EAR-TWEAK
SPEAK & RANDOM YASHANESS
September/October, 2005
October 21, 2005
Over the last few years, I've been very thankful to receive so many warm and heartfelt emails from around the world, many expressing thanks for the manga translations, some commenting on the fanart I put up, some wanting to share their own Inuyasha experiences, some sharing their talents with me in the form of artwork, poems, stories, and music, and some sharing wonderful photos, and heartwarming stories of how Inuyasha has affected them.
Over the last month, when the website went down and I wasn't sure how (or even if) I could bring it back up, I received many, many emails with kind words of support and thanks.
I honestly wasn't expecting that...! And in many ways, a lot of the suggestions, offers for help in finding solutions to new servers, and even the simplest thank yous really brought a lot of spirit to this project that even I didn't realize was there before that happened.
So to each and every one of you, thank you. :)
This chapter actually marks the the 100th fully-scanlated chapter (in addition to several dozen more that are fully-scripted) that has been released on the website, and looking back at how much this website has become since then... I still can't quite believe how big it's grown!! It's moved through several servers and had a few blips to accomodate its growing pains but...
We're still going. ^_^ Mada mada owaranai yo.
A Little Bit of Silliness...
October 16, 2005
First of all, I have to give a HUGE thank you to everyone who has shown your support through the donations for the website!! The Ear-Tweak domain has been renewed for another year and, barring any other terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad unforseen problems (y'know... like youkai taking over the computer, or the server again having a case of internet-power resurgence or something...) we're good to keep continuing on!! Most of this wouldn't even be possible without how much support everyone has shown from the get-go; so I really have to say it once again. Thank you all so much for being so understanding and also for just stopping by, and showing your support!! :) It truly means a lot!!
Been a bit busy here with work and just needed to spend some time away from the computer and with friends/family. ^_^ Some weekend fun over the three-day weekend last week, doing some train station-hopping and just riding out of the city and into less populated areas. Last week we headed to Takaosanguchi (Mount Takao), which definitley provided some inspiration for Inuyasha artwork. Now if I could just find the time to actually be able to sit down and draw again. Haven't been able to do that in a while...
Speaking of artwork, however! For those of you who have been asking about me doing a tutorial for the backgrounds I've done on some of my artwork, I did put together a short-n-sweet How-To on DeviantArt.
Part 1 - Background
Part 2 - Compositing (and foreground)I was utterly surprised when the tutorial made it on the "Daily Deviations" list. So thank you again to everyone who commented and put it on their favorites list. And if anyone does use the tutorials to make anything, drop me a line on DA; I'd love to hear about it!
So anyhow! The other week Roy and I rode down to Shibuya to eat over at this nice little donburi shop. So we were looking at the meny and I couldn't help but giggle at this. Ah, what I wouldn't give to hear Kappei Yamaguchi order this dish... with a lot of enthusiasm, naturally. Heh-heh-heh.
BAKUDANDON!!
...which basically translates to "bomb bowl." Hehehe. "Baku..!!1!!!1! DAN!!! DON!!1!one"
Yeah, yeah. I'm far too easily amused by stuff like this.
A Little Bit of Kappeiness...
October 5, 2005
So, with Inuyasha over and no news of the anime being revived just yet, what's our boy Kappei Yamaguchi beein up to lately? Back in August, there was a little mini-event in Shinjuku promoting one of Shounen Sunday's titles, "Ueki no Housoku," which...
...well, I don't really watch, but that's not the reason I was at the event. XD
Kappei Yamaguchi was there to introduce his new role in Ueki, which was the character Hideyoshi, one of the five characters who make up the main team of "good guys" in the show. And this week, his character finally made his debut! Talk about sounding like Inuyasha on crack, man. XD But that's why we loves the boy. It was great hearing him in action again, even outside of Inuyasha.
The really scary, frightening thing, is that Hideyoshi is practically Kappei's anime reincarnation. XD
And the most hilariously awesome thing?? He STILL gets to scream out whacked-out funky attack names. Of course, "Shouyuu Bomber!!11one" doesn't quite have the same ring as "Bakuryuuha!" but that's okay! It's Kappei, it's an attack, and that's what matters! Teehee.
The weirdest thing, however, is that Romi Park (Ed in Hagane no Renkinjutsuhi) plays the title character Ueki, soooo... it's rather bizarre hearing Inuyasha and Ed yelling at each other. Hehehe.
Speaking of the boy, I've been addicted to Kappei's songs lately. Most noteably, a song called "Truth (Kimi o Mamoritai)" that he recorded back in the 90s. People on the forum have heard me rambling and raving about it enough, but y'know... it's AWESOME! I mean, it broke my two-month cycle of nonstop "Aoki Yasei o Daite!!!" That's gotta be worth something, right? XD "Let's just trade one cute, mushy Kappei song for another, what the hell!" ;)
Speaking of, I should finish those other sketches I did of the karaoke gang, huh? ^^;
So in other random news, I finally got a chance to see the "Swords of an Honorable Ruler" dub. Which... well, honestly didn't do much for me, but the one awesome thing that came with the DVD was INU-PAPA CONCEPT ART in the extras section! WOOHOO! So that made it worth it. Hee. Unfortunately the Japanese version doesn't have Papa concept art, sooooooo.... yeah, that was a very nice added bonus, indeed! :D
September 23, 2005
Whew, now that I've got things settled down here (and hopefully will be able to handle the explosions in traffic)... time for the usual ramblings!
I figured the boy looked a bit lonely without his girl. Originally I hadn't planned on getting her for a little while, but... y'know. Inuyasha without Kagome is like Pepsi without Caffeine. It just isn't right! *LOL* So the other week I went down to Nakano with my friend and came home with the girl!!
Because he really does need her. Teehee. :D
And I had a bit of free time the other day, and our apartment building has a nice little tea garden in the back. So what better way to pass the time than to do something completely and utterly geeky and... take action figure pictures?! Hehe.
You can practially hear the "Makasete, Inuyasha!" with Kagome's pose. She's absolutely wonderful, too! AND SHIPPOU! XD OMG, Shippou! He's like, "Dwaaahh!! Kagomeee!!!" Hehe.
Yep, they really do look better together, don't they. *LOL*
September 14-19, 2005
(ADDED SEPT. 19) I had this post ready to go up just before pulling the site. Kinda wished things like that didn't have to be something to worry about but... either way. :)
Ear-Tweak has been moved to a new server. I truly appreciate all of the extremely kind and understanding messages that people have sent me regarding the website.
What happened the other week had to put a lot of things in perspective. This was, in part, because of excessive hotlinking (in addition to the usual traffic). My bandwidth got drained dry ---- so I had to make the decision to bring the site down. Financially, this website has already cost me a bit to maintain and I have had to do some serious thinking on how much (more) I can put into something that is "just my pet project."
It's not like I'm losing interest, and it's not like I want to let the website go just yet. But there are things that I have to consider from here on out that WILL affect it.
But I do have do once again ask --- actually, ALL I'VE ASKED since Ear-Tweak went up --- is that YOU DO NOT ABUSE the resources I've provided on this website. So, I have to demand it this time; yes, I should have "demanded" and safeguarded against it even more in the past. But I have to leave part of that up to you, too.
Keep it 'tweakin'!
* ~ ~ * ~~ * ~~ *~~ *
After about... two months? ... of the release date being pushed back (first it was July something, then it was August something...) the Kotobukiya figures of Inuyasha and Kagome FINALLY got released here! And I'm such a dope, I tried to run over to one of the local Animate stores down in Ikebukuro on my lunchbreak to see if they had him.
...of course, turns out THEY didn't, but another shop in Akihabara did. Made that trek after work, and... MAN, the boy was certainly worth the wait! XD
A beautifully detailed PVC figurine of our lovely hanyou with his hugely embiggened Tessaiga! The sword! The sexyfangs! Heehee. I swear my friend and I spent a good half-hour not only oogling back and forth at the details of Tessaiga, but Inuyasha in general. I mean, you can see the tendons in his wrists and neck! XD
So for anyone wondering, yes, I believe that this edition of Inuyasha will be coming out overseas very soon (I'm actually kinda surprised it hasn't yet... it should be soon!), along with Kagome. I'll post pictures of her next! And make my dopey Kuro-commentary. ^_^
~ Kuro
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opinions are soley that of the webmaster of this website.
In no way are they assiciated with Shogakukan, Sunrise, Rumiko Takahashi,
or any other the production companies responsible for Inuyasha. :P
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