AMGSC Anime, Manga & Gaming, South Cheshire

Standing Down

2009-08-22T08:13:00.003+01:00

Both myself and migratingfishswim are standing down from the committee and the club membership with immediate effect (as of 21/9/09). Our resignation and recindment of committee and club membership has been verbally accepted by Mr Sleep (and will be confirmed in writing).

I will not be posting my reasons down but should any friend, committee member or member (those terms are not mutually exclusive) wish to speak to me about it then I will be happy to discuss. I can me emailed or phoned.

As non-members migratingfishswim and I will continue to attend the club meets and I will, as a non-member/non-affiliate, be unable to continue to update this blog until a time when I feel I can renew my membership.

AMGSC Board-Gaming Session 3 15/8/09

2009-08-16T09:57:00.019+01:00

Yesterday was the third AMGSC-linked Board Gaming Session - It was organised....organised crime MWAHAHAHAHA! >_<

It was attended by Martin, Robin, Peter and Tim who turned up at my and Mhairi's house. I managed to take a few photos (not so good ones) and even had a few taken of myself for the first time in ages - bloody hell!

It was a good session; plenty of chatting, joking (not so good ones), eating and drinking.

Here, Piggy, Piggy!

We started with the now traditional (can it be after 3 goes?) round of Pass the Pig; a game of gambling on the bounciness and orientation of two tiny rubber piggies. It gets quite competitive! It was the usual case of many low scores and wipeouts with the infrequent massive score here and there. Tim seems to be getting far too good at this - we'll have to crock him - as he won again with his 'slow but sure' approach.

Why you dirty rat!

Next up was a board game I'd been meaning to try for ages - the fact we had 6 people was just right for this session. Bootleggers is a game set at the height of the 1920's prohibition era where players take on the role of enterprising mob bosses seeking to make a name (and fortune) for themselves in the illegal alcohol trade. Players attempt to control distribution through money and corruption by muscling in on the competition; paying off the local law authorities; controlling speakeasies; manufacturing booze in stills and shipping trucks of "hooch". Negotiation, deceit, lies, double-crosses and alliances of convenience are the norm, and are even positively encouraged!

I had not played the game properly before so it was a learning experience for everyone and the first round (each made up of 6 phases) seemed to take forever - but in a fun way - as we realised the scope of the game and what could be attempted and achieved within each phase. Many of us particularly liked the dealing options and the ability to kipper or protect the other players.

I won't go too much into the game dynamic as it can be quite complicated outside the game but you start by seeing a selection of cards (Men of Action) that can provide advantages to you (and disadvantages to your opponent). The thing is, everyone sees them and covets them... thus starts the tactics of which one of your 12 Muscle cards you play. There are 12 rounds, so one for each round - the order for each round is determined by the highest card down - highest cards chooses first and moves first. Once the card is used it's gone. Players determine when to play their high, medium, and low cards to determine their priority. Some Men of Action cards are highly fought over. There's also the option to purchase trucks that you'll need to ship the moonshine.

The game involves phases where you determine playing order and cards; recruit mobsters, move them to determine influence in speakeasies; produce the booze; ship it to the speakeasies to see how much is sold and whether someone will buy it - if you control a speakeasy you can make money off other player's booze!); and evade the law who can close down your production still. Men of Action cards can be played to ruin any of these phases for a player and lose them money - it can be very tactical and you can even threaten to play a crad, blackmail people not to play it and cut shaky alliances to team up combination of cards on other players. It can all get very Machiavellian.... heh! heh! heh!

As it was our first time together on this we didn't finish a complete game but got pretty close with a lot of moolah around round 9. To be honest, we spent a crazy 5 hours on it but we really didn't notice the time fly but we decided to wrap up at midnight. We'd started the day at 4pm so taking into account two games plus breaks, meals and random chats we'd had a good 8 hours in total. Awesome stuff.

I believe we'd all like to play Bootleggers again and I know it'll be miles faster next time as we all understand the majority of rules and possibilities although I'm still discovering little things in the rules which we'll have to iron out next time.

I also have other games I want to try out with the others like the pirate game Plunder, the marine survival game Reef Encounter and the trading game Puerto Rico. There just aren't enough hours in the day but I'll always try and make time to get everyone around again so we can play as friends as we try to bribe, threaten and assassinate each other on the board ^_^

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AMGSC August Meet - Tonight! :O

2009-08-04T10:36:00.006+01:00

Come along to the AMGSC August Meet - all details are on this blog and on the AMGSC Website.

Meet starts at 7pm at All Saint's Hall, Stewart Street, Crewe, CW2 8LX

We are having the usual activities such as Manga, Anime Screening, & Console Gaming on at the meet. It's nearly a year since the club was set up - how the time has flown! We'll have to do something special for our birthday on the October Meet! :D

This meet; there will be the usual prize draw - this time on offer:
DeathNote Figure - 'Light'

This month's free taster food on offer:
Japanese Rice Crackers / Snow Fungus and Sea Coconut Drink

Console gaming will be Nintendo themed - from retro to modern we 'll have NES, SNES, N64 and Wii - there won't be a GC as the Wii will handle those games.

Voices of a Distant Star (+She & Her Cat) & Haibane Renmei will be the main anime screenings. There may also be time for some mini-screenings (TBC)

Please see my previous two blogs posts for intros to the Screenings.

The forum is always active so feel free to chat to people on there about anime and manga and other related topics. You can find out more about us and the meets we run.

Cosplayers are always welcome - and encouraged! - some of our members will hopefully be partaking this meet. ^_^

If you fancy seeing what the club is like and taking part please pop down - it'd be good to catch up with you all :D

AMGSC August Screening B Preview

2009-07-30T09:21:00.012+01:00

The AMGSC August Screening for slot B has been voted for by the club members.

The clear winner was Haibane Renmei (Charcoal Feather Federation) by Yoshitoshi ABe. It's a 13 part anime based on the unfinished Dōjinshi series.

Haibane Renmei

The series centres around Haibane - angel-like people - who live in the walled city of Glie. The city can only be entered and exited through one gate and this is only permitted for a mysterious group called the Toga.

We're not human, are we?

Rakka is a newly hatched Haibane who comes to live at the Old Home with other Haibane. The series looks at her discovering who she is and making friendships in Glie whilst struggling with uncertainties as to her past and how she became a Haibane.

Falling in love

The series starts with a girl falling through the sky with a crow trying to stop her descent but the crow is unable to help. The scene cuts to a cocoon being prepared in the Old House and the other Haibane waiting for it to hatch - out of the cocoon emerges the girl who had been falling in the previous scene. As such the series starts with questions and puzzlement.

I wanna go home!

The girl is Rakka, so named by the other Haibane as Rakka means 'falling' because she tells them of her cocoon dream. She does not know where she is and wants to go home to her family. She is told this is not possible and she would no longer be recognised. Rakka is presented with a halo to wear and undergoes the quite bloody process of growing wings.

This town is my prison. The walls are a symbol of my death.

The Haibane are all teenage girls and young children who live together in a sort of commune in the Old Home. Throughout the series, Rakka learns more about her friends and the walled city of Glie in which they reside. She meets fellow townspeople who are not Haibane and builds relationships and helps out. All Haibane have to help the town by carrying out jobs and are actually restricted by strict rules and harsh punishments. There is far more to the town than meets the eye. The rules are monitored and enforced by the Haibane Renmei (the Charcoal Feather Federation) - Haibane are not allowed to own anything new, use money, or touch the walls of the city for fear of grave punishment.

Look at you... you'll be Rakka to the very end.

The series continues exploring the nature of the town, the people, the relationships and is actually quite dark and serious in places in spite of its initial angel-cuteness.

But no matter what happens, Rakka, I will always be by your side.

Haibane Renmei is a beautiful little series - I must admit to having only seen the first few episodes a few years back but am keen to see it again and get back into it. I really want to see how the rest of the series turns out and what the mystery of the town is and why the Haibane are treated so unfairly by rules yet with such love by the townsfolk. And just who are the Toga?

You're free, and now I'm alone.

AMGSC August Screening A Preview

2009-07-26T08:14:00.010+01:00

The AMGSC August Screening for slot A has been voted for by the club members. (I'll run a post in a few days time for slot B)

Although a close battle with Urusei Yatsura Move 1: Only You, Voices of a Distant Star and She and her Cat, have won.

Voices of a Distant Star aka Hoshi no Koe

Created by Makoto Shinkai, Voices is an OAV, telling a beautiful story of the long-distance (they're not joking) relationship between a teenage couple who communicate by messaging via their high-tech phones across interstellar space!

Noboru? I'm going home, okay?

The plot centres around a high-school girl, called Mikako Nagamine, who is recruited by the UN Space Army to fight in a giant mecha - called a Tracer - against an alien race, called the Tarsians.
Mikako's boyfriend - Noboru Terao, who is not selected to fight, is left behind on Earth as Mikako heads off on board the spacecarrier Lysithea. This is a nice touch with the girl heading off to war and the boy being left behind to wait and hope and worry.

I am here

As Mikako travels further into space it takes longer and longer for their texts/emails to reach other until, eventually, the messages start taking years. Mikako fights battle after battle against the mysterious Tarsians, with the anime skipping over time periods and exploring the relationship and the power of hope and love juxtaposed with the futility and brutality of war and death all against the vastness of space and the infinity of time.

It will be all right

The really impressive thing about the anime is not just its topic or beauty - it's the fact that Makoto created all this on his Mac. He wrote, directed and produced it and did the voice acting with his fiancée (later redone professionally). The anime looks amazing and it's hard to believe it's the work of one man on one computer when compared to the resources normally used for anime. Makoto truly shows himself to be one very talented artist.

She and Her Cat - Their Standing Points

Is a short 5 minute, independent OAV, by Makoto Shinkai, once again focusing on relationships. This time between a female 'owner' and a male cat; all told from the cat's perspective.

It's an earlier piece of work by him but you can see the talent that would lead up to Voices.

It's a funny little short and definitely one I can enjoy being the 'owner' (yeah yeah) of four beautifully independent cats ^_^

AMGSC Board-Gaming Session 2 18/7/09

2009-07-19T11:28:00.006+01:00

Well, yesterday was the second 'organised' board-gaming session at my house. Kyle, Martin, Mhairi, Peter, Robin and Tim attended to play a host of games whilst talking nonsense and trying not to listen to each other's accidental anime spoilers (we get too enthusiastic sometimes...)

Lots of crisp, sandwiches, chocolates, pizzas, kebabs, take-aways and drinking took place - I must admit to enjoying my scrumpy a little too quickly XD

Squeal like a Pig!

First game up was a nice warm-up - Pass the Pig - everyone played this last time at Kyle's. We just played a quick game to 100 (won by Tim) and laughed at the madness of not scoring, or losing all your score in one careless throw...

I Shall Grind You All into the Ground ^_^

Those were the prophetic warnings uttered by Kyle as we dusted off our piscine-themed Oceanopoly game - and quite right he was too. Kyle decimated everyone and took great pleasure in doing so - our fun was had in dealing with each other and dragging the game out as long as possible. This was a good 3 hours spent laughing at the inevitable defeat and how we could annoy as many players as possible with stupid negotiations and trades.

Picture this...

Next up was a "filler" of Pictionary whilst we waited for the food order. This filler stretched on as the All Play rounds kept flipping back and forth with many a dead-heat. Peter, Tim and Robin teamed up versus Martin and Mhairi, with myself and Kyle making the third team. Needless to say Kyle's efficient drawing and my ability to rattle off silly amounts of words in a short time allowed us to triumph. A great game especially given some of the random phrases like 'waiting to catch a bus' and 'cattle groper' that had very little to do with the drawing.

Aces High

After consuming enough food to feed thrice our number one or two us took a breather whilst the rest settled in to a light game of Poker with Kyle guiding the less experienced players through the basics. We just used chips for this one and I seemed to have the lead by the end, if there is such a thing, and Peter was pleased with his stash as well.

A ruddy good SPANCing

Martin opened up his SPANC box ready for the final game of the evening as midnight was approaching fast. SPANC, or Space Pirate Amazon Ninja Catgirls - to give it its full title - is an interesting little game that I must admit to never having played but had seen a few times. Martin guided us through the basics and we gave it a quick whirl. Although we only got time to complete a few capers it was clear to see there was more tactics to this game mid-caper that we could try out. I think Robin, Peter and Kyle were ahead on this by the mid-way stage.

All-in-all there were some good sessions and a few more games to get familiar with next time. I still want to push for Plunder and Bootleggers as that can involve some good teamwork, some devious play and some out-and-out backstabbing that appeals to me, Kyle and Robin, by the competitive look of things. >_<

General AMGSC Update

2009-07-15T20:13:00.003+01:00

Bah - I apologise foe the absence of posts since 10 days ago - I blame work and my general typing lassitude.

Just a quick update on things in the AMGSC Universe (it's small but expanding - no jokes, please...)

The last meet went really well and was jam packed even though we had a few regular members off sick. It was good to see Carl and Holly as they became members. If you're interested in Anime , Manga and Gaming then please check out the forum in the links over there >>>>>

So far I've been trying to get back into things:

I'm still posting like a mad eejit on the forum

I'm trying to sort out an agenda for the next AMGSC committee meet for next Tuesday @ my house

Looking forward to AMGSC Board-Gaming & BBQ @ my house this Saturday.

The club is increasing it's membership and expand ever more. We're changing our pricing to take into account the new features of the club as well as looking at new ways to promote ourselves.

It's an exciting time for us and even if it doesn't go exactly to plan there's enough of us still to have a bloody good laugh; which is at the heart of our club, as well as the ridiculous-yet-understandable passion for anime and manga.

Check out the club website and please have a look at my personal blog iamgatcha
I'm also on Twitter iamgatcha

AMGSC July Meet - Tomorrow! :O

2009-07-06T17:50:00.003+01:00

Come along to the AMGSC July Meet - all details are on this blog and on the AMGSC Website.

Meet starts at 7pm at All Saint's Hall, Stewart Street, Crewe, CW2 8LX

We are having the usual activities such as Manga, Anime Screening, & Console Gaming on at the meet. We will be welcoming new members from the forums attending their first meet, such as Holly and Carl.

There will be the usual prize draw - this time on offer: Fate/Hollow Ataraxia Minifigure

This month's free taster food on offer: "Sam's Garden" Marshmellows

Console gaming will consist of the Wii contrasting the retro feel of the Dreamcast, Saturn and Megadrive - making appearances for the first time.

FLCL & Bleach will be the main anime screenings. There may also be time for some mini-screenings (TBC)

The forum is always active so feel free to chat to people on there about anime and manga and other related topics. You can find out more about us and the meets we run.

If you fancy seeing what the club is like and taking part please pop down - it'd be good to catch up with you all :D

Basket Case for Furuba

2009-07-04T09:04:00.007+01:00

I'm in love with Fruits Basket. I can't help but be drawn into this beautiful, poetic, humourous, silly, and poignant manga.

Wanting to waffle on about how great it is, I fear I may reveal plot stories and spoilers and I must always try and appreciate that people have not read it (or seen the equally superb anime). I'll do my best to give a flavour or an intro for it. If you've already read it then no worries - you'll know what I'm on about, but, if you are new to Fruits Basket (and you have a heart!) then please check it out.

Natsuki Takaya wrote Fruits Basket in 1999 and finished the series around 2006. Like all good manga it was turned into an anime which I feel compliments the original manga and adds even more visual humour.

Fruits Basket focuses around Tohru Honda who has tragically lost her mother and is now an orphan. After having to go to school and work nights and sleep in a tent she meets Yuki, Kyo and Shigure of the Sohma Family, who welcome her into their home.

Whilst in their house she discovers they have a family secret - she learns that the thirteen members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. She discovers this secret quite directly when she accidently embraces Yuki, Kyo and Shigure in a sequence of slap-stick falls and encounters. The Sohmas are cursed to turn into their Zodiac animal forms if they are embraced by anyone of the opposite sex. This provides some of the humour of having Tohru and her Sohma pals attending the same High School and having to be very careful that their secret is not revealed...

Tohru is an amazingly upbeat character - her innocence and positive, caring manner warms the hearts of the Sohmas and her other classmates, yet she often lacks confidence and fails to see what a beautiful person she is and how much the others care deeply for her.

Fruits Basket relates to the childhood game of the same name (aka Fruit Salad) and looks at the day-to-day lives of Tohru and the Sohmas as they grow up with each other and exist within a culture/community where none of them seem to belong nor fit in.

Tohru lives with the Sohmas and as she grows in personal strength she starts to like, then love, all of the Sohmas, and realises how much they care about her and how they value each other. She decides to find a way to release the Sohmas from the curse and allow them to live normal lives and to be able to fall in love and embrace those they care about.

The lovely characters, warm script, silly comedy and off-the-wall animation in places makes this manga and anime I superb starter for people looking to see what the fuss about manga and anime is.

Amazinger! No ZZZZ's involved

2009-06-28T20:04:00.006+01:00

Way back in the very early 80's I vaguely remembered watching this kid pilot a red 'helicopter-thing' into this giant robot's head before it used these flying rocket fists and laser deathrays to melt 'bad' robots. Many years later I found out that this nostalgic memory was actually real and not one of my odd fantasies. The Series was called Mazinger Z (Tranzor Z in the States) - it was awesome.

Now, I love Gatchaman (aka G-Force and Battle of the Planets in it's numerous translated/reimagined incarnations). I just watch the original Japanese show from the early 70's. Mazinger Z is of the same period and runs in a very similar style and vein. It wasn't until the 80's that I got a chance to enjoy it.

I still swear to this day I had a model of Mazinger Z although sadly no longer with me - if only I could tell past myself to put said stuff away for the future....

I've recently rediscovered my love of Mazinger Z and have been watching a few episodes from the start of the original series - complete with iffy fansubs.

It's just as sweet and awesome as I remember. I can overlook how the animation has aged and the story line doesn't stretch because I know that this was fantastic in its day and those days were my childhood and it was stuff like this that fired my interest in anime and manga to this day.

The Story:

Mazinger Z is the this huge, sod-off mecha made out of this wonder metal called Japanium aka Super-Alloy Z - which is nigh-on indestructible. The metal, itself, is found at the base of Mount Fuji and is used by the scientist-dude called Kabuto to construct Mazinger Z to fight off evil!!! *sweet*
The said "evil" is Dr Hell (!!!) and his array of Mechanical Beasts *double sweet*
Kabuto and Dr Hell go way back to a joint German/Japanese archaelogical team who unearth ruins of the Mycene Empire (loosely based on the Ancient Greek Civilisation of Mycenae). The team discovers the Mycene utilised huge metal titans as an army - cut a short story even shorter - Dr Hell goes power crazy, kills everyone; except Kabuto who escapes resulting in the the creation of Mazinger Z to fight Hell's improved titans.
Kabuto builds Mazinger Z, conveniently goes for a Burton and leaves his grandson - Kouji Kabuto - with the task of piloting said robot and do battle with the 'iron-beasties' so Dr Hell's world domination plans are foiled.

I believe there's just over 90 episodes from the original series and I've no way seen all of them so my mission will be to see how many I can get through before I get distracted by other nostaligic-laced series I discover on my internet travels.

Mazinger Z rocks. How can I (or any other mecha fan) not enjoy watching classic anime where your Super-Alloy-Z bad-ass robot is powered by Photonic Energy allowing for mega-robot slaying powers such as: Koushiryoku Beam (laser eye stuff); Missile Punch (belly bazooka!); Rocket Punch (those rocket fists I remember!); Rust Hurricane (worst halitosis ever); Breast Fire (makes me think of something else...); Reitou Beam (ice-cool and minty fresh); and those are just a few. There's loads of laser beam and missiley going-ons when Mazinger Z is involved, especially in later incarnations when Mazinger was buffed up to Great Mazinger (Shin Mazinger).

I'm fairly certain there was a love interest for the grandson with a feisty female counterpart and mirrored female mecha but I can't be sure. More watching needed.

And the red 'helicopter-thingy' was the Hover Pileder so I'm glad I wasn't going mad as a child.

Here's the Japanese opening if anyone is still interested by this stage....

Flaming Hell! or Pigging Out...

2009-06-21T10:13:00.009+01:00

It's with fondest memories I look back to yesterday's AMGSC BBQ. The weather was crap; a number of people were unfortunately not able to make it; we had to go for more supplies; but throughout the day and evening we had a great laugh in spite of the formers.

Kyle64 had kindly agreed to host at his amazing house - which has a lovely garden - and it gave me the opportunity to see all his green-fingered work. Other attendees were: Mr Sleep, Tangelax, RainbowRainbow, migratingfishswim, and me; GaTCHa.

The weather was cold but, thankfully, never rained once we started. After a few hiccups with the BBQ (B&Q had screwed-up Kyle's gas BBQ adaptor so we couldn't use it) we turned to the standard charcoal one and got cooking. Me and Mhairi stuck to our veggie options in spite of Kyle's marinade skills (awesome). Robin, Kyle, Martin and Tim began to devour silly amounts of meat but we all finished off with corn on the cob and apple&banana BBQ pud *sweet*. This all interspersed with banter and beer - and soft drinks - of course :D

Time flew. After the BBQ we headed inside to see Kyle's bedroom, nay, Emporium of Heavenly Anime, Manga and Gaming...

Kyle, Tim and myself rattled around on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on Kyle's PS3 whilst Mhairi delved through the Marine Biology books, and Martin and Robin studied the anime and manga.
This lead to the build-up event of the 300 fuelled (well it was on in the background) Pass the Pig-athon. Pass the Pig is a great, funny, simple game of throwing two small pig toys around and, depending on their resulting orientation, awarding points to the thrower. Poor orientations mean a lost score or even a score wipe-out. It's funny how a nice child-like game can bring out one's personal demons and darker nature as the once benevolent Robin will testify... as will his helpless victims that day ;-P
Thankfully, fortune smiled on the bold and the wise and the Tyrant Tangelax was smote. :D

We all retired from Kyle's, choc-ice's in hand, with Martin kindly providing us with transport.

I'm going to sort out another BBQ at mine in the near future, together with planned gaming afternoon/evenings in the coming weekends.

Fingers crossed we get some sunnier weather next time so I can get better photos.
Also, the things some of the others were doing with the pigs will haunt me for ever *well a few days* Making Bacon, indeed :D
On that note, I'll leave this post..... Toodle Pip!

You Screen, I Screen, We all Screen for Nice Screen(ings)

2009-06-17T19:35:00.005+01:00

Well the polling has started to enter new territory.

FLCL blatantly won but then no one can decide comprehensively between Bleach and Samuari X...yet. Kyle has set up a new poll to decide between the two. Not had to do that before but, after last night's first AMGSC Committee Meeting, we agreed to hold a second poll should such a situation arise. The meeting was cool - it was a bit like this Dilbert Cartoon - except our meeting was funny *ouch*

Personally, still hoping Samurai X will win.

It's been a hectic week - there's a lot of good stuff that will come from the new Committee meets and some great ideas being thrown around. Need to type up minutes and then get them released on the website but I need to magic a few extra hours in the week before that happens.

On a further note, we're trying to get ourselves sorted for a BBQ at Kyle's this Saturday - fingers crossed the weather holds and none of us get food poisoning.....*always the brightside*

Have you been Screened?

2009-06-14T10:50:00.005+01:00

July Screenings - it's voting time. The AMGSC forum members are currently voting for the animes they would most like to see next meet.

I really like this bit of the month as it creates good debate about what anime to suggest for the polling, followed by the ensuing discussions on what should be voted on, and which anime deserves a coveted time slot.
So far the 'A slot' looks pretty much sorted. The choice was to finish off FLCL; or Lucky Star; or You're Under Arrest. FLCL is miles ahead and normally from this point the poll is all over.

FLCL is awesome and I'm looking forward to blogging about it once the screening has finished next month.

The 'B Slot', however, is less clear and looks like it'll go down to the wire. The choices are Samuari X; Bleach; and Lain. It's neck-and-neck and could go either way. I'm hoping for Samurai X but wouldn't be too disappointed at Bleach. I've seen Lain recently, hence the apathy in that direction but I would happily watch it at the meet if that's the way the cookie crumbled *mmmmm, cookies*

Misc.(ing you) :D

2009-06-09T06:50:00.007+01:00

What's happening in the club this month?

General Update: Well it's busy busy.

There's the usual discussion on what screenings to watch for next meet.

There's an increased amount of chatter about Cosplaying for next meet, which will be awesome.

There's still arguments over who owns the bananas *they're mine, Tim* :D

There's plans to try and set up a social gaming/board gaming event in between meets to enable members to have even more fun - yay!

There's the less interesting but important committee discussions about arranging meetings inbetween meets to talk about the club and share new ideas more effectively.

There's mini-committee talk about advertising and looking at re-designing and enhancing our publicity material.

There's plans for a social BBQ - although not directly AMGSC-organised, it is by AMGSC members socialising with their new club friends
*ahhhhhh! ^_^ *

It's quite an exciting time and it feels like the club is becoming stronger and more focussed. New members are joining and adding important ideas and personalities to the already existing mix. The club is definitely shaping for the better and all our members are synergising into a Gestalt Entity (but hopefully not as crazy as on Red Dwarf) :D

I'm not sad about Melancholy :D

2009-06-07T08:58:00.007+01:00

Loving The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya, at them mo.

I have absolutely no idea what's going on but it's so madcap and nuts that I can't help but be drawn to the next episode.

I'm on about episode 10 so far.

I understand it's an anime of the parody manga of Haruhi Suzumiya and I really need to read the original mangas but it's Peter's and Robin's fault for telling me about it and getting me into it.

I'm going to keep watching the rest of the episodes that I can get my hands on. I must say I'm enjoying all the oddball anime I've seen recently - particulalry things like FLCL at the AMGSC screenings *I'll have to post about that soon*

Have you seen it - what do you think?

If you haven't seen it - try it out.

Discussions on our forum

One Piece awesome

2009-06-04T20:52:00.009+01:00

I must indulge myself by talking about how great One Piece is. Firstly, big thanks to Kyle for lending me his manga and anime (and his unswerving dedication and fervour towards One Piece).

One Piece has been running from 1997 and, as brief as I can be, centres around the madcap adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a 17 year old, who has eaten the magical Devil Fruit and has gained GUM GUM stretch powers. Ironically, he can now no longer go in water without drowning (such is the curse of the Devil Fruit) and this poses an interesting dilemma as he wants to find the legendary One Piece Treasure and become King of the Pirates.

He's acocmpanied by his rag-tag crew who all come together to support Luffy and fulfill their own hopes and dreams on the voyage. Great character development, thrills and silly humour make One Piece a fantastic read.

Luffy is amazing and I never tire of his joking and constant eating and power naps, but I am a bigger fan of Zolo *cool as a cucumber* and adore TonyTony Chopper *my current fave*. I also love Oda's cast of minor characters (creatures) such as Kung Fu Jugon and Mohmoo the Sea Cow.

I'm not going to go into spoilers and there's a good discussion of One Piece on our forums.

I'm up to about Vol 20 and realise I'm barely into the series - there's 50+ already and still going strong. I'm really enjoying every little bit of the manga and with over 158 million total copies sold; I guess it's fair to say I'm not the only one...

AMGSC June Meet Post-Mortem

2009-06-03T06:54:00.011+01:00

AMGSC had their 9th meet last night. I really enjoyed last night and it was good to catch up with the regular members and some new peeps. Martin had changed the room layout to accommodate for the screening and the brighter evenings that would otherwise spoil the projector - good job!

A big thank you to Mat for joining the club; donating a load of XBox games; and taking a load of photos for the Crewe Chronicle article and our website - they'll be posted up as soon as they're ready. Sadly, Angie wasn't able to make it but said she'd be there for the July meet.

Thanks for Robin and Tim for showing up in cosplay in spite of their hectic schedule.

I donated my Megadrive and Saturn and a load of games so we can bolster the retro-gaming section of the club. The modern gaming side is nicely covered by members bringing their own consoles and games down.

I had a good bash on Puyo Pop Fever and Mario Kart 64 with Peter and Kyle but unfortunately did not get a chance to try out the PS3 :*( [edit: I did go on PS3 with Kyle - I forgot because we both played Puzzle fighter as Dan so it was daft]
There was a good selection of nibbles and chilled drinks on sale which was greatly appreciated given the warm evening.

FLCL and Evangelion 1.01 were the screenings: FLCL was a nuts and awesome as ever and caused the usual "what is going on - this is crazy?!" discussion, whilst NGE 1.01 really blew me away with its additional scenes and shiny-shiny-shiny animation. The section we saw was Ramiel's attach on Nerv Hq - WOW! WOW! WOW! Really love how they re-visualised the angel....and the scream.......*yikes*

The prize draw of the Unazukin was won by Jon.

Thanks to Martin and Kyle for transporting all the stuff and getting the club set up :))

There'll be plenty of discussion of the meet and plans for the July Meet on the forum so please check it out.

P.S. All the bananas were mine; not Tim's.

AMGSC Meet Tonight! :-O

2009-06-02T07:11:00.000+01:00

Come along to the AMGSC June Meet - all details are on this blog and on the AMGSC Website.

We are having the usual activities on at the meet and will be welcoming new members such as Angie from The Cat Radio, and Mat from Crewe Music Blog - both big anime fans.

Hopefully we'll be getting more members down as well. We're also having a photo-opportunity with the Crewe Chronicle. Many of out members are planning to take part in that and some will be in Cosplay, which will be great fun.

The forum is always active so feel free to chat to people on there about anime and manga and other related topics. You can find out more about us and the meets we run.

If you fancy seeing what the club is like and taking part please pop down - it'd be good to catch up with you all :D

What Manga & Anime have you been enjoying?

2009-06-01T07:00:00.006+01:00

I've been into manga and anime since I was about 12 - it dominated a lot of my teenage years, filling in gaps between my voice breaking; chasing girls; developing acne; wondering why the girls I liked ran away; eating lots; listening to too much grunge and indie; accidently sniffing too much glue while model-making; finding myself; fighting my tempestuous hormones to the death; wanting to change myself; and working in a cinema (best job ever).

I grew up with the standard Manga Entertainment fare - Akira, Fist of the North Star, Nausicaa, Laputa, Golgo 13, Vampire Hunter D, etc. I blame my childhood of being exposed (oh er) to Star Fleet *awesome marionette animation* and seeing Nausicaa & Laputa: Castle in the Sky *beautiful* to causing my steady indulgence in Manga and Anime.

Oh how I remember *cue violin music* saving up my pocket-money and sending off for vids from crudely photocopied and assembled home-made fan order booklets and make-shift distribution catalogues.

Anyway, I digress, I fell out with keeping up with manga/anime during my 20's as I worked and got a mortgage and all that nonsense. I did keep in with my love for Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli films - I love Kiki's Delivery Service (Jiji!!!), Porco Rosso, Spirited Away and Princess Monoke, as well as updating my Akira DVD and Ghost in the Shell's.

Recently, I re-engaged my anime drive and joined the AMGSC club and started to catch up with loads of things I've missed. I've been enjoying Manga: Fruits Basket; Hellsing; One Piece; Naruto; Bleach; Trigun, as well as Anime: Ghost in the Shell: SAC; The Girl who Leapt Through Time; Fruits Basket; Metropolis; Hellsing; Steam Boy; One Piece; Lain; Origin: Spirits of the Past; Voices from a Distant Star; Karas; Paprika; Tokyo Godfathers; FLCL; etc. etc.

I'm just about to get into Denno Coil (many thanks to Kyle for his unending supply of dvd's and books)

So enough about me :D - what are you peeps reading / watching?
Log on and access our forums and take part in loads of anime and manga discussions.

AMGSC attend Cat Radio M Club Bash

2009-05-31T10:01:00.013+01:00

Phew! That was a good night. A few of us attended the M Club Cat Radio Bash last night. The evening was a little quieter than had been hoped for but the turn out was good even in the face of the TV final of BGT *sigh* (a little piece of me dies)

AMGSC and The Cat have been doing mutual publicity of each other over the months. As well as having an interview by them on the radio, we got a thank you for our support of The Cat and a mention (see pic top left) on their display. In addition, we had a quick photo with Angie and Liz off The Cat. Pictured (L-R) are Peter, Angie, Mhairi and Liz.

Mat from Crewe Music Blog and Jules from Crewe Blog were both there too and I'm looking forward to seeing their write-ups of the night (see blog links). There a number of clubs and blogs really trying to highlight the community aspect of Crewe and work together to make things happen and provide fun, social events. It's worth checking them out and getting involved! :D

There were some great bands on, providing the entertainment: There was Dayve Dean from James and the Giant. I had seen Dayve perform with his band at the Volume Festival so was looking forward to this, but due to members of his band unable to make the evening he put on a solo acoustic set which was great.
Following on from Dave were Firejar, an acoustic duet. I had not heard them before but enjoyed their set with their good covers of the Zutons and Portishead.

Right after Firejar, with the Lion's share of the time - and rightly so - was Chloe. I had heard Chloe on the radio and was aware of her music from the internet and local media coverage and must say she deserved such a billing. A really confident, pacy and professional set. Robin, Peter, Mhairi and myself agreed she was very, very good. Robin actually won her CD in the prize raffle at the end and was chuffed to bits :D To be honest, Mhairi won most of the CD raffle so I'm sure my Sunday afternoon in the garden will be full of music from her Mac.

It's a shame The Cat is now offline until the end of next month and still fund-raising for a license - I really miss the shows and I wish them all the best for getting back mainstream in November. I'll live with the internet shows until then.

Thanks to Mat and Jules for saying hi. Thanks to Peter and Robin for popping down with me and Mhairi. Thanks to Liz, Angie, Mike and everyone else I met from The Cat for organising and running the event. Big cheer to the bands for providing the entertainment :D

AMGSC June Meet - Come and Visit us!

2009-05-31T09:00:00.004+01:00

This Tuesday 2nd June is the 9th Meeting of the AMGSC club. Woohoo!!! :D

The month has flown by and I'm now really excited and ready for the new meet, especially as we have new members joining; a photo opportunity for an article in the Crewe Chronicle; and catching up with the regular members.

There we be the usual modern and retro gaming with PS3, Wii, PS2 and N64 this time, and finishing the evening off with a couple of Anime screenings. We'll be holding the regular prize draw and this time you could win an Unazukin. *I want it...* If you're peckish, there'll be the glorious food stand - YUM YUM :D

Gaming Set-Up:
PS3 - Super Puzzle Fighter (shiny :-O ) + Naruto
Wii - Super Monkey Ball (they are my bananas!)+ Wii Sports
PS2 - Puyo Pop fever + Gungrave
N64 - Mario Kart + Goldeneye

Anime Screenings:
Evangelion 1.01
FLCL (Fooly Cooly)

Food Stall:
Lots to choose from including - Pocky, Mochi, Tempura Seaweed, Calibee Crisps, Koala Choc bics, Exotic fruit drinks and flavoured teas. Great selection of spicy snacks and refreshing beverages.

More info can be found on the website.

Come down and try the club out - all this fun stuff and the pleasure of our compamy..... how can you resist? ;-P

AMGSC on the Cat FM Radio ! :-O

2009-05-30T10:09:00.009+01:00

Saturday 23rd May - AMGSC across the airwaves (well the Crewe area and the internet)

We were on the radio!!! Kyle (Kyle64) and Peter (bobmarleypeople) were on The Cat Radio promoting the club and discussing anime and playing some cool tunes.

You can listen to the interview here.

Really good interview - kudos to the guys for being brave to speak live - and it turns out Angie, who was one of the Radio DJ's interviewing them, is a huge anime fan and has already joined the forum :-)

Thanks to Mhairi (migratingfishswim) for organising that with The Cat.

P.S. A few of us will also be attending the M Club/ The Cat Radio - End of Broadcast Bash tonight. Info at Crewe Blog (a very good blog run by a very nice man called Jules)

UPDATE *Transcript of Radio Interview courtesy of Peter*

Cosplay Expo - AMGSC Fieldtrip - Retrospective

2009-05-30T08:37:00.023+01:00

Saturday 21st February 2009 - AMGSC club organised a trip for it's members down to MCM Midlands to take part in the Cosplay Expo.

There's a whole heap of manga, anime, film, assorted paraphernalia, awesome merchandise and cosplayers to keep any fan happy. We were very happy.

I took a load of photos of the expo - which you can see to your heart's content if you click the link or photos.

Expo's like this are full of amazing people - a hell of a lot of characters dressing up as their favourite.....characters.

I guess some people would find this all strange but I must say although I have been into anime for yonks - this was my first expo where there was this much Cosplay - it was more like a convention! It was freakin' awesome. There was such a mix of age ranges, a real gender balance, and an amazing positive vibe from the crowd.

Obviously, not everyone was in Cosplay but there were enough cosplayers to make it colourful. There were groups of buddies all dressed up together and even whole families taking part. If cosplaying wasn't your thing, then there was still plenty to see and do. There were screenings, loads of expo stalls selling a huge range of goodies such as anime, manga, models- I picked up some awesome Macross Plus kits *cries with joy* - and all the usual little bits and pieces such as bags, hats, stickers, keyrings, and there were various celebrities doing autographs and artists showing you their drawing skills.

I was busy enough with the photography and got nowhere near taking everyone - I must have done nearly 200 shots and not even scratched the surface as more and more people piled in through the day - the amount of cosplayers steadily increasing.

The expo was really good fun and we'll be booking another trip down next time it's on in Feb 2010. Hopefully, some of you will be joining us....see you there :D

Some more:

AMGSC Illuminati

2009-05-30T08:08:00.006+01:00

We have a good number of members and more already joining at our June Meet - Tuesday 2nd .

The core part of the Club and the Forum is the Committee : members of the club from the early days (like 7 -8 months ago LOL) who wanted to have a more active role in the way the club is run and who wanted to take on particular interests and responsibilities.

These are:

Mr Sleep - our founder and noble leader. Mr Sleep deals with the overall club and admin including being an all-round techy and webmaster. He is Chief Aramaki :-O

Kyle64 - the club librarian. A manga and anime purist who really knows his stuff - he's reponsible for upkeeping the club library and is an active contributor on the forum.

migratingfishswim - our publicity officer. She is responsible for organising all our press and networking - we've recently been on the Cat FM radio thanks to her hard work, and will soon be doing an article for the Crewe Chronicle in the coming month or so. (22/8/09 now stood down as committee member and club member)

Tangelax - is our reviewer. He loves the anime and the manga and reviews series for our forum. He's also very keen on Cosplay and has created costumes together with other members such as bobmarleypeople and rainbowrainbow.

King Jimmeh - oversees the card-gaming whenever there is any on at a meet. He's the official referee and is there to ensure things don't get out of hand...... :-O He also wears a hat - always.

GaTCHa - I'm a Mario! It's a meee! Hello - this is me, my name is Mark. I'm the club photographer and now blogger, as well. I also look after the modelmaking section whenever there's some modelling to do. I have also been known to spend a bit of time of the forum.... ;-p (22/8/09 now stood down as committee member and club member)

There are plenty other non-committee members on the website, too many to mention - and I don't want to miss anyone out - so I won't name them. Check out the forum and join in some of the conversations.

*subliminal message - ATTEND THE MEETS! ;-D *

GaTCHa's Giant Rambling Robot

2009-05-29T14:23:00.006+01:00

To paraphrase Princess Irulan Corrino:

“A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then that it is the year 2009. The AMGSC Universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Mr Sleep, my friend. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the snack Pocky. The snack extends life, the snack expands consciousness, the snack is vital for anime watching.”

*(Note – I prefer the faux banana flavour)

Club Inception

The AMGSC club was created in October 2008 by Mr Sleep , and initially took place at MMU Crewe - it was intended to be a part student/part non-student event but due to too expensive room hire and a difficulty to organise a regular, consistent slot with the Uni, the venue was moved.

From November 2008, the AMGSC club has taken place the first Tuesday of every month at All Saint's Hall in Crewe. Our membership has grown steadily - in spite of it being a niche area of interest and a small town - and we are looking to ever-expand. We have around 20+ members, a few making up the core committee with others taking a more active role on the forum.

Our Website contains all the information about what has happened at previous meets, what is going on within the club at the moment, and what will be occurring at future meets. It's well worth checking out! :D Log-in is free - there's no cost unless you want to attend a meet and then entry is very cheap (at present, £1 entry non-members, 50p entry members). Yearly membership is currently £6 - and it comes with a free goodie-bag = YAY!!!! :*D

The AMGSC Blog - The Catgirl is out of the bag.....

2009-05-29T10:50:00.006+01:00

Wow. The AMGSC blog. At last I get to talk about the awesomeness of the club and waffle about random stuff to my heart's content - personally I think the other committee members suggested I do this so I can be hidden away and stop filling the forum with inane ramblings. :-D

I wish I'd blogged sooner but I'm sure I'll more than make up for it. I hope people enjoy the read and check out the club website and, if living locally, come to the club meets. If nothing else, please have fun and, if the blog is not for you, leave in a sensibly and orderly manner. ;-P

I wanted to have something dramatic; something heart-warming; something compelling; something historic; something that would change the way we blog....... but it's me so I'll just post a few bits and pieces about how the club was set up; what it offers; the people involved; main events; and eventually an ongoing commentary on meets and upcoming activities and ideas - I may even let other people post once they've made the necessary sacrificial offerings and worshipped at the altar of my ego MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! - I'm not a bad egg, really.

But where to begin......where to begin?