Welcome to the new and improved homepage... Last updated October 12, 2006.
This homepage is designed to allow you to easily navigate through material containing black and white photography done in my college course, Photography done digitally on my own, show off work of costumes/designs and do a tutorial of the harder aspects, review anime and manga to encourage interests of reader to get more involved with the anime community, and take quizzes related to the various anime's and Japanese idols as well as personality tests.
Important terms for this website
Anime and Manga is... is a style of cartoon animation originating in Japan, with distinctive character and background aesthetics that visually set it apart from other forms of animation. While some anime is entirely hand-drawn, computer assisted animation techniques are quite common. Storylines are typically fictional; examples of anime representing most major genres of fiction exist. Anime is broadcast on television, distributed on media such as DVDs, VHSs, or included in console and computer games. Anime is influenced by Japanese comics known as manga. Some anime storylines have been adapted into live action television programs.(wikipedia.org)
Cosplay is... Cosplay ( kosupure), a contraction (or portmanteau) of the English words "costume" and "play", is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, or Japanese pop music bands. However, in some circles, "cosplay" has been expanded to mean simply wearing a costume.
In Japan, "cosplay" as a hobby is usually an end unto itself. Likeminded people gather to see others' costumes, show off their own elaborate handmade creations, take lots of pictures, and possibly participate in best costume contests.
The most specific anecdote about the origin of the word "cosplay" was that Nov Takahashi (from a Japanese studio called Studio Hard) coined the term "cosplay" as a contraction of the English-language words "costume play" while he was attending the 1984 Los Angeles Science Fiction Worldcon. He was so impressed by the hall and masquerade costuming there that he reported about it frequently in Japanese science fiction magazines. This ultimately triggered Japanese cosplay. This point is debatable, however, as the word fits in with a common Japanese method of abbreviation: combining the first two syllables of one word with the first two syllables of a second word (or, more precisely, the first two moras of each). Other examples of this include Pokémon and puroresu (professional wrestling). (wikipedia.org)
Caution: To view this website at its best please do NOT use explorer, the menus and designs are not supported by IE yet. suggested use is mozilla, firefox, or netscape-anything really except IE. Enjoy.