London anime expo: Code Geass, gaming and Take That karaoke! (Naruto style)

How on Earth do I describe this year’s London expo? Picture a car crash scene of gaming cosplayers. Imagine a walking Death Note. Chuck in a troupe of all-singing, all-dancing Naruto fan boys doing Take That karaoke, and you have the most surreal expo I’ve ever been to!

I would like to say this was a one off occasion, but anyone who is a regular at expo will tell you, this all passes off as worryingly ‘normal...’

The day really started for me when I met up with my friend Meg, a J-rock cosplayer. Last year I bought a Gackt CD in Tokyo but due to my journalism commitments, the CD has been gathering dust for the better part of a year. This meant Meg had the great honour of being the first person to hear the music direct from Tokyo. As she returned it to me, I casually asked who she was cosplaying as. She gave me a big hug and put her head on my shoulder. Turns out she was Gackt. Oops, my mistake! My excuse was I haven’t seen Moonchild. I really am a bad fan girl. Sorry Gackt....

So here is a picture of Meg dressed as you-know-who getting cuddly with Miyavi. The Kabuki rocker acquired a large army of fangirls throughout the day.


Forget the free huggers, this year I even spotted a ‘free kisses’ sign. On another note, even anime fans are feeling the credit crunch pinch. A Light cosplayer manged to halve the cost of a Death Note wallet with some very clever haggling. I had only done a little bit of Pocky shopping before I was, rather unwittingly, kidnapped by the Gothic Lolita group. It happens...

Escaping into the hallway, I came across some rather surprising cosplayers. Proving you can cosplay just about anyone or anything (phone box, anyone?) I stumbled upon no other than J.D and Turk from Scrubs. They were my favourite cosplaying duo this expo.


As I'm still suffering from the shock ending of the anime Kuroshitsuji, here's a picture of Grell, the chainsaw swinging Grim Reaper of death.


After taking some pictures of Code Geass cosplayers, (the top photo), I narrowly escaped being run over, when a runaway Dalek zoomed past. Doctor Who wasn't joking, they really are dangerous! Out in the forecourt, the largest gathering of people dressed as games characters took place, with 376 games fans dressing up as Lara Croft, pointy eared elves and every one's favourite plumber, Mario!

Code Geass: Friendship, betrayal and the end of Rebellion

It took me a long time to decide on a picture that represents Code Geas: Lelouch of the Rebellion, despite a huge cast, I wanted to select an image that represented what the show meant to me. In the end, I choose this simple image of the two best friends turned enemies, Lelouch and Suzaku, because despite the epic storyline about justice and politics, Code Geass for me, was fundamentally a story about friendship, betrayal and atonement. This post will look at the friendship between Lelouch and Suzaku and asks the question: Can enemies ever become friends? It will also contain spoilers for the ending, so if you don't want to know how the series ends, turn away now.

Code Geass follows the story of Lelouch, a high school student in Britannia who inherits the power of Geass from a mysterious witch called C.C. Lelouch uses the power of Geass, the ability to control others, in order to create a peaceful world in which his sister Nunnally can live. In order to do this he becomes Zero, a masked hero (or villain, depending on your interpretation), the leader of the Black Knights, a rebellion group who are trying to reclaim Japan from the clutches of the Empire of Britannia. Doing so, however, brings him up against his childhood friend Suzaku.

As young boys, Lelouch, the thrown away prince from Britannia, vowed to destroy the empire whilst Suzaku wanted to change the world from within, by joining the Britannian army. Years later the two become enemies, as they are not always aware that they are in fact fighting each other.

But the path of friendship is never a smooth one. Lelouch, as Zero, offers Suzaku a chance to join him but their conflicting ideologies mean fate takes them down different roads. It's not until the start of the second season, R2, that we learn that Suzaku sells his best friend to become a knight of Britannia. But sadly, this becomes the first of many betrayals for Lelouch as the series progresses.

So what is the meaning of friendship if it only leads to betrayal? Lelouch begins to loose his faith in people, seeing them as pawns for battle. However, in a touching scene further into the series, Lelouch asks a young C.C how to heal the pain one feels inside. And her surprising response is with the help of allies, her alternative name for what we would call friends.

In a heart breaking telephone call, Lelouch calls Suzaku and begs him to protect his sister when he realises he cannot, and despite the increasing space between them, he agrees if Lelouch meets him in person. But this encounter leads to another betrayal, Lelouch betrayed a second time no longer believes in friendship and with a fierce determination finally conquers Britannia but at a price- losing the trust of his sister. Alarmingly, Lelouch becomes Emperor after killing his own father, but instead of creating a better world he appears to be following in the footsteps of the father he despised, making a world full of fear.

But it's not until the shock ending that the truth is finally revealed. Emperor Lelouch has ordered the execution of his former Black Knights, but before this can take place a masked man appearing as Zero kills Lelouch. In flashbacks we find out the truth- Lelouch tells Suzaku that in order to create a unified world, he must become the enemy of the world. Only after he is gone will there be the peaceful world that he wanted to create. With tears in his eye's, Suzaku, dressed as Zero, kills his best friend. Lelouch's final words to his friend are that Suzaku can no longer exist, he must live on as Zero.

The series in no small way, blew me away: The bond of friendship that bound Lelouch and Suzaku to the tragic end. Suzaku's struggle to isolate his conflicting feelings for his childhood friend, as he tries to stop feeling nostalgic about Lelouch. Of hope and of sacrifice, and Lelouch's realisation that he must sacrifice himself to create the better world that he wished for. That even when he was feeling hurt, the one person he could talk to, was his sworn enemy.

Lelouch and Suzaku are only one small part of the Code Geass story, but over the last few days watching this series has made me rethink about the nature of friendships. Friends do betray each other and the longer two people know each other, the more they will know how to hurt the other and be hurt themselves.

But it's that basic understanding that can change a friendship, in essence change enemies and save friends even if you can't forgive. Although much of what Lelouch did would be considered unforgivable, the showdown between the two at the temple, saw an angry Suzaku demand that Lelouch continue until the very end, which he does. No one would want their best friend to become their enemy, but Code Geass paints an interesting portrayal of how two best friends who walk down opposing paths can one day become friends again.

Need cheering up from the Credit Crunch?

A little video I stumbled across today for anyone who needs cheering up from the Credit Crunch blues. Its a song called Namida from a band called 2BACKKA, which also happens to be the ending theme tune for the anime series I last blogged about.

The video tells the story about a young man who is trying to find a job who is given a helping hand by his sister and letters of encouragement from his mum (who also sends box fulls of oranges from their home town.) The guy even dyes his hair back to black in the hope that it will help him fit in at interviews. But in the end he realises it is better just to be himself, so he dyes his hair back to normal. And was much happier for it!

It's a nice video about accepting yourself as who you really are, even if it means standing out and being a bit different from everyone else. I remember going through the interview process very well and my worries about thinking that I have to look a certain way to fit in. I think everyone feels that kind of pressure at times.

But watching this video made me realise it's best to just be yourself, even if that means changing your hair colour for a second time!

If you are job hunting at the moment, I wish you all the best of luck.

Revenge Anime: the Skip Beat effect

If the person I loved asked me to ditch everything and move to Tokyo, I would be on the first plane out of here! I'm a hopeless romantic, hopeless being the key word here and Kyoko from Skip Beat is no different. When her childhood sweetheart, Shou, leaves to become a rock musician, he asks Kyoko to come with him.

Anywhere Shou would go, Kyoko would surely follow. Giving up school she worked numerous jobs supporting Shou as he reached for his dreams, doing all these things as an expression of love for him. All until the day she finds out that he simply invited her along as a sort of personal servant. Yeah, Shou's really that horrible.

Overhearing the conversation, Kyoko rightly loses it and as she is being chucked out the building, Shou says that if she ever wants to get back at him, she will have to enter the entertainment industry and become a star like him.

And this is where the real story starts. Kyoko wants to be an idol out of revenge, but she is so hurt by Shou's betrayal that she loses her ability to love others. Despite her many failures, Kyoko eventually gets her first break and learns about how to survive in showbiz and understands how important it is to love yourself.

Skip Beat takes the traditional 'boy verses girl' storyline and gives it a very interesting twist. Kyoko is not the lovey dovey heroine that you find in all girl's shoujo manga, but show's what would happen when the love runs out, something that doesn't really appear that much in manga, when I think about it.

I must admit, I really hated Shou at first, but after I got the Skip Beat bug and read the hundred or so manga chapters out there, I'm finding I really like him. (This blogger quickly dives behind the sofa before people chuck cyber rocks at her.) Perhaps I'm just a fangirl who likes J-rockers or maybe I can understand Kyoko's idealised notion of love. But even naive girls have to grow up sometimes. Kyoko eventually realises how tough the world is but she doesn't give up no matter how many times she fails.

How to cut the cost of Christmas

I swung by Oxford Street on my route home after work yesterday and unsurprisingly the street was packed with shoppers dashing around to find the perfect Christmas present. Zipping in and out of shops, the main thing I found was how expensive everything was, even with the VAT reduction. It can be a challenge to find a thoughtful gift, and usually the perfect gift = expensive present in most people's minds but there are ways to have a cheaper Christmas without being a Scrooge.

It was with that thought in mind, that I co-wrote an article called Ten ways to cut the cost of Christmas which ran in The Independent recently to help shoppers find thrifty ways to save some money during what is the most expensive time of year. This year, shoppers will be forking out £400 each.

The article gives a range of tips including how to make the most of cashback, using online vouchers, redeeming loyalty points and a whole bunch of other ways to save some cash, so do check it out!

The end of Nabari: Finding hope in despair

Once in a while, an anime show comes along that changes the way I perceive anime. Over the summer, Nabari no Ou has earned it's place alongside Kino's Journey and Last Exile as one of the best anime shows I've ever seen. Whilst the anime ended a while back, I have only just seen a fansub, and felt I had to write about the ending. Many of those who have followed this series to the very end have felt a certain affinity to the two main characters, Miharu and Yoite and it was with a little sadness that this story finally drew to a close.

Yoite throughout this series has wanted his existence to be erased and only Miharu, the keeper of the Shinrabanshō, has the ability to grant Yoite's wish. The final episode finds Yoite in a church wishing that he had never been born because of all the suffering his existence has caused others. But it is Miharu who says that, how would this make the others feel? All the people who he has met and those who have tried to help him, even at the sacrifice of their own lives.

Yoite decides to live on, making the most of the remaining time he has left.Miharu offers to erase the Kira technique but Yoite realises if it wasn't for the Kira technique, he would never have met the people he now knows. The Shinrabanshō tries to force Miharu to use her power, but Miharu defiantly says he wished the Shinrabanshō never existed and with that the cycle of bloodshed that has plagued the world of Nabari comes to an end. This decision surprised everyone, but perhaps only a child like Miharu could have the courage to throw away the power that the adults would use.

When the final scene of Yoite's departing comes, it is a sad one. Miharu leaves the room to get a drink and when he returns, Yoite has gone. Somehow, I had always thought that no matter what, Miharu would save Yoite, as this is what would happen in a typical anime. So it surprised me that the series ended this way. In a way, the series gave some kind of dignity to Yoite's death, but that scene has remained at the back of my mind for a number of week's now. Picking up the scarf that Yoite had been making for him, Miharu promises that he will never forget Yoite.

Perhaps that is the duty of those left behind.

How to cut your food bill in half

Over the summer I wrote an article about how families are changing their shopping habits in order to beat the rising cost of food inflation. At the time, this was just another of my stories for my final university project, but if you had asked me a couple of months ago, I would never have imagined that it would end up in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. The article ran a few days ago and looked at how to cut your food bill in half. It was the cover story on the personal finance section. I was so surprised when I found out! It was a big achievement for me.

The article looks at two families, the Parry family in Wales and the Morgans in London as they changed their shopping habits over a number of weeks in an attempt to save money. Using a combination of tactics such as switching supermarkets, using up store cupboard ingredients and even skipping the supermarket altogether resulted in both families cutting their food bills in half.

With food prices going up, it can be hard for families to think up new ways to save money, but both families showed that with a bit of planning and a little ingenuity, there are big savings to be made.

Learning from their examples, my own family decided to ditch the supermarket once a month and this saves us £50. Which might not sound like much but add that up and over a year that's a saving of £600.

If you want more inspiration on how to save money on your weekly grocery shop, check out the article above.