Journalist “Slut and Body Shames” Cosplayers at Comic Con Africa

Knowing that the majority of my readers are not South African, I thought I’d bring to your attention a controversial article that has been making the rounds in the South African geek community as of late.

Oreimo AMV

My latest AMV creation featuring scenes from Oreimo. I wanted to focus mainly on the relationship between Kyosuke and Kuroneko and the tragedy behind it (yes, I ship them). Hope you enjoy it 🙂

Anime: Oreimo

Music: I Could Have Lied – Red Hot Chili Peppers

It’s a (Wo)man’s World: Looking at Higurashi From a Feminist Perspective

The fictional town of Hinamizawa is not new to those familiar with the Higurashi series. Fans will know that this town is filled with many mysteries: from its storied past to the mysterious deaths and disappearances that happen during the Watanagashi Festival. What makes Higurashi an intriguing series is that it raises more questions than answers. As the title suggests, I will look at how Higurashi can be read as a feminist text through its use of strong female characters and subversion from society’s expectations of women. For the purpose of this article I will refer to each arc in the series using their original name. For example, Chapter 1 will be referred to as Onikakushi, Chapter 2 will be referred to as Watanagashi and so forth. Note that this article will also contain spoilers so please read at your own discretion.

Miyazaki Reflections: My Neighbour Totoro

For those of you who follow me on Twitter you will know that I am currently doing a seminar on Miyazaki as part of my film course. One of the assignments that I had to do was to give my thoughts and reflections on two of his films. One of those was My Neighbour Totoro. Here are my thoughts on the film. Hope you enjoy reading it 🙂

The Versatile Blogger Award

This is completely overdue so I apologise for only doing this now, but thank you to Matt-in-the-Hat for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award. I really appreciate it!

RULES:

• Display the award on your blog. 
• Thank the person who nominated you and put a link to their blog. 
• Share 7 things about yourself.
• Nominate 9 or more bloggers and let them know you nominated them.

The Baka’s Guide to Surviving Your First Convention

Comic Book Conventions, such as San Diego Comic Con, are one of the many highlights on the geek calendar. This is where you would usually spend your hard earned money on comics, figurines, special drawings and video games, usually at a discounted rate. While this is just one aspect of attending conventions, others attend for the vibe or to show off their latest cosplay creations. While it’s nice to think about the great things you hope to do at the event, it’s always good to be prepared for anything, especially if you are a first time attendee. Here are a few tips to help you survive your first comic book convention, based on my personal experiences.

UCON 2015

So this past weekend I attended a local convention in my area called UCON; a convention organised by the University of Cape Town’s anime club called Genshiken (yes, based on the anime). It was a 2-day event filled with many things you would usually find at a geek convention: gaming, manga, comics, figurines and lots more.

When Video Games Found You Love

Excuse me; are you perhaps the droid I am looking for? [Image via Favim]

So recently I found a sweet and lighthearted article on Kotaku about how different people found love through video games and other geek interests – it really warmed my heart reading about them. Afterwards, I went to the comments section to read more stories that didn’t make the final cut; I just wanted to read more of these stories. It really goes to show you that video games are more than just “child’s play”; it can also potentially help you find your soulmate (local or international). If you or anyone else you know experienced something similar to the stories I read I would love to hear about them 🙂

Land of the Rising Queer: Depictions of the Anime Lesbian

[Image via Anime Planet]

So this was an essay I recently wrote for my film seminar on the depiction of lesbian characters in anime in relation to Japan’s view on homosexuality. Aoi Hana was the case study I used in the essay. If you have the time and/or perhaps interested in what I wrote, please give it a read. Let me know in the comments section what you thought about it.

My Experience in the Star Wars Battlefront BETA

[Image via Forbes]

A Return to That Galaxy Far, Far Away…

This past weekend I was one of the many participants in the Star Wars Battlefront BETA (Apparently 9 million people took part in the BETA, according to EA). Star Wars has always been something special and important in my life so, naturally, I got very excited to try out the game before it released. After blasting Imperial scum and not finding the droids we were looking for, here are my initial impressions of Star Wars Battlefront.