Black Rock Shooter is 15-years-old and is well known for her massive projectile weapons. The Black Canon can shoot up to 20 rocks per second, but she is also seen with a sword known as the Black Blade.
I think that’s a rather unique interpretation of the blue flame erupting from her eye. As the contributor Fernandez said, “this cosplay’s sizzling hot”!
I actually have a printout at work hanging of the Gurren Lagan Logo. I also placed a quote from the show on it as an inspirational thing for me. I mean my job is really tedious while demanding at the same time and seriously suxz.
"Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb! That's the Gurren way!"
One of the supervisors saw this and we got to talking. We talked about Gurren Lagann, Vanguard, Akira, Ghost in the Shell ... He also talked about Yuri and Yaoi and knew the difference which was so damn cool.
I am sorry to note that I could not go to Otakon 2010 in Baltimore this year due to limits in funds. btw: can you make some updated banners as you still have 2008. I was invited to go to with a group from work to Anime USA in November. It is in Virginia and I may actually have some cash then. I will have to see how things are in the coming months.
Today was a busy and exciting day. It was the latest Doctor Who Proms, plus I was unexpectedly working freelance, which meant everything was a bit more rushed than I’d like.
MY DAY When I’m not tailoring, I do occasional days of freelance work doing partly what I did prior to being laid off work last year. For over 20 years I have worked in art studios of either design or advertising agencies, as well as pre-press houses, preparing artwork for print. The past couple of days I have been at Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the most famous advertising agencies in London. In the 1970s and 1980s they did some iconic advertising work.
Two of their most famous was for the Conservative Party prior to them beating Labour in our 1979 election.
Their poster, “LABOUR ISN’T WORKING” (see above) has been aped many a time; and their poster for anti smoking poster for the Public Health Department, depicting a pregnant man (see right), has also gone down in advertising history - and it was a public information poster, not some high profile multiple-national company. In fact the in house bar/pub at Saatchi's is called The Pregnant Man.
Working at their office is quite inspirational. Across the threshold is carved the words NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE..... (see left)
Anyway, so after telling them I HAD to be out the door by 5pm, we headed down to Kensington and the Royal Albert Hall. BEFORE THE CONCERT The crowds were out in force and so were the fezzes!
I had decided to go on Saturday as Ten, and save my Eleven for Sunday. As ever it wasn’t long before I was drawing complements from people around, and I was turning heads.
What I wasn’t expecting though was three girls to hurry forward to speak to me. Now I'm used to being ask “Are you that guy with the costume blogs?” that happened at Time Quest and the Bafta screening. But these girls ask (in a French accent), “Are you the guy who went on the City Of Death tour?” Apparently they were friends with someone who was on the tour, and they had seen photos of me in costume from the day! I posed for some photos for them, and hoped they enjoyed the concert.
For those that don’t know, the Proms are currently in their 116th season, having started on 10th August 1895 by impresario Robert Newman. He employed Henry Wood as conductor and the Proms were born, at their original venue of The Queen’s Hall. They were keen to bring classical music to a wider audience, with a mixture of the familiar and the adventurous and to promote young, talented performers, as well as raise orchestral standards. When The Proms lost Chappell’s as their sponsors in 1927, the BBC stepped in, and by 1930 with the formation of the BBC Symphony Orchestra they were reaching a wider audience than ever before. Wartime brought uncertainty for the Proms, when it temporally lost its BBC backing, and then its venue, when the Queen’s Hall was gutted by blitz bombing. The Royal Albert Hall, opened in 1871, was the only suitable alternative venue, and when the BBC returned to sponsor the Proms things were on the up. Sadly Henry Wood died in 1944, three weeks after that year’s Proms (its 50th). From then the Proms have gone from strength to strength, with the BBC bringing the concerts into the mainstream, and even commissioning new works especially for the event.
On the Sunday I met up with Roland, a German guy who I had sold one of my earlier coats I made for myself. He had mixed up the dates of a wedding the previous day, so could not attend the Saturday concert, though he had bough a ticket for it! He needed to switch to the Sunday, and the way things worked out I had a spare ticket for that performance, so he took that and all worked out well.
Looking around, there were a number of people in costume, and I found a Ten with his father playing a superb Patrick Troughton! (see right). His brother had come as Nine.
THE CONCERT Since I went to both performances, I’ll cover both together, and mention any changes between the two as I go.
PART ONE We found the entrance we are supposed to go in, which was one of the main doors. There were programmes on sale, so I went to get myself one. The cover has one of the new Daleks on it, and it came in a choice of colours. I had to buy the complete set (five in total) but at least they were only £3 each (see left).
I had booked more expensive seats compared to last time, and were were located in one of the boxes that surrounds the walls of the hall.
Being part of the BBCs prom season, the concert was being broadcast live of Radio 3, as well as being recorded for television broadcast later in the year. As part of the cameramen’s warm up, they started scanning the audience for kids and those in costume. This was being relayed live to the many giant screens around the hall, and those who appeared there noticed their moment of fame, the crowd cheered as they waved frantically at their faces on the screen. One unlucky subject was caught fiddling with his sonic and only noticed at the last moment that he was on camera!
Part of the dressing of the Hall included the 11th Doctor’s TARDIS (see above) and a small representation of Amelia Pond’s back garden, complete with swing and windmills (see left).
Once the orchestra were settled in and tuned up, Ben Foster took to the stand and we were suddenly off with a bang starting with The Mad Man with a Box.
Karen Gillian then walked onto the stage in a floor length chiffon evening dress (see right). She was warmly welcomed and was applauded and cheered for almost everything she had to say – even just saying she played Amy Pond!!
She then presented Short Ride In A Fast Machine by John Adams followed by An Untimely Arrival, which covered the pre-credit scene of The Eleventh Hour, and this was played along to the episode on the big screens around the hall. The music was an edited suite, covering The Doctor’s meet with Amelia and eating fish fingers and custard!
We then heard I Am The Doctor, a montage of music from a number of season five episodes.
Having been before, I knew to keep an eye on the arena as well as the orchestra during the performance, as from time to time appropriate monsters would appear. This year was no exception, and it wasn’t long before Silurians, Judoon and Vampires were milling in the central standing area with the viewing public!
As before, ALL of these were played by THE actors who had played the parts on screen, and you could recognise the girls who were the vampires from Vampires Of Venice. This adds a real air of authenticity to the proceedings! (see left)
The audience reaction always amuses me – they gave the Judoon a wide birth, just as well as I’m sure the actors could hardly see out of their costumes; but the vampires had to near fight their way past a couple of people who inadvertently blocked their path!
The first half of the concert was a good mix of Murry Gold’s music and some classical works to round it out.
Of the classical music, we earlier heard Short Ride In A Fast Machine by John Adams; and now William Walton’s overture Portsmouth Point; followed by Gustav Holst’s Mars, from the Planet Suite.
Before Karen could get much of an introduction out for the next piece, an air raid warden shouted out across the hall to “Put that light out!” An Ironside Dalek, that had discreetly risen from a swirling mist in the centre of the hall, then proclaimed its loyalty and profusely offer to make tea! This was cut short by the arrival on stage of the supreme white Dalek.
It ordered the Ironside to descend to be exterminated, before turning its attention to Ben Foster, who it ordered to play the Music Of The Daleks (programmed as Battle in the Skies).
That drew the first half of the concert to a close, and while we had a 20 minute interval, I documentary was broadcast on Radio 3 to fill the gap.
PART TWO
The second half kicked off with O Fortuna by Carl Orff, a strangely satanic piece which had inspired Jerry Goldsmith for his score to The Omen. Elsewhere. In the second half we had the classic work The Ride Of The Valkyries by Richard Wagner.
Karen introduced a compilation of Amy’s Theme, and then Liz, Lizards, Vampires and Vincent.
Karen came onto the stage again to introduce the next piece, but before she could say much, she seemed to be getting instructions through an earpiece. She acted confused and said there was a message coning through. Suddenly the screens in the hall buzzed and flickered, and Matt Smith's face could be seen. In a scene remenisant of The Music Of The Spheres from the 2008 Prom, he asked the audience to say “Hello Doctor!”. once he was satisfied it was loud enough, he revealed he had a device which was a form of timey wimey bomb, which was safe as long as it didn’t starting beeping, which it promptly did. Reassuring us it needs to be a higher pitch for us to worry, the beeping promptly went up! He said he needed to get rid of the bomb, so had to rush off up a ladder at the back of the picture. Then, to everyones amazement, Matt Smith popped up out of a trapdoor in a raised dais that had discreetly appeared in the centre of the hall. There were some stunned faces, and the biggest round of applause you can imagine!
The bomb stopped beeping, which accruing to The Doctor spelt imminent disaster, so he requested the help of an audience member, and ran up one of the aisles to search for someone suitable. On the Saturday he found a young blonde boy, who will be seen on the eventual tv broadcast and inevitable DVD release (see right); on the Sunday he found an equally young boy, but this time in full bow tie and braces! The proceeding routine was the same, with the kids helping hold a length of invisible psychic thread which would help disperse the effects of the bomb. I was struck by the pace and speed of dialogue Matt Smith was handling, which he never seemed to falter over. An amusing reference to his autocue, which I could see scrolling at a rate of knots, and the hall and everyone inside was saved!
This was an obvious highlight for the event - seeing Matt Smith in character and doing what I have seen him doing so well before: engaging with the kids. He did it very well on the publicity tour before the series started it's run, and I saw it again firsthand at the Bafta screening.
Now Matt had gone, it was back to the music, introduced this time by Arthur Darville, otherwise known as Rory. He introduced Richard Wagner’s The Ride Of The Valkyries.
Karen and Arthur returned to the stage to introduce two cues: This is Gallifrey and Vale decem. The former was from series three and was accompanied on-screen (Saturday only - a technical hitch prevented this on Sunday) by a compilation of all the regeneration scenes from William Hartnall through to David Tennant. The latter was composed for David Tennant’s final moments, and was played along to the appropriate scene from The End Of Time part 2.
The next piece was introduced by Matt Smith, who had changed into a block suit by now. The Pandorica Suite was a compilation of cues from both The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. The on-screen clips were perfectly timed to match the music, and it was like watching a potted version of the story, with the live orchestra playing along.
We then had host overkill, with Karen, Arthur and Matt coming out to introduce the final set of music for the concert. This was material from the end of series three episode, Journey’s End. Song For Freedom is a popular piece, and the audience broke into a spontaneous round of clapping along to the music, making it a very involving performance.
Finally to finish off the concert in traditional form, the classic Ron Grainer theme was played live, with Murray Gold on keyboards. This was the latest orchestration from series five. Personally I don’t much like the latest version of the theme tune or title sequence, but it worked quite well as live performance.
On the Sunday, after the concert had finished, Roland wanted to go and see the Police Box outside Earl’s Court station, which is not too far from the Royal Albert Hall. It rounded of a good two performances, and a hectic weekend!
As a reminder, here is the full running order of the concert:
Aang is a vegetarian. He refuses to eat meat because the Air Nomads taught him that all life is sacred, the same teachings in Buddhism and Taoism. He uses airbending techniques which are based on an “internal” Chinese martial art known as Baguazhang. His style focuses on circular movements and does not have many finishing moves, representing the unpredictability of air and peaceful nature of the Air Nomads.
This Aang is so cute! I wonder if he really shaved his head? And what did he use to paint the arrow on his head? Thanks to Leon for sending this in!
Six pieces of theme music are used for the episodes; two opening themes and four closing themes. The first opening theme is "Resonance" by T.M.Revolution for the first thirty episodes, and the single was released on June 11, 2008. The second opening theme is "Papermoon" by Tommy heavenly6 from episode thirty-one onwards; the single was released on December 10, 2008 by DefStar Records. The first closing theme is "I Wanna Be" by Stance Punks for the first thirteen episodes, and the fifty-first episode; the single was released on June 4, 2008. The second closing theme is "Style" by Kana Nishino from episode fourteen to twenty-six; the single was released on August 13, 2008 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The third closing theme is "Bakusō Yume Uta" (爆走夢歌) by Soul'd Out's Diggy-Mo from episode twenty-seven to thirty-nine; the single was released on November 26, 2008 by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The final closing theme is "Strength" by Abingdon Boys School from episode forty through episode fifty; the single was released on February 25, 2009. The first character song maxi single sung by Chiaki Omigawa (Maka) and Kōki Uchiyama (Soul) was released on August 6, 2008 by Aniplex. The second single by Yumiko Kobayashi (Black Star) and Kaori Nazuka (Tsubaki) was released on September 3, 2008, and the third single by Mamoru Miyano (Kid), Akeno Watanabe (Liz), and Narumi Takahira (Patty) was released on October 1, 2008. Two original soundtracks for the anime were released on August 27, 2008 and March 18, 2009 by Aniplex. The theme song for Soul Eater: Monotone Princess is "Soul's Crossing" sung by T.M.Revolution, and is included on the "Resonance" single.
Kabosoi higa kokoro no hashini tomoru A slender flame burns at the edge of my heart
Itsu no manika moehirogaru netsujou Without warning, it spreads into a burning passion
Watashi no chou fukisokuni tobimawari My butterfly, flitting around it chaotically
Anata no teni rinpun wo tsuketa Scales dropping into your hand
Cosplayers ~enearn and ~AsumiChan from the song "Magnet" which was originally sung by Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka! Thanks to this awesome contribution by Gackt-lover!
A drama CD was released on August 31, 2005 by Square Enix entitled Soul Eater (Vol. 1): Special Social Studies Field Trip (ソウルイーター(Vol.1)特別社会科見学 Sōru Ītā (Vol. 1) Tokubetsu Shakaika Kengaku). The CD came bundled with an art book and a script of the CD dialogue. Of the cast used for the drama CD, only Black Star's voice actress Yumiko Kobayashi was retained for the anime voice cast.
Soul Eater: Monotone Princess (ソウルイーター モノトーン プリンセス Sōru Ītā Monotōn Purinsesu), an action-adventure video game exclusively for the Wii and developed by Square Enix with Bones was released on September 25, 2008. in Japan only. Grimoire (グリモア Gurimoa) and Ponera (ポネラ Ponera) are two original playable characters exclusive for the game designed by the author, Atsushi Okubo. Ponera is the Monotone Princess and Grimoire is known as Noah in the manga. Soul Eater: Plot of Medusa (ソウルイーター メデューサの陰謀 Sōru Ītā Medyūsa no Inbō) is an action game produced by Namco Bandai Games for the Nintendo DS and was released on October 23, 2008. Soul Eater: Battle Resonance (ソウルイーター バトルレゾナンス Sōru Ītā Batoru Rezonansu) is a fighting game produced by Namco Bandai Games for thePlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable and was released on January 29, 2009.
Once known to be wise, kind, and benevolent, Rosiel is the younger twin brother of Alexiel. He knew that he would turn insane some day, and asked Alexiel to kill him before this would occur. Unfortunately, her feelings for him prevented her from ending his life and so she sealed Rosiel within the earth instead.
Beautiful Rosiel! I know it wouldn’t be appropriate to call a male character “beautiful”, but I think Rosiel would appreciate that comment. Thanks to Marie for sending this in!
A 51 episode anime adaptation was directed by Takuya Igarashi, and produced by Bones, Aniplex, Dentsu, Media Factory, and TV Tokyo; Bones and Aniplex were responsible for the animation and music production respectively. The anime's scenario writer was Akatsuki Yamatoya who based the anime's story on Atsushi Okubo original concept. Character design was headed by Yoshiyuki Ito, with overall art direction by Norifumi Nakamura. The anime's conceptual design was done by Shinji Aramaki. The episodes started airing on April 7, 2008 on TV Tokyo, and two animated specials aired on May 29 and June 1, 2008. The episodes also aired at later dates on TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Osaka, TV Setouchi, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co. The final episode aired on March 30, 2009. The first DVD compilation volume was released on August 22, 2008 with the first three episodes. The second DVD compilation volume was released on September 25, 2008 with episodes four through seven. Each DVD volume will be released in monthly intervals. The anime was licensed by Funimation and will be releasing the series in four half-season DVD box sets starting with the first volume in February 2010. All 51 subtitled episodes are available on Funimation's website, along with the first twenty-four episodes dubbed in English. Soul Eater is Bones' third anime series to run with 50-51 episodes, after 2003's Fullmetal Alchemist and 2005's Eureka Seven. The anime was regularly broadcast Mondays at 6:00 pm on TV Tokyo. The official Japanese website of the Soul Eater anime series announced that each episode will air in two different versions: the regular Monday 6:00 p.m. version and a late-night "Soul Eater Late Show" version. Special footage was added at the start and end of the commercial break; the next episode preview was also different from the regular version. The dual broadcast of this supernatural action series was being billed as the "world's first evening and late-night resonance broadcast". The "resonance" term refers to a story concept in which the characters, such as the heroine Maka and her living weapon partner Soul Eater, achieve maximum power by synchronizing their souls.MTV Portugal premiered Soul Eater on February 1, 2010. In the Philippines, Soul Eater aired in a Tagalog version over the cable channel Hero TV which will last from April to June 2010.
Meister of the scythe Soul Eater, Maka Albarn is a dedicated student and a protégé like her mother. She does not have a good relationship with her father, Spirit, because of his constant flirtations with women which led to her parents’ divorce. Maka is therefore obsessed with turning Soul Eater into a Death Scythe that will surpass Spirit.
Although she has a good working relationship with Soul, Maka has a tendency to nag or even shout at him when he does something foolish.
Awesome cosplay! I’m not sure how accurate her shoes are, but I like them a lot! Thanks to Kessa for sending this in!
EDIT: Thanks to ☆ミカ☆ for letting me know the cosplayer's name is Kotori!
I know I got your mouth's drooling for more pics of her from my Teaser Blog. I now have the lovely pictures to prove just how delightful this figure is. I was amazed to see that the figure was signed by Huke himself. I do not have any COA, but I kept the page from the magazine.
I decided to take her for a walk into a retention pond that had dried up. It had a nice cutaway in the wall for me to use. It was fun shooting her and it was a freaking hot day with little clouds to get in the way. Now I used her hair that had the blue glowing flame on it for all the shots. I loved this look and had to go with it as you can see below in the face shots.
I will have to say that I thought I lost her. I went to shoot some bees on large white flowers for a few minutes. When I started to walk back, I did not see her in the cutaway area where I left her for safe keeping. I ran up the hill and over the other side hoping some little punk kid did not take her. I was "happy" to see that the wind blew her off the wall and into the grass. I just had to dust some dirt off and she was fine, no broken hair of lost parts. If she would of blown the other way, there were large granite rocks and certain breakage.
My lesson has been learned, when done with shooting, pack it up and head home!
4 Revolving Poses + 1
Rest of the Poses
Infamous Pantsu Shot
BTW: The Black★Rock Shooter OVA is AWESOME and a must watch piece of work. You must watch this and if you need more of a reason to see it, check out Listless Ink's Blog about it
Once known to be wise, kind, and benevolent, Rosiel is the younger twin brother of 
