2018: What Have We Learned?

This is it! We’ve finally made it to the Home Stretch of 2018! Honestly this year has been one heck of a roller coaster ride of highs, lows, and moments that will make us better people in the future. A hole lot has happened in the 364 days that have come and gone, and as much as we want to try and recap any and every moment that has happened up to this point, we can only pick out the best moments that have impacted us the most.

Some of them have been good, some of them aren’t so good, and some we wish we could forget. Nevertheless 2018 has been a pretty ‘interesting’ year, as far as what we mean by that, we’ll let you decide how this year has been for you.

What Have We Learned?

That this year has been an incredible year for diversity in the Hollywood movie business. We were treated to Box Office smash hits like Marvel’s Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians, and lets not forget the newest Spider-Man title Into The Spider-Verse. With titles like these killing it at the Box Office this year, there’s no doubt that there will be more diverse films like these in the works for 2019!

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Swing into the Spider-Verse

What Have We Learned?

That 2018 has been a year where we’ve lost some people who have made our childhood awesome. For the Marvel Universe it was Stan Lee, and for all of the old school and new school Spongebob fans, it was its beloved creator Stephen Hillenburg. These two individuals have been a part of most of our lives for decades (with the exception of Spongebob being a 90’s classic), and will be truly missed but always remembered.

What Have We Learned?

That 2018 is the year were history has been made! This past Thanksgiving during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, New York City along with the rest of the U.S. were treated to the sight of seeing the one and only Son Goku (of the Dragon Ball franchise), flying high above the buildings of NYC. This is the first time in U.S. history that a character from anime/manga has made a mainstream appearance at this annual event, besides Pikachu. With the new Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie coming out on the East Coast next week, this moment might open the door to more anime/manga characters making their way into the parade for years to come!

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Super Saiyan Blue Son Goku @ The Macy’s Parade

What Have We Learned?

That 2018 has been a year of reflection, a year where history was made, a year where we’ve lost great legends that have made an impact on our lives, and a year where we’re moments have been made to fight against racism, sexism, bigotry, and just plain ugliness from various other hate groups. As we close the book on this year and look towards the great things that are sure to take place in 2019, we at D&A just want to say thank you for all of the love and support that you’ve given us for the blog, as well as seeing us at some of the anime conventions that we’ve had the chance to go to.

So from us to you, we wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year!! 🙂

 

 

Merry Christmas From D&A!! (And DBZ!)

Christmas is FINALLY here!! For many of us under the age of 13, this is the night that ol’ St. Nick makes his rounds. For many of us this is the season where its better to give than receive, and for those who are having it rough around this time of the year, the best gift you can give them, is love. We know this may sound cheesy, but in the current ‘state’ that we’re living in, we need all the love we can get! (Let that sink in for a bit…)

So from us to you, have a happy and safe Christmas! Spend some time with your loved ones, your family, and your friends. 🙂

(P.S. You’ve probably seen this last year, but here’s a little gift from some people you might know.)

PASWG: Sonic Khaotica FINAL Sneak Peek!

Happy Holidays guys n’ gals! It is officially the First Day of Winter, and St. Nick makes his rounds next week. While everyone else has to wait for Christmas Day to unwrap their gifts, we’re about to give you one that you can open right away – in the form of a final sneak peek of our upcoming crossover fanfiction; Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Sonic Khaotica! Coming January 2019!! (Warning: Mature Language Ahead)

The ghost ripped off his jacket to reveal that he had embedded speakers all over his arms and chest. As cool as that looked to the two individuals who were scared out of their minds, they knew that this could possibly be their last day on Earth—or so they thought.

“Yo, speakerbox!”

The ghost turned around to see where the source of the taunt was coming from, as he spotted the World’s Fastest Hedgehog with his arms folded while giving the ghost his trademark smirk. “My name is not Speakerbox…it’s BOOMER!!!” yelled the ghost as he shot a powerful shockwave of sound from the speakers on his chest. Sonic used his Khaotica to split the shockwave in two as the sound dissipated after traveling 30 yards.

“I know who you are,” said the hedgehog, “and that’s why I’m here to put you in your place, buddy! You may be the embodiment of sound, but I’m faster than sound itself!”

Boomer clinched his fists and gritted his teeth as he glared at the speedy blue hedgehog before him. Afterwards he let out a yell as his Khaotica surged to a beefy [30000%]. This didn’t faze Sonic at all as he kept his Khaotica suppressed until the right time to draw it out at the right moment. “So this one’s gonna get loud, huh?” shrugged Sonic as he saw a devious smirk appear on the face of Boomer as a solid indication.

With his question answered the blue hedgehog took on a battle stance as he waited for the ghost to make his move…

[CUE DJ SNAKE & LIL’ JOHN – TURN DOWN FOR WHAT]

Boomer launched himself at Sonic as he found himself dodging and blocking a flurry of punches and kicks before using a sweeping kick to trip the hedgehog, and using his speakers to blast him several yards away. Sonic planted his feet on the side of one of the buildings of the alleyway, before using it as a springboard and launching himself at the ghost. Both were striking and blocking each other at such a rapid speed that the eyes of Smooth Ryan and the other dancer that was with him couldn’t keep up.

Damn, I always knew he was fast, but I never thought he was this fast…” he thought.

You fight well hedgehog, but it’s gonna take more than that to stop the music!” sneered the ghost as he powered up again. Sonic was prepared to mix it up once more with Boomer, but before neither of them could make a move, their surroundings was suddenly transformed into something of a techno nightclub. What soon followed could only be described as the best night of any single man’s life…

[CUE TEDDYLOID – FLY AWAY]

The Anarchy sisters stood in their angelic outfits while standing next to a stripper pole. Panty did some rather sexy dance moves while doing a little grinding as part of the routine, while Stocking did the very same but with a little flash of elegance. Afterwards Panty began to slowly and sexually remove her panties while Stocking teasingly started to remove one of her stockings. All of this was done while inciting their chant.

O pitiful shadow lost in the darkness, O evil spirit born of those drifting from Heaven and Earth! May the thunderous power from the garments of these holy delicate maidens strike down upon you, with great vengeance and furious anger! Shattering your loathsome impurities and sending you back from once you came! REPENT YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!

Boomer found himself being launched into the air by a double jump kick from the angels as Panty pointed her gun at the airborne ghost before pulling the trigger. She shot a powerful blast of energy that pierced through the ghost as Stocking followed up with a flurry of slashes from her katana. The damage dealt from their combined onslaught was enough to drop the ghost’s HP to [0], as Boomer cursed the hedgehog and the angels from messing up his groove. He then exploded as the sound of the steeple bell from the church was heard from afar, as Panty grabbed the loot he left behind.

And with that, we wish a Merry Christmas to all of our fans, to all of the bloggers and anibloggers who’ve followed our site and liked our posts, and for all of the awesome people we’ve met on our anime convention ventures. Next year we plan on stepping it up with new things and new features, so from us to you, have a wonderful holiday!

Stay gold! 😉

5 Things You May (Or May Not) Know About Mirajane

When it comes to the Fairy Tail anime, every fan that has seen the series has their favorite characters from the Fairy Tail guild. Ask any fan who their favorite character from the series is, 9 times out of 10 they’ll probably say Natsu, Lucy, Erza, or anyone else from the guild that’s caught their interest. One of the coolest characters of the Fairy Tail guild that acts as the ‘mom’ of the organization, as well as carries the attributes of a motivational speaker, is the one and only head waitress herself…Mirajane Strauss.

There’s a lot about her that Fairy Tail fans are already aware of, but for the newcomers that are just seeing the series for the very first time, there’s a few things about Mira that might surprise them – might! For that we’ve found five things/facts about the silver haired bar maiden that you may not have known about…until now.

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The one and only…Mirajane Strauss

5. She’s the only character from Fairy Tail who’s actually a Model!

In the series there’s a weekly magazine known as “Sorcerer Magazine”, and one of its most popular sections is the photo section that features its popular mages. Since Mira is the only mage to ever do a photoshoot with the magazine, its no surprise that’s she’s the featured model for it.

4. One of her dreams is to be a Singer!

In one of the story arcs of the main series, Mira does indeed sing – and she’s not half bad. She’s also skilled at playing the guitar, so perhaps if things go well, she’ll not only be the mage and a head waitress of the Fairy Tail guild, but she’ll be a singer/songwriter too!

3. Aside from being a model, Mira is also a good chef!

In a Fairy Tail Omake (and possibly in one of the Fairy Tail OVA’s) known as Natsu and the Dragon Egg, Mira’s sister Lisanna, states that she is a really great chef.

2. Her name comes from a parody off of a username from an online game!

For this you’ll have to read the second volume and flip to page 190.

1. She is the undisputed Queen of Transformation Magic!

Talk about being a ‘Master of Disguise’. Mirajane is by far the most skilled mage in transformation magic, and can transform into anything – ANYTHING! She proved this in one of the OVA’s where Natsu and Lucy went to train with her, and can turn into other humans, inanimate objects, and animals.

This is just a small handful of the things about the elder Strauss that many fans are already aware of, and now you are too! If you’re new to the anime community and you happen to be a fan of wizards, mages, and magic, then you definitely wanna check out Fairy Tail or any other titles that might be similar. That’s all we’ve got for this filler post, but as always there’s more to come! Stay cool, and stay gold! 😉

Anime Blogging Reflections: 2018…

It seems like just yesterday when the ball dropped signaling that 2017 had ended, and that 2018 has now begun. This year has brought out the best (and worst) in people, and while we’ve lost some great people along the way, this year has been kind of a pivotal point for us. There were times where we didn’t feel like we weren’t going anywhere with the blog, and other times where we were still trying to figure out what our next big move was. So far we’ve written a lot of posts about cosplay and anime convention tips, what to do when getting ready to start your own original story or animated project, and various other topics that fans wanted our opinion on. Getting through this year wasn’t an easy ride, but looking back it has helped us to move forward with what we want to do.

With this new revelation in mind, our focus is going to be on creating more original content for our fans. Although we’ve been doing our usual filler posts on various anime and anime-related content, we still felt that we were lacking in the creative department. The cause of that has been life, and when it gives you lemons, that’s usually when you start making lemonade. And our lemonade is coming in the form of new videos, site renovations, and other new projects. As always we thank all of our fans who have supported us throughout our inception, and for all of the new fans we’ve met while venturing out to various anime conventions. If there’s one thing we’ve learned while blogging, its that you have to be passionate about what you’re writing about.

For some people it could be sports, clothes, or food, but for us it just happens to be anime and the otaku culture. It’s so awesome that there are other bloggers out there that share the same passion and enthusiasm about it as we do. There are so many exciting things happening in 2019 for anime fans, and we plan on going into the new year with a new game plan on making D&A a part of you! 🙂

The Top 5 Sports Anime!

Growing up, we find ourselves participating in every athletic event that our moms and dads put us in. Some of us grew up to become professional athletes in the sport of our choice, while the rest of us just became fans of said sport, and cheered on the ones who were on the front lines. Baseball is still one of the greatest pastimes of North America during the Spring and Summer, while basketball and football hold the Fall and Winter spots. Nevertheless we all have a favorite sport that we’ve played while growing up, however when it comes to competitive sports, anime holds the top spot.

Aside from the traditional sports that we all know and love, there are some that we can’t believe actually exist. No matter what sport you’re into, there’s an anime title for that! So without further delay, here’s our Top 5 Sports Anime…

5. FREE

Who doesn’t love a good sports anime title about swimming? FREE was one of the most popular titles of the summer back in 2017, as fans found themselves re-watching the series numerous times not just for the story, but for the OP’s as well. If you’re looking for a title that’ll give you movements of ‘feels’, then dive into this title!

4. Yuri!!! On ICE!!!

If you’ve seen the Winter Olympics then you’re fully aware that Figure Skating is one of its most primary events. One of the top tier anime titles centered around this sport has to be Yuri!!! On ICE!!! (a must-watch if you love anime and ice skating). A lot of the moves seen in the series are based on actual moves and techniques from real-life ice skaters, which makes the magic found in this series that much more appealing.

3. Keijo!!!!!!!!

If you didn’t think that fanservice could be found in sports anime, then you haven’t seen this title! Keijo!!!!!!!! is a series about an unusual sport where girls use their ‘T&A’ to try and knock each other off of a platform surrounded by water. Talk about weapons of ‘ass-destruction’! XP

2. Megalobox

Rocky, Foreman, Tyson, Creed, Ali, no matter how you slice it, every person in America is familiar with or knows the names of those great boxing legends. If you’re looking for a good boxing anime title, then you’ll wanna check out Toonami’s newest addition to its Saturday night lineup, Meglobox! It’ll give you that Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo feeling though its art and music, and as for its story? Well, you’ll just have to watch for yourself!

1. Prince of Tennis

A throwback title of the 2000’s that took the sports anime world by storm! There’s still a large number of us who remembers when the Prince Of Tennis was on the Toonami lineup back in the day, alongside Naruto, DBZ, One Piece, Zatch Bell (c’mon, who doesn’t remember Zatch Bell?!), Sailor Moon, and many other classics. You haven’t seen tennis matches this intense until you’ve seen them through this series. Feeling nostalgic? 😉

There are so many sports anime titles out there for fans to check out, which means there’s a little something for everybody who’s a fan of their favorite sport. Competitions are great when they’re healthy, and allow the competitors to pull out all the stops to be the best at their sport. And on that note, that will do it for us and this Top 5 filler post! Until next time, stay warm and stay gold! 😉

 

7 Powerful Battle Cards Every DBS Card Game Player Needs To Have

With the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie making its way into theaters in less than four weeks, the popularity of the Dragon Ball Super Card Game has continued to skyrocket. Anyone who is a fan of the Dragon Ball franchise is no stranger to the hype that is the DBS Card Game; so much so, that even we’ve caught on to it!

With it being one of the hottest trading card games out there (and in our opinion one of the best incarnations of the DBZ Trading Card Game overall), every player has their favorite cards, decks, and strategy that they like to use when in battle. When it comes to battles however, there are certain cards that have a greater advantage against other cards that you happen to be facing. So whether you’re a veteran player or a novice player (like us), these are the seven strongest battle cards that might be worth adding to your deck…

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5-Drop Beerus

7. Beerus, Universe 7 Divine Vanquisher

Power Level: 25000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 5 (2 Blue)

Coming in at number 7 on the list is the God of Destruction himself, Beerus. If you’re running a blue deck or even a Beerus deck, he’s great to have when you’re trying to put some pressure on your opponent. Whenever he swings at your opponent’s leader card, they lose 2 life cards and he/she has to choose any number of cards from their hand, battle area, or energy whose total has to add up to 6 or more, and throw them in the Drop Area. Can you say ‘Wipeout’?

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6-Drop Broly

6. Broly, The Rampaging Horror

Power Level: 30000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 6 (4 Green)

Speaking of the Legendary Super Saiyan, we’re pretty sure the OG Broly will get a little more love after the movie comes out. Even with the ‘Broly 2.0’ cards already out, the old school version can still wreak havoc on any leader that dare cross his path – with the right combo and strategy. When Broly swings at your opponent’s leader, they lose 2 life cards and you get to choose up to 2 cards from their hand and throw them in their Drop Area. Ouch! >.<

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6-Drop Vegeta

5. One-Hit Destruction Vegeta

Power Level: 25000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 6 (2 Blue)

A must-have for any deck that wants to do some damage; especially if you have either a Goku or Vegeta leader. With Triple Strike Vegeta deals 3 life cards of damage to your opponent’s leader, and if you happen to have 7 or more energy in your Energy Area, you get to Evolve/Play this card for free! (As long as you have a base ‘Vegeta’ in your Battle Area, of course.)

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7-Drop Cell

4. Perfect Force Cell

Power Level: 30000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 7 (2 Green)

This big bad bug not only has Double Strike (meaning he’ll drop your life cards by 2 per swing), but he’ll make you drop all the cards in your hand into your Drop Area until you’ve got three left; severely limiting your resources. If that’s not perfectly evil, then we don’t know what is!

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7-Drop Gogeta

3. Gogeta, Hero Revived

Power Level: 30000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 7 (4 Blue)

The first fusion between Goku and Vegeta, and the only fused character to appear in two Dragon Ball movies; especially the newest Broly movie. If you’re running a Gogeta leader deck, this is a must have if you plan on doing some serious leader swinging. With Triple Strike, Barrier, and Deflect, it makes this card ineffective to Counter card abilities, and your opponent has to reshuffle their whole hand, and draw three cards. (At the lost of dropping 1 life card into your Drop Area.)

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10-Drop Zamasu

2. Infinite Force Fused Zamasu

Power Level: 30000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 10 (4 Blue)

Goku Black and Zamasu are a fearsome pair, and when you have them both in your deck, your opponent had better be ready for some serious punishment! When you finally bust this bad boy out, he has the keyword Indestructible which makes him invincible to all attacks and counter abilities – even if your opponent’s battle card is stronger than him! To top it off your opponent has to drop 1 card from their Battle Area, their hand, their life, and their energy every time Zamasu swings. Now that’s brutal!

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8-Drop Goku

1. Son Goku, The Awakened Power

Power Level: 45000 / Combo Power Level: 10000 / Energy Cost: 8 (4 Green)

Power level-wise this is the most powerful battle card in the entire game! It is an Ultimate card, which means you can only have one per deck. This is the type of battle card you would play on your LAST life card (and you have 8 or more energy). Thanks to Victory Strike, you get an automatic win no matter how many life cards your opponent has, if this card swings at their leader. If you’ve got a Green Goku leader and a lot of Universe 7 cards, you’d best believe you’d wanna add this beauty to your deck!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Golden Frieza, Hit, Goku Black Rose’, and Great Ape Baby

Golden Frieza (PL: 30000 / CPL: 10000 / EC: 7 (2 Yellow)

Hit (PL: 25000 / CPL: 10000 / EC: 6 (2 Red)

Goku Black Rose’ (PL: 30000 / CPL: 10000 / EC: 8 (3 Blue)

Great Ape Baby (PL: 30000 / CPL: 10000 / EC: 6 (3 Red)

If you haven’t gotten the chance to check out this awesome new card game yet, head to your local card game store and ask the guy (or girl) behind the counter about it. Also you can check out the Supah Playaz on youtube to see live battles so you can get a feel of how the game is played. Remember, practice makes perfect, so find the cards and combos that work well for your play style, and go for it! Until next post, stay SUPER BABY! 😉

 

5 Anime Christmas Specials That Will Get You In The Holiday Spirit!

With the weather getting colder and the threat of snow looming overhead, it’s safe to say that it is officially that time of the year! Now that the Black Friday rush is a distant memory, most of us have already filled out our checklist of what we wanted this holiday season. (Of course for anime fans, its more anime.)

With various Christmas specials such as Rudolph and Frosty The Snowman making their annual rerun on television, anime fans will find themselves streaming new episodes and titles online, or make their way to any anime conventions that are happening this month. If you’re looking for a way to get into the holiday spirit as an anime fan, but don’t want to do it in the conventional way, check out these five Christmas specials from some of your favorite anime titles that will put some “Ho! Ho! Ho!” in your holiday! 😉

Itsudatte My Santa! (OVA)

Ever wonder what your life would be like if you happened to be born on Christmas Eve, and you’re named after jolly ol’ Saint Nick himself? Well this is the story of San-chan (aka Santa), a boy who hated Christmas due to the fact that he grew up as a lonely child. Neglected by his parents he never saw Christmas for what it truly was; about family, giving joy, good will, and peace on earth. All of that changes when he meets a girl named Mai, who shows him the true meaning of what Christmas is all about!

This OVA was created by Love Hina and Negima! creator, Ken Akamatsu. This one’s a bit of an ecchi episode, so no kiddies allowed!

Hetalia: Axis Powers (Episode 31)

Hetalia has had a bit of a following during the time it made its way to North America, so its no surprise that it was going to have its own Christmas themed episode. So if you want to know what the Hetalia gang is doing for Christmas, be sure to check out this episode! (The real clip is online, and you’ll have to log in to use it because its TV-MA.)

Ranma 1/2 (OVA 2 – The Christmas Special)

Christmas is that special time of year where family and friends gather together and fellowship with one another. In the world of anime (especially in Ranma 1/2) however, the jolly time spent together doesn’t always turn out the way it was supposed to be. Kasumi has a dream about Santa Claus, and is told to hold a Christmas party at the dojo. Every character from the main series is invited and of course, all hell breaks loose. Will Ranma be able to survive the night and make it to Christmas morning?

Cardcaptors (Cardcaptor Sakura) – Christmas Episode 35

With Clear Card already out, the Cardcaptor Sakura fanbase has reignited and rejuvenated itself among the reborn classics of anime. With Christmas rolling around in the coming weeks, OG Cardcaptor fans may be streaming this particular episode to get themselves ready for the holiday season.

Punchline – Episode 3 (Christmas)

When you find out that the world will end after Christmas Eve, there’s really no way to process what the next set of actions will be after hearing that kind of news. For Yuta Iridatsu, he’s in a situation where he’s a spirit watching over his female roommates from an apartment complex, however if he sees their panties twice in one day, a giant meteor falls on the Earth and destroys it. Why does he find himself going to so many Christmas parties after hearing the news of Y2K before New Years? You’ll have to watch and find out! (No kiddies allowed, this is NOT a G-rated title!)

There are various other anime Christmas specials out there that fans can enjoy, so if you find any that you want to tell us about, let us know in the comments section. And on that note, this wraps up our filler post like an early Christmas gift on Layaway! XP

Until next post (and next week), stay golden! 😉

Otaku Outlook: It’s Showtime!!

This one just in; we think you’ve waited and listened to us long enough about our reddit page reveal long enough! Our original date was set to be this coming Friday, but we’ve pushing it up to tomorrow night – starting with our first Topic of Discussion (TOD). With this new update of ours our blog posting schedule will remain the same, but with a few changes…

  • Monday / Monday Night: The Blog and Otaku Outlook are Active
  • Tuesday / Tuesday Night: The Blog and Otaku Outlook are Active
  • Wednesday Night: Otaku Outlook is Active
  • Thursday / Thursday Night: The Blog and Otaku Outlook are Active
  • Friday / Friday Night: The Blog and Otaku Outlook are Active (on certain Fridays)
  • Saturday Night: Otaku Outlook is Active

We’re so excited to introduce this new feature (well, page) to our blog, and we hope you guys and gals will love it too! Until next post, stay gold! 😉