Shinboku-con III
When: April 18, 2009
: 9:00am-9:00pm
Where: Lorain Southview High
Website: [link]

Shinboku-con is a free to attend one day convention hosted by the Lorain County Community College's Anime Society and Role-Player Association. This is the convention's third year in total, but the Anime Society's sixth convention. The convention will feature events such as a cosplay competition, an AMV viewing, and a anime game show. Other activities are to include anime showings, video game tournaments, card gaming, live action roleplaying, crafts/workshops, and much more.

The convention is currently accepting both artist alley and dealer room registrations. Artist tables will be sold for $10.00 each and vendor tables will be sold for $20.00. Anyone interested in being an artist/vendor should e-mail jessie_barnett@shinbokucon.com for availability and a registration form.

I'll be there selling my fleece anime hats. I'm working with a new pattern this year and they look a lot better. The pattern for the hat base took forever to finalize. I had the general idea down, but getting all the dimensions right was a nightmare. I have a couple of the hat bases done with the ears sewn in, but I've yet to get any of the faces done. I'll upload some pictures of the work in progress soon.

Additionally at the convention I'm working two panels. The main one that I am presenting is my 'Square Enix Owns Your Soul' panel. It covers Square's past, present, and future releases with some informative information about the games, the company, and the key makers of the various series. One of my favorite parts is the Square's epic fails over the years. I'm also going to be a co-panelist for my friend's Vocaloid panel. We're pretty much talking about the fandom for that one and watching some shiny videos.

Spring 2009 Anime Line-up
I swear, every season the list of things I want to watch grows. I'm currently fighting my way through the winter 2009 season. However, there is no time like the present to figure out what to watch in the spring, considering most will start to air in April.

Anyways, I highly suggest you check out these new series. I know I'll be watching them.
1. ~Fullmetal Alchemist
+++Okay, who's not planning on watching this. It is made by Square Enix, the first series of it was amazing. The manga is amazing. What's not to love.

2. ~07-Ghost
+++My friend recently started buying the manga for this. From what I have read it has been a really good series. It starts off very cliche, but it picks up quickly.

3. Shangri-La
+++This seems to be a very political anime, which usually is a turn off for me. However, from what I've read about it, the series has a solid story. It's on my list for now, but I'll have to actually see the series to determine if it is worth my time.

4. Tears to Tiara
+++I have a feeling this is going to remind me of Inuyasha, which I liked until they felt the need to drag out the story. This one looks like it has the potential to wrap things up in a decent amount of time. Demon king+romance=good times.

5. TAYUTAMA -Kiss on my deity-
+++The art for this series is really pretty. It looks a little harem-ish, but I'm okay with that. Looks like it might have a slightly more serious main character then most harem series.

6. Valkyria Chronicles: Gallian Chronicles
+++I have to admit, I'm a fan of the military anime. I'm watching this solely on that fact.

7. Saki
+++It's about Mahjong. That's all you need to know.

8. ~Queen’s Blade Ruruo no Senshi
+++Hot girls fighting each other. With blood and murder. That alone should sell you on it.

9. Basquash
+++Robots+basketball=??? Worth at least checking out the first couple of episodes.

10. Asura Cryin’
+++A harem anime about a boy who has been haunted by a ghost since childhood.

11. ~Pandora Hearts
+++A gothic adventure about a boy who is forced into a dark world.

12. ~K-ON!
+++Not enough information about this is out yet. Art looks nice, so I'll give it a shot.

13. Hanasakeru Seishounen
+++Classic shoujo anime. Always a winner in my book.

14. Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~
+++It's about assassins.

15. Natsu no Arashi
+++It's from the creator of school rumble, so its worth a try.

Series with a ~ by them are my top picks. Below are the movies I'm waiting for.
1. Gurren Laagan Movie
2. Eureka Seven Movie
3. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni oath

General
Commissions: Closed
Art Trades: Sketches only, currently don't have access to a tablet
Conventions:
[Shinboku-con] :: Lorain, OH :: April 18th