OK, granted, no new developments on The CoC Web manga, but an update no less.
On tap today, a mini-barrage of Fansub Reviews: Zero No Tsukaima, Dokuro-chan, Bamboo Blade, Shakugen No Shana, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, and Minami-ke!
What are you waiting for? Get chompin'!
Later,
The Leader"
Today's news: I'm back from my most recent pilgrimmage to The Holy Land (Japan) and the inspiration/motivation is a-flowin'!! Check out my Flickr page for visual documentation of the trip.
As a result of the soul-recharge my time in Japan provided, I've been getting productive. The first result of this productive mode: The AMULATOR design and definition is/are DONE. Yep, it's only a matter of time now...
In other news, I've completed my first piece of fan art in AGES, and surprise, surprise - it's Azumanga Daioh-related! Check it out on my DeviantArt page and comment if thou are so inclined.
For the first time in ages, I can actually say - stay tuned for more updates coming soon!
Finally, I feel inclined to mention that since returning from Japan, I have become thoroughly obsessed with the following: Himeko Sakuragawa/Marvel Parfait, Moé Soundrops, and Hugging Pillows. I encourage all my fellow cultists to check into these wonders of kawaiiosity.
Later,
The Leader"
Today's news: The Cult of Cute character profiles are done and up.
Enjoyeth.
Later,
The Leader"
Believe it or not, The Cult is not only still alive and well, but we've actually managed to accomplish the nearly unthinkable task of completing the character designs for the Web manga that tells our story - The Cult of Cute!!!! Yes, it's true, the designs - rough as they may be - are now a wrap, and can be viewed on my DeviantArt page. Once we get the character profiles all finalized, they'll be here as well. Until then, go take a look and leave me some comments eh?
In other news, seeing as it's been soooo long since our last update, we have a couple other announcements.
First of all, there are some changes on the horizon here at The Cult - we will likely be nixing the "Cute Compendium" in favor of a couple new collections of 'cuteformation' as we like to call it around here. We're always striving to bring you something new and useful, and we think we've arrived at a couple fun new ways of bringing it to you. More on that as we firm it up.
Secondly, we have a number of new "mini shrines" in the works, because despite what the organizers of ACEN might have you believe, anime and manga are alive and kicking, and JAPAN continues to churn out the cuteness like there's no tomorrow. As a little teaser, or to put the gears in motion, we've added some CULT EXCLUSIVE Lucky Star Windows backgrounds to our "Gallery" page. Get on 'em!
Finally, it seems some rogue members of The Cult have decided to disobey the addendum to our 10 Tenets, and have been cobbling together some pages dedicated to certain cute humans with intentions to secretly implement them here on the sanctified realms of The Cult's Homebase! Well, rest assured I shall do my best to squelch such 3D blasphemy, but if you happen to stumble upon such pages whilst browsing this site in the future, don't say I didn't warn you.
And so on that ominous note, I bid you farewell as I am quite tired from celebrating the grand achievements outlined in today's update. As always, thanks for stopping by, and don't be afraid to contact me with your comments or suggestions at the e-mail address noted on our Contacts page.
Later,
The Leader"
And so what better way to celebrate my return than with a (substantially visual) report on all the cute treasures I acquired at this year's midwest mecca of animania - ACEN?!
Figures (see our new "Figurama" page for visual evidence!):
- Dokuro-chan and Sabato-chan from Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (approximate translation - "Beat-to-Death Angel Dokuro-chan"). They need to bring this series to the US immediately if not sooner.
- The whole crew from Aria. Thus far, this is the sweetest series I've encountered since Ah! My Goddess. Imagine the cuteness of Azumanga Daioh crossed with the beauty of the aforementioned classic. Why a series like this languishes in obscurity while legions of Yaoi and Hentai fans spread like a plague through the anime world I will never know. It seems ADV has even dropped the manga now. Americans = dumb.
- Miu and Chika from Ichigo Mashimaro (aka Strawberry Marshmallow). See my description of this amazing series below under DVDs.
- Aka Onda from Rec. My first larger-scale figure purchase. And yes, I paid accordingly, but still much less than the 1/6 scale Aria figures I was drooling over. Another series they need to release in the US like...yesterday. I just love the red hair with black highlights!
(OK, the next few are actually from last year's ACEN, but who's counting?)
- Lisa Humvee from Kujibiki Unbalance. I have yet to see any of this "series within a series," but the characters are all so dang cute I couldn't resist, and I've liked what I've read of Genshiken thus far (rampant hentai references notwithstanding - all otakus aren't into that stuff ya know - it gives us a bad image!), so what the hey?
- Hazuki from Tsukoyomi Moon Phase. I've been more than moderately disappointed with what I've read of the manga/seen of the anime from this series thus far (because afterall - there are NO good vampire-related series - it's just a fact of life), but Hazuki/Luna is still the cutest vampire catgirl ever.
- Mecha Musume (Series 1 and 2). One of those figure lines that started out with no series behind it ala Pinky Street, and which (like Pinky Street) has spawned its own (sorta) series (in Strike Witches).
CDs (sorry, no visual documentation on these):
- Ishida Yoko - "Sweets" More beautiful than cute I suppose, but features the cute ditty "Sugar Baby Love" from the cutest anime series I have yet to see - Sugar.
- Mahoromatic "Music Ver. 1" Mahoro is the unofficial spokesmechamaid for the Cult's "No H" campaign, and if I had my way, Mahoro De Mambo would be our fight song. Again, mostly more pretty and mellow than cute, but the cute parts are wicked cute...especially a couple of the bonus tracks...oh my...
The CD selection at ACEN this year was SEVERELY lacking...
DVDs:
- Strawberry Marshmallow Vol. 1-3. I read a description of this anime somewhere that referred to its basic premise as "cute girls do cute things in cute ways." Um...yeah, I was sold. I was really hoping there was a box set available with some sort of goodies, but alas, no such luck. However, volumes 2 and 3 did come with free mini pencil boards so that's a pretty cool deal. And in case you're wondering, the show lives up to its cute billing. As I also read somewhere, it's like a junior version of Azumanga Daioh, and you are probably aware of The Cult's feelings on that series. So in short - yeah, we'll have a shrine to this series here on The Cult homebase shortly. ^_^
T-shirt:
- Halloween Special Limited Edition by Anime Beach / 100% ABi Designs. As they say - "Kyoot." They probably thought I was a little loopy buying this shirt while sporting my Mangled "Witness Disposal Program" shirt. What can I say - I am a man of contradictions.
Prints:
- Three of Clubs by cutemew.
Sketchbook:
- Twilight Tangents Vol. 1 by Brian "BMAN" Babendererde (OK, so the Soulchaser Betty stuff is the majority of the cuteness here, with much of the other stuff being more along the lines of extravagant beautation).
That about sums up the cute stuff. I also bought some other stuff that can't really be classified as cute if you can believe it (shocking, I know). Here's the quick list:
- Zeiram Live Action DVD Vol. 1 and 2.
- Emily Warren "Frozen Lilacs" Sketchbook + Poster (Beautiful, highly detailed fantasy-type stuff)
- Ana Borowiecka Sketchbook + Pin (More of the beautiful, highly ornate fantastical stuff with a couple borderline cute entries...actually, the pin really IS cute)
- Michelle Hoefener Sketchbook + Mini Print (Still MORE beautiful, crazy-detailed stuff)
It's worth noting that although my list of purchases seems pretty hefty, my list of items that I failed to acquire is at least twice as long. Sadly, it seems unless you want Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Evangelion, yaoi, or hentai goods, or swords and glam rock gear/CDs, you're S.O.L. in the dealer room at ACEN nowadays. I don't get it. As a result, I will more than likely be making a full-scale assault on CD Japan and/or YesAsia very shortly to satisfy my aural cuteness requirements.
Rest assured however, cuteness will always have a home here at The Cult. So I encourage all fans to send me your fanart or original art for posting in the galleries here - I want to give this site some meaty content. Show me you're out there cute fans! Request your free stickers, and if I get enough interest, legit t-shirts will be on their way so we can all represent at cons everywhere and make the cute contingent's voice heard to get more cute series brought to the US instead of the 395th brooding vampire/sci-fi/depression fest!!
Later,
The Leader"
ANYWAY, it was bound to happen - I've broken down and adopted a pet cat! Welllllll...sorta. Much like prospective (responsible) parents who 'practice' via dolls or bags of flour or what have you, I have chosen to go for a 'Near Me' robot cat by Sega Toys! I have named her Luna after the white cat from Sailor Moon (natch), and she's hella cute (despite all the naysayers who think Near Me's are 'creepy').
I also put some of the older imagery from previous versions of this site on my Deviant Art page. Go there to reminice, or to see what you've been missing.
OK, that's all for now. I'm still seeking artists for our Web manga here, and if I ever get that going, the site should be updated much more frequently. Until then, go check out PowerPuff Girls Z, or the Pinky Street anime. As Naruto would say, 'Believe it!'
Later - The Leader"
So why the new mascot? Well, Momoko was getting quite busy with her voice acting and school work (being the industrious type, she's studying civil engineering in case the seiyuu thing doesn't work out), so - having gone through some stressful times myself in my pre-cult-leader careers - I decided it would be the right thing to do to cut the girl some slack (especially since she'd likely be more successful in non-cult-related pursuits).
So when she stopped by one day on the way to the local pet park, we got one glimpse of Akitsu and knew we had a winner.
But erm...just exactly what IS Akitsu you ask? Well, check out the other big new feature here at Cult headquarters for a clue: it's the CUTE COMPENDIUM! OK, so maybe it's just a glorified links list, but we like to think of it as a repository for "edu-tainment" in the field of all things cute. It also shows the diversity of the Cult, proving we're about more than just anime catgirls... But back to the question at hand - quite frankly, Momoko tells us even SHE's not sure EXACTLY what the little guy is, because he just appeared on her doorstep one day (made even more strange by the fact that she lives in an apartment...), some would say like magic (so does he have magical powers? We'll keep you posted on that one.), but he seems to have some definite strains of pine marten, more than a pinch of ermine and genet, and a healthy dose of coati.
Yep, so there you have it. We've got some other new features up as well, and many more on the way. Feel free to hit me up with any questions, comments, to make contributions to the Cute Compendium, or to get your paws on some primo propaganda type goods, using the Contact flower above. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy! - The Leader"