4
Phyrexian Metamorph x2
Steel Hellkite x2
Myr Battlesphere x2

Planeswalker (2):
Venser, the Sojourner x2

Spells (11):
Mox Opal
Vapor Snag x3
Dispatch x3
Tempered Steel x2
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Body and Mind

Lands (22):
Seachrome Coast x4
Glacial Fortress x4
Buried Ruin x3
Inkmoth Nexus x3
Island x8

Side (15):
Stoic Rebuttal x2
Oblivion Ring x2
Flashfreeze x2
Celestial Purge x2
Redirect x3
Staff of Nin x2
Tormod's Crypt x2

If you recall from my previous deck discuss on v1.0, there were three things I considering when going into my retweaks: (1) removal of the Tempered Steel's all together.  (2) Blue Sun's Zenith alone just was not enough draw power, and (3) No turn 1 plays.  I addressed these concerns by:

(1) Swapping 2x Tempered Steel with 2x Phyrexian Metamorph.  The Metamorphs gave me more artifacts to make my Metalcraft live, as well as more versatility in what artifacts I have and how many of them are in the deck (in a sense).  They also play well with Venser.  I wanted to keep the other two Tempered Steels in though because I have too many artifact creatures to not.

(2)  I took out the two Blue Sun's Zenith's as well as the Unwinding Clock and a Treasure Mage for 4x Riddlesmith's.  These 2-drops alone help me rifle through the deck incredibly fast; much faster than the Zeniths.

(3)  While they were not intended for this, 3x Inkmoth Nexus's allows for a turn 1 play at least part of the time.  They were originally intended to be three more artifacts to activate Metalcraft that just so happened to fit into my mana base instead of my spell base.  The Nexi are another reason I was set on leaving in a few of the Tempered Steels.

Among the other adjustments I made were the inclusion of two swords.  Why only two?  And why THOSE two?  Because they're the only ones I have ; P

So how did it perform?  Round one I played... Boros (RW).  That's about all I can say from it.  I won 2-0 and never really saw anything come together for the deck.  I want to say it was some kind of ultra aggressive build, but I poisoned him before he was able to really get anything going.  The highlight of this match was in game two, he sided in Combusts, and took out all my early guys.  He even Day of Judgment'ed me when all I had was a lone Etched Champion.  He did that to keep me with no creatures (except twin Nexi) so that he could drop a Thundermaw Hellkite that would not get caught in the DoJ crossfire.  The Hellkite (sadly for my opponent) didn't even see the battlefield because of the Flashfreeze in my hand.




















 Round two was against suicide-black zombies, which just out raced me, resulting in a 0-2 loss.  Now, I love this deck.  Maybe not this particular build, but the archetype in general.  If there was anything I took away from the match, though, it was my biggest misplay of the night.  He Killing Wave'ed for 1 with three Blood Artist on the field (two copies via Phyrexian Metamorph).  I had two creatures, and rather than just paying the two life to keep both of them, I kept one... and promptly lost 3 life for the other one thanks to the Artists -_-.




















Round three I lost 0-2 to Red Deck Wins.  He just kept burning my creatures before I could activate Etched Champion's Metalcraft.  That in addition to the mana flood I was in game one, and just out racing me in game two was just the end of me.

Round four was such a disappointment.  Don't get me wrong; I won the match.  Just not how I should have.  I was playing against RG Werewolves (not sure if it was a Wolf Run or not.  I didn't see much in the way of ramp though), and game one I won pretty much outright: bouncing his transformed wolves and crashing with a Porcelain Legionnaire with Tempered Steel out.  Game two, I was not able to keep my Champions metalcrafted long enough to survive against the (what felt like) suite of Ancient Grudges he had for me.  He was two turns away from finishing me off for a game three when my opponent looks at his watch and saws "Awe crap.  I scoop."  Apparently, he had a date and was just forfeiting the match to me.  It felt terrible because that was not how I wanted to win, especially when we were having such a great match.

So, at the end of it, I ended up 2-2, with three packs in prizes (maybe four, but I left before round four was over on the condition that if my ranking went up high enough after everyone reports, I will just get my fourth pack next week).  One contained a Liliana of the Veil.  So hey.  I'm happy.  I have a few things to consider for the next time I run the deck, the biggest of which breaks my heart (ironically).  Venser has not been doing me any good.  On paper he looks great and can do all kinds of stuff with my deck.  In execution though, I haven't cast Venser in any of the eight matches I have played with this deck.  I think it is time for him to go.  We'll see though. 

There you have it.  I think I might possibly get one more standard FNM in with this deck before Return to Ravnica hits and Scars of Mirrodin block (I.e. my entire deck) rotates out.  Speaking of which, as you all know (or at least I am assuming if you are reading this, you know) PAX this past weekend marked the start of RtR previews.  I've seen some really cool things so far (and a few things that pissed me off a little more than they should have), and I think I will be sticking with the Azorius guild in standard as I have from the very beginning.  The question will come down to what kind of deck though? 

I have a quasi-Delver build in mind.  Yes yes... I know I ranted against Delver and that's what made me play the deck you see above.  I did, however, state that I had a build in mind that I would not mind trying.  It's still in the planning stages, but I might give it a try once I see the rest of RtR.  Perhaps I'll have you choose the deck I use.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some forms I need to fill out and send off to it's honor, Isperia.


-JT


Thursday, September 6, 2012

[Jas] Anime Rewind – Double Threat



[JT's note:  You all seem to love Jas's reviews... So, here's a double dose for you.]




So while surfing youtube (looking for cute cat videos as per usual), I stumbled upon a review of the 20 most epic anime characters by gigguk. It's an 8 part list and of course there were some characters in there that I knew of. But there were others from animes that I’d never heard of before. So, I set off to watch some of those. One, was pretty new called Darker than Black, something that I remember seeing while watching other series but never watched it myself. The second was Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. Which has a really interesting art/animation style. I mean, I like seeing others views of epic characters, so I found this interesting!

Darker Than Black
Release Year: 2007
Episode Count: 25
Epic Character Rank: #19- Hei
Hei was ranked pretty low on the epic character list, which was mainly for season 2 of Darker than Black. (I haven’t seen the second season yet) I enjoyed the series for the most part, it wasn’t too spectualur in my opinion. Though it was part of the plot, a lot of the character lacked emotions and I felt like I didn’t get to know much about the past lives of them main characters all that much.

Mao guys....his name even SOUNDS like meow. 
My all time favorite character was most obviously the talking cat, Mao. I mean c’mon. I love cats. So that made the show vastly more exciting for me. Though you don’t get to learn much about his past. :/ Well, I still liked the series as a whole and I will probably watch season 2, just because I’m interested as to why it made the creator of the epic character video rank him so low on the list.

Overall, the plot line was interesting, with a few holes I would have liked to be filled. The characters were, for the most part, interesting though I found some to be rather flat. There were a lot of elements that seem to be in many animes now adays: Lolita girls, assassians, sister complex, and something new. The whole “stars” thing I found interesting, though I still feel like I don’t really understand the whole contracting thing and why some people became contractors and others didn’t. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention well enough when it was explained or something.

Still…..when Hei was explained near the end I was shocked. I honestly hadn’t seen that coming at all. Nor did I really understand the ending either. Maybe I’d need to watch it again, or watch the second season. Or maybe I need to pay attention more instead of doing dishes and trying to watch anime at the same time. (I can’t help that I’m a WORKING WOMAN OKAY??!?!) <spoiler> When Hei made the two different choices I got confused, especially when Amber turned back time so that he could choose again after making the first choice. So I was kinda confused at the final choice he made….I know he used his power to change everything to a quantum level…but I would have liked his/his sister’s powers to be explained a little more <end spoiler>
Can't lie, he is super smexy 

Perhaps the second season will clear up more things, and perhaps I will enjoy it more than the creator of the epic anime character videos. (He mentioned moe/Lolita girls and you know something…I like them….)
Just from this gif the second season looks....promising.....

Also not going to lie…I had some ships that I wanted to see happen. DREAMS CRUSHED AS PER USUAL! T_T

Though it was a good anime, I find it hard to really write a riveting review on it. I puttered through it, liked it mildly, and I’m interested in the second season. 
recommend giving it a shot if you haven't watched it already, it's pretty interesting and the fight scenes are awesome. Also, the powers people have are interesting, very original! Also. Yin. Adorable.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo
Release Year: 2004
Episode Count: 24
Epic Character Rank: # 7 – The Count
Okay, although the animation was sometimes blinding. I found myself staring at the clothing/hair far too often..the patterns were so vibrant!! Can’t. Stop. Watching. Patterns. Move. When. They. Move. Augh! But. Ignoring all of that, I really like the story. They keep things vague, like a mystery, and that might be why I really enjoyed watching it.
It also might be because of the vampire. I love revenge stories. I just love the Count.

The Count (left..duh) and Albert
Albert, the lead, is a little annoying at times. But his clothes, totally awesome. I also enjoy the borderline yaoi-ish relationship he has with the count….but I hate his naieve-ness when it comes to the count as well. He trusts so easily, it seems, and that bothers me. His best friend, Franz, is a relatively flat character for the most part, I feel like they should have given him more of a background. I think I would have liked to see more emotions, don’t get me wrong, the characters do show emotion, but there are a few key moments where I would have liked some more. (That’s the girl in me though)

The series started out strong and picked up pretty fast, which was great. There wasn’t a long introduction-type section. I’m not a fan of the opening or ending songs though…and that hurts my soul because I really do like the series as a whole.

I ship Franz and Albert, Franz totally wants Albert, you can’t deny it. And I won’t lie….<spoiler> When Franz died in Albert’s arms I was bawling my little eyes out and momentarily totally hated the Count with all my heart and soul. WHY DO MY SHIPS ALWAYS DIE??!??!! It was just so touching how the last thing Franz did was wish Albery happy birthday after fighting the duel to the death in Albert’s place. The whole time Franz was always just trying to protect Albert. AH THE LOVE!!! </end spoiler>
THEY LOVE EACH OTHER!

WHY SO ATTRACTIVE???!?!?! UNF!
This whole revenge story is so well planned out and there is so much to it. So may people intertwined and hiding scandals. SO MANY FEELS WHILE WATCHING THIS ANIME!!! TEARS! TEARS!!! There is such hatred, love, despair, ruin, and forgiveness in this series. <Spoiler> When the count, Edmond Dantes dies, after getting a kiss on the cheek from Albert, which frees him from the hold over his body, I just wanted to cry when he told Albert to remember his real name. OH I SHIP THEM TOO! TEARS! TEARS!! Edmond was really attractive in the end as well….can’t lie. Even while bleeding out. OH WHY OH WHY?!?!?! Albert loved him to the end, even though Edmon, the count, wanted to kill him pretty much till his last breath. <end spoiler>

My feels..... GROSS SOBBING!
It’s so deep. SO DEEP! Even though sometimes I didn’t like Albert, because he is just so emotional and so trusting that it bothers me. His forgiveness is astounding, even for people that he shouldn’t forgive.

Oh the final act (aka last episode) One of my ship dreams came true and I smiled so hard. SO HARD! T_T Weeping tears of joy, excuse me. Even though there were so many sad moments in the anime, so much heart break and revenge, I’m glad to see such a relatively heart warming and happy ending to the show.


now that it's over....I'm dead...from the feels


I suggest watching this. It has everything. EVERYTHING! It exceeded my expectations!

Other animes I plan to check out after watching the youtube videos:
Monster
Release Year: 2004
Episode Count: 74
Epic Character Rank: # 2 – Johan

And

Samari Camploo
Release Year: 2004
Episode Count: 26
Epic Character Rank: #14 – Mugen

Have any other suggestions for me to watch? I always love trying out older series that I haven’t seen before!