One Piece More: I Want a Teddy Zoro to Hug Too

So another week another week. Boy am I tired! I am so glad there wasn't a new manga chapter because I wouldn't have been up for it. Well I still did a post but it was more like me asking a lot of stupid questions. haha. Still it was cool. The post got retreeted on Twitter by OtakuPride and supposedly seen by over 400 people! THAT IS AWESOME! I am kind of awestruck by that but ok. Very cool.


Still good thing there wasn't a manga chapter this week. Still there is a lot of things in this More post to make it very long. Just bare with it. I got a lot of interesting things in this post that I think are worth reading.

Fairy Tail Episode 1
So Fairy Tail finally was release this past Sunday/Monday on CrunchRoll. Let me talk about what I didn't like first before I go all ranty and upset. 

First off, nobody go around and tell me it is like One Piece. Because you are already setting it up for fail for me. haha Well I don't care if you say that since everybody else is saying it. The thing is that it annoys me and kind of personal. Maybe people don't realize how much I like One Piece or something but I have One Piece on a very high shelf. A very high shelf. If I can place my anime fandoms on a shelf then One Piece would be on the very top! So high that I need two chairs to stand on in order reach for it. Then somewhere not too far from it is Shugo Chara! follow by whatever else is there. So when everybody and my friend is telling me it is just like One Piece then that is a very bold statement there! So when I saw this episode of Fairy Tail, yeah....not so good. After I got done watching Fairy Tail, I felt like it was over hyped and just not good. I mean it was funny and good but nothing like One Piece. I mean the first episode when compared directly to One Piece had some things. Natsu has somebody he looks up to and looking for like Luffy is. Both heroes are stupid. Something about a group of people. Setting is in some sort of not reality setting. This part here where I make comparisons between the two shows was so clear in my head on Tuesday but since then I mind has forgot. Oh well...Best for the blog! haha

Still now to the good points of Fairy Tail. It was funny. There was a good amount of laughs in the first episode but not as funny as the first episode of One Piece. haha And that is what happens when people say things like "Fairy Tail is like One Piece" remarks. Still to the good points. It was funny. Already said that? Well it is okay because that means I will like it. One of the things I look for in an anime is if it is funny. It is rare if I get into an anime that isn't funny or something. I just don't do serious too well but if it can mix in seriousness in there then good for that anime. Natsu is a funny guy and cool. Still I am finding myself like Lucy more then Natsu. One of the main reasons why I like Natsu is because he isn't part of this fad of anime heroes who are all dark and emo-ish. I mean look at a lot of recent anime heroes. Naruto, Ichigo, and Soul are all part of this recent fad of heroes that most of the time are angry, upset and sad about something. They also wear black and junk. Black is a cool color and all but when they are always blaming themselves for something that isn't their fault. Then it just gets annoying and stupid. Hard to enjoy the anime when the main hero is being all sad. Still Natsu is cool. He is funny, stupid and really just enjoyable to watch. Right now I don't see Natsu being lame by blaming himself for something pointless so that is good. I see him just partying and enjoying himself. If something happens, he isn't going to have a pity party but just going to take action and go for it. That is good.

And this wouldn't be a Fairy Tail post if I didn't put Lucy in here. haha As I said, I like Lucy and I would like a full body pin up of this scene here. Wait? Did I just say that out loud? Umm....She is pretty right? haha And she has a cool power so that is good. I can't wait till they do the episodes about Chapter 5. haha

So this may become something I talk about in One Piece More post. I am going to use the Three Episode Rule but I don't think that is needed. I like Fairy Tail enough to watch it on my own and it is a good thing I am catching it on the first episode. That way it will be easier for me to watch it.

Funimation Cracking Down on FanSubs and Providers
So if you follow Funimation on Twitter then you would know that they cause a bit of a ripple in the anime Twitterverse. It all started with this tweet(s) that Funimation made.

hey bloggers and new anime-focused web site folks don't request review copies or interviews with voice talent if you openly support fansubs or have links to them on your site. I will say no.
-The dude that does the tweets on Twitter for Funimation

The first thing I was thinking was if my dream of having a private interview with a One Piece Funi VA was down the drain. Then I guess it still had a chance on that. Then the afternoon went by and I kept tabs on the situation while in class. Turns out that Funi had said that because some site that was providing fansubs had the genius idea of asking Funi for either an interview and/or free stuff which got Funi upset. Eventually the site that had asked for it got linked on Twitter (I am not going to link the site here because they already got more attention then they deserve already) and I took a look. Seems like the guy there was crying about how they are being picked on by Funi and playing the victim.

Still I want to take the time to talk about Funsubbing since it seems like everybody else is at this moment. 

I admit along with everybody else that I watch fansubs. Any anime fan with internet access has watch fansubs at one point of their anime fandom. If an anime fan with internet access tells you they haven't seen fansubs before then there is a good chance that they are lying. haha The thing is that watching fansubs is bad for the anime industry and now Funi is taking a stand on it. They know it is bad but they also know that it is out there and sometimes there is a good reason. They even said so themselves that some times to watch a certain anime you like that the only way to do so it by watching fansubs. I watched Shugo Chara! by fansubs until CrunchRoll picked it up.

My stand on Fansubs are basically is that if it isn't licensed then watch tham all you want. If it is then well....Sucks to be you? The thing is that the fansubbing thing is kind of dieing out slowly. Anime is now being picked up by American licensing companies pretty fast and places like Funi is making them viewable on their site. Then there is CR, as evil as they are, who is making new animes that may have a long wait before being picked up to be seen legally on their site. Most of these sites have their subs up almost an hour after they are shown live in Japan which is making it kind of pointless to wait a day for somebody to take rips from a place like CR and putting them on some fansubbing viewing site. Then most of the time those are some bad quality rips. I am calling them rips because really, any anime that is being shown on  site like CR are just somebody recording the episode on some sort of screen recording program and then saving it on a file and sending it the site. I am sure some people are going to disagree me on this but I really think that in a few years that fansubbing is going to go done. Either it will be replaced by rips or more anime is going to be available legally online via means of CR, Funi or something similar to CR.

The thing is that us One Piece fans should be grateful that Funi has the rights to One Piece after all that the series has been though. Funi could have given up on One Piece after 4Kids picked it up and just left it alone. Still they waited till when 4Kids were showing signs of dropping it and then picked it up. Funi could have place One Piece as a sunk cost when CN dropped it but they still kept going at it. Now they have the full support of Toei and together they are making a push to make One Piece popular outside of Japan. It is rare that an anime would get a second life after being dropped by a company. What happen to One Piece is something I pray for everyday to happen to Tokyo Mew Mew. Not all anime series or old anime series who were dubbed during the young days of anime dubbing get to have the same chance that One Piece had. I am sure that there are tons of people out there that wish Sailor Moon or Cardcaptors Sakura would get redubbed. I wouldn't mind that. For that I am grateful towards Funi for.

I also understand that some countries don't have anybody with the rights to One Piece or something but really that is okay. Well not really since that country's people are being denied the best series ever. Still Funi is a business that is caring for themselves by counting the money. At the end of the day, Funi is a business that needs to make money. Without money a business can't run and will be shut down. Now we can't let that happen because then we lose One Piece. Funi knows that there are people who are watching One Piece in the Middle East by fansubs and they are okay with that. But if you live in the United States where they make their profits then you should be watching the One Piece subs. If you don't buy the DVDs then at least watching the subs on OnePieceOfficial. The thing is that Funi has to eat. haha Still that site said that they are a small time site and they are not hurting the anime industry. That is true. They are not hurting the anime industry but the thing is the internet is a huge place and there is TON of fansubbing sites out there. It is all those fansubbing sites that are hurting the anime industry. Each fansubbing provider site is a drop of water falling on a weak roof. Eventually that roof is going to fall and flood your house.

As you can see, I watch fansubs (by watching Kampfer) still but I am not going to support a fansub if I can get it legally. Still it is a good thing that a lot of the animes I watch now have been picked up in some form or way. Shugo Chara! and Fairy Tail are being provided by CR. One Piece on Funi. I stopped watching Soul Eater but I can watch that on Funi's site. Bleach is on Adult Swim and Naruto is on Disney XD. Kampfer is the only series that hasn't been picked up but once it is, may it be 4Kids (dear please not) or Funi or CR, then I will watch it there.

Still no more preachy, sad, and serious Mikey-san here. Nobody likes preachy, sad, and serious Mikey-san. Not even Mikey-san likes preachy, sad, and serious Mikey-san. Lets talk about somebody happier eh? Good!

OniCon
So Oni Con is in a few weeks for me. I am not going to do anything special there as in host of booth or something. Just going to go there to hang out with some friends during Halloween weekend. I am not some big shot blogger that can just snap his fingers and make a booth happen for him. That would be cool but nope. I am still not sure on what cosplays I will be using that weekend. I know for sure that me and my friends will be doing a vampire cosplay for Halloween to be in the spirit of Halloween. No we are not doing Twilight vampires nor doing it because of Twilight. I need to get a few things more for the cosplay but I am hoping that will be done soon. The other two days I am not sure. I am thinking I will go with Luffy and Ikuto (from Shugo Chara!) but not sure for which days. If so then most likely it will be Ikuto for Friday and Luffy for Sunday. Unfortunate Luffy has become my Sunday cosplay but he still gets a lot of attention so it is cool. Though I been thinking about cosplaying as Luffy in one of his Strong World (Movie 10) outfit. The one where he is wearing his red shirt and black pants outfit. It isn't too hard. I mean I have cosplay as Don Luffyino (From the Mafia special) and the outfits are almost the same. Overall I could just get another buttong up shirt I own and rip it up a bit. Though it is an idea but I don't think people would reconize it since most people at this con mostly are people who don't keep up with One Piece as well as I do. haha Still there is another friend who wants to do a group cosplay that we done before so yeah....

So far there is no schedule for panels for the weekend. So I have no idea if there will be any One Piece panels or anything. Funi has no panel there which was why we had a Un-Convention/FuniCon this past week. Though there will be a handful of VAs that have done One Piece work. There is Carrie Savage (Kaya), Christopher Bevins (Rafitte, Jose, Chouchou (Can't remember who those guys are)),Clarine Harp (Ms. Monday and Usopp's Mom), Jerry Jewell (Kaku and Merry), Tiffany Grant (Nojiko), and Wendy Powell (Ms. Merry Chirstmas). Sorry if I just noted down just the guest that has something to do with One Piece but really I don't care much for VAs. The VAs I remotely care about are VAs for One Piece. Nothing against these guys and all because I love the fact that because of them I get a dubbed One Piece. It just that well...I care more for the series then them. They just come along with the series. Still it seems like we don't have anybody from the main cast here so I am not sure if we are going to get a One Piece panel.

Still don't fear! If there is a One Piece panel and/or I am able to talk to these guys I am going to write down stuff and ask them questions. I am planning to do a blog post on my Oni Con fun but I want it to have more then just great cosplays that I took pictures of. Also I am going to be tweeting from the con so you guys on Twitter will be able to see who I am stalking. I mean umm....whatever I am doing. So I am asking you guys (yes you guys that read my blog) for any questions you want me to ask them. May it be what food they like or what is their favorite character from One Piece. Just leave the question in the comments or if you follow me on Twitter then Tweet it to me. Once you do that I will write down the question and see if I can ask them it. Then I will report it here. (Or try to haha.)

Kampfer Episode 3
I haven't watch this week's new episode. Don't think I will till for a while...Been busy this week.

(Enlarge to see better)

One Piece Junk I Own: 4Kids One Piece DVD
Not just any One Piece 4Kids Dub DVD! A One Piece 4Kids Dub DVD signed by One Piece Funimation voice actors!

Yes! You read right! This is a One Piece 4Kids dub signed by some of Funi's One Piece cast. The DVD is the 4Kids dub of the last two episodes of the Arlong arc and the first three episodes of Loguetown. It is missing the Buggy mini-arc but oh well. That is 4Kids for you. Still great episodes to watch if you like the 4Kids dub like I did. I actually got this DVD almost two years ago. So this was back when Funi still had the rights to the dub but I just wanted to have a bit of the old One Piece days. I know most people would rather burn this DVD but I actually enjoy it.

Still to the story as in why do I have Funi VA's signatures on it. It is actually pretty funny. haha Around May of 2008 I went to a con and this was back when Funi were doing the con tour to promote the big first DVD set of their One Piece dub. So part of this con was that there was going to be a Funi One Piece Panel and I was all fanboying out for it! I mean I never really ever cared for the VAs. I also wasn't sure if I was going to go to this con since it was a bit of a drive for me and not many people like how the con was last year. Still when I heard that this con was going to have some of the Funi One Piece VAs, I was all happy to hear that and so wanted to go! So I got my stuff, took my Luffy cosplay and drove myself there! I was able to ask some question and hear the VAs talk. The panel included Stephanie Young (Robin), Sonny Strait (Usopp), Patrick Seitz (Franky) and Luci Christian (Nami).

And I have to say. Most of them really do sound like how they are in the dub! Especially Robin's and Nami's VAs. It is almost uncanny. Still if you own the DVDs and listen to the commentary that they are in (Season 1, Voyage 4 for Luci and Season 2, Voyage 2 for Stephanie) then you can tell big time. Still this was my first time ever listening to VAs that I actually cared about. Before then I only heard Vic talk abut meh. Don't care much. haha It was really cool to listen to Luci's stories of driving on 45 North from Houston to record her lines for Nami in Dallas. She does the bulk of her lines there then drive back to Houston. It almost scares me to think that maybe I have passed her up on the freeway or something. Then Stephanie answer a question about what fruit power she would want by saying Gum Gum Stay Awake Fruit. haha Can totally tell at the time that she didn't know much about the series but had a great sense of humor.  Sonny shared some stories as a VA for DBZ as in repeating the same line over and over again in the Freza saga. I forgot what Patrick said. Something about saying "SUUUPPPER" a lot in the video game.

Though yeah....To the story of the signing. So after the panel there was a signing done by the VAs. It was in a different room since most signings are done in a certain room or table and I was surprise. Very surprise. There was a long line for it and it got even longer after I got in. I knew One Piece was popular but I was unsure how popular. Remember, this was before Funi was able to show what they can do and the only evidence was the dub they had at the time running on Cartoon Network. Eventually I got to to them and I pulled out my 4Kids DVD. I wasn't sure if they were going to sign it but I did came prepare with the Desert Princess DVD in case they wouldn't. It was kind of a joke really since I knew this was a 4Kids DVD that they had no connection to beside it being One Piece. Still Stephanie was a good sport and signed it first. If you can see on the image then you can see Staphanie's signature above Smoker's head. Patrick gave me his John Hancock on Luffy's fist. Patrick place each letter of Franky's name on each finger with the 'ky' on the thumb. Luci did a wonderful signature right on Luffy's leg. Lastly, Sonny decided to sign on the back right on the middle. Then he wanted to point out the most important piece of the DVD by circling it and labeling it 'important part'. haha Still the Funi's VAs are good sports and I love them for signing this DVD. Very awesome of them and I hope I can see them again.

Also I made it my goal to get the main StrawHats crew to sign this DVD one day. haha It may not happen but hey, One Piece is all about dreams so we see. haha

Blog Rollin Addition
As you can maybe tell. I added another site to the Blog Rollin section. Here we have OtakuPride! They been cool to me and have some interesting things on their site. Because of them I almost passed out when they retweeted my Tweet annoucing that there wasn't going to be a new manga chapter along with the blog post for that one. That tweet could have been seen by over 400 hundred people! That is a lot of people! And now that is a lot of people who has the chance to see how bad my blogging is....Oh well. To those people, I hope you enjoy my blog. Still give OtakuPride a look at.

Also concerning the Blog Rollin section. This past week the guys at the Unofficial One Piece Podcast had a live episode. Mikey-san was there for the episode and was able to chat it up with Zach and the crew. It was very fun and I enjoyed myself along with Nami-san and SonicPX (people that listen to the podcast and post on the UOP forum). Great night that night you guys should give it a listen if you haven't already.

MAN! It is getting harder to find happy moments in One Piece for these blog enders images. I may have to start getting images from other animes in order to fill this spot. Still overall this has been a long week. Lots of school work ahead of me and I am going have to get serious if I want to make this semester end on a good note. Still it will be good. Just got to keep pushing forward and not let myself be stopped. Still got to do a few things  by the end of the month like get a good headset with mic, get that Shaymin and do some touch ups on cosplays. Also I am looking forward to the Arceus event which is in November. So yeah. Lots of distractions.

Also if you haven't seen Episode 421 of One Piece then you guys should. Good episode. OnePieceOfficial is the place you want to be!

So till Tuesday when I post the next post or something! Have a good rest of the weekend playing golf or whatever you do for your weekends!