Archives For dragonball z

AKON-24 Convention Coverage (With Pictures)

June 1, 2013 — 2 Comments

The Dallas anime convention, A-KON, which in this year’s case, A-KON 24, was a huge success! I had a great time amongst a few old and new friends and took plenty of awesome pictures.

A lot of great cosplayers out there this year (cosplayers = costume role-players).

Check the pictures out!

Also, did more coverage on Tumblr here at http://cartoondaily.tumblr.com

While at the booth, what was live on the screen was the series, “Soul Eater.”
While talking to one of the cosplayers, the original ones I met before the ones on the right ran into one another and I took a group picture of them.
Panorama of the courtyard outside of the Hilton Anatole at the convention; Several cosplayers and anime fans outside; I never saw so many convention attendees.
I managed to run into one of a few “Gravity Falls” cosplayers. From left to right, the characters are Dipper, Mabel and Wendy.
From Left to Right, Finn the Human and Fiona the Human from the series “Adventure Time.”
I knew this opportunity was too good to pass up, SO, I decided to get a picture with just ME and another Mabel! I had an awesome time cosplaying as Dipper Pines
From Left to Right, Soul and Maka from “Soul Eater”
Stein’s from the series “Soul Eater”
After meeting “Tyrone” or Dipper 2 (who was VERY cool) I later ran into another Dipper and Mabel from series “Gravity Falls”
This hallway was incredibly full. A few minutes later, the A-KON staff came through on a loud speaker and ordered us to get into lines designated for specific areas of the convention in this part of the hallway. This was due to the intense traffic flow.
Another Dipper and Mabel! As you can tell I was on the hunt for my “Gravity Falls” peeps in the midst of the convention. It was great to meet these guys!
Grunkle Stan and Myself! VERY cool that I was able to meet him. In a way, the pose we have seemed to really fit the characters. Dipper would be a little apprehensive and Grunkle Stan as sort of, well, expressive!
Funimation Entertainment had a section where they streamed live on the web. I actually was allowed to go on the air with them and they have me on their YouTube channel, which I will debut on Cartoon Daily News
This good gentlemen was the first Dipper Pines I met (or technicaly, first Tyrone, if you are familiar with the episode “Double Dipper” on Disney’s “Gravity Falls”). Awesome!
The mysterious pyramid guy as found in many of the hidden places of the series, “Gravity Falls.” VERY innovative!
A poster behind the Funimation booth of the anime series “Fairy Tail.” I need to check this show out. I hear its quite good!
The dealer room this year was massive. I couldn’t believe how much bigger it was! So many vendors…so MUCH money spent! I got a LOT of reading to do!
Cool posters from the epic anime shows “Dragonball Z” and “One Piece”
Yes…even the “Power Rangers” were there too!
What Time Is It!? “Adventure Time”!!! Finn The Human (From the series, “Adventure Time,” took the time to pose here for us!
Vegeta from the popular and well known anime, “Dragonball Z”
The live stream that was shown to the convention attendees on the Funimation booth. VERY cool set up!
I was in this group pic with another Mabel and Dipper, just hanging out.
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My First Anime: “The Adventures of the Little Koala”

December 19, 2012 — 2 Comments
"The Adventures of the Little Koala," which aired on TV Tokyo and later on Nickelodeon was a part of the Nick Jr. line up between the 80s and 90s.

“The Adventures of the Little Koala,” which aired on TV Tokyo and later on Nickelodeon was a part of the Nick Jr. line up between the 80s and 90s.

You may remember the simpler times of cable television, specifically, Nickelodeon back in the early mid to late 80s and early 90s. There was a cartoon that I just recently thought about that ran on Nickelodeon called “The Adventures of the Little Koala.” The series aired originally in Japan on TV Tokyo and was very popular for a while in the United States on Nickelodeon with original years of airing ranging between 1984 – 1985.

The episode that really stuck with me featured the main character, a boy koala named Roo-bear, a rabbit named Floppy and a kangaroo named Wlater. They were trying to climb to the very top of a nearby mountain called Mt. Breadknife, but they were trying to climb the steepest side of this mountain during very windy conditions. No one has ever made it to the top from the side they were climbing and they almost didn’t make it.

For some reason, this episode came back to the forefront of my memory while driving down the highway one day. The animation quality and style reminds me of a lot of old-school anime I am still into now and the characters are nostalgic. Not to mention the fact that it reminds of me own childhood. I remember sitting on the floor, eating cookies and watching this just before going to school.

It was this anime series that first got me interested in the particular type of animation and art that we know today as “Anime.” It would be a few years later that I would start getting into Sonic the Hedgehog…then graduate to Dragonball Z…and then the list goes on!

You can chalk it up to cartoons like this and more that jump started my interests in storytelling and cartoons!

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“…I was blind, but now I see.”

January 28, 2012 — 3 Comments

Ken Inspired…”Kid Eccentric” by Kendall Lyons

Whenever I can, I enjoy revisiting shows I used to watch on a regular basis. Earlier this week, something moved me to search for a clip from the anime series, Dragonball Z. The specific clip I was thinking about was a boy who was blind.

I began watching that clip, where the evil Majin Buu was flying around. While flying, he spotted a boy who was walking along a trail with a cane. Buu landed in front of him and had every intention of harming the boy. Buu wonders why the boy is not afraid of him, but the boy, whose totally oblivious to how dangerous and evil Buu is, explains calmly that he’s blind and couldn’t see him to begin with.

This surprises Buu, and at the same time, seemed to irritate him. Buu stretches his arm over to the boy’s face and covers his face completely. A surge of energy travels from Buu to the boy, and Buu explains to the boy that he just gave the boy the ability to see. The boy doubts and says that’s impossible. Buu tells him to simply open his eyes.

The boy opens his eyes. He can see the ground. He can see Buu’s feet. He drops his cane. He can see the sky…he can see his hands. He’s becoming more and more overwhelmed about his newly restored vision. He’s seeing everything. Its all clearing up for him. Buu asks the boy to look at him. The boy with tears streaming down his cheeks is overcome with emotion. He’s thankful.

This is one of my favorite non-action, non-fighting scenes out of the entire “Buu Saga” for Dragonball Z. This scene made me reflect on how much my vision, my health and my life means to me. I have to admit, my eyes filled with tears a little as well.

This is by far the hardest article I’ve had to write, so with open mind and careful understanding of where I am coming from, grant me an opportunity to explain two major observations compared to this scene from the show and the scriptures. John 9, where Jesus healed the blind man came to mind and verse 25 stuck out to me the most as I watched this series and as I read the scriptures:

“He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!””

If you look into this part of the text, its not that the man knew whether or not Jesus was a sinner or not (which certainly he KNEW that Jesus was righteous and without sin). If anything, he wanted the Pharisees who were trying to trap Jesus to understand that if there is one thing he could say about this man named Jesus is that He in fact DID give him his sight.

Now, the problem with the comparison to the story of the little boy in Dragonball Z and the story of Jesus healing this blind man is this…Majin Buu was neither righteous nor perfect. He had a stroke of good from time to time but still did bad things in order to accomplish his good. Sounds like humanity right!? Jesus, however, full of compassion and righteousness, healed the blind man but did it for this reason…John 9:3.

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus had work to do for the Lord. Majin Buu was trying to scare the boy. Jesus is the light of the world. Majin Buu is an example of our desire to be in the spot light in a “its al about me” world. Let’s step back over to the clip from Dragonball Z for a moment! Notice the boy was not afraid of Buu at all. He wasn’t even worried about his look…his appearance…or anything like that. The boy was more excited and emotional about the fact he could see. He’s seeing what he’s missed. He’s restored. Now, how often do we focus so much on things that don’t matter, rather than on the simple, rich and powerful blessings that God has given us. For starters, he wakes us up every morning and blesses us with a new day. We should be as excited and joyous as that little boy was. He’s set many of us free from bondages. He’s given us purpose. He’s given us more chances then what we really deserve. His Grace and Mercy keeps following us!!! Did I mention that we also have life in Christ…and Jesus came that we may have it more abundantly.

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