Let me first clean my system: "SQUUEEEEEE SLAYERS! (with all the original Japanese voice actors coming back no less!!)"

Ahem.

Needless to say, when I heard faintly of a new season of Slayers being 'in the making' some time last Fall/Winterish I was very, very excited. Moreso when I discovered that it was to be released with this Summer's line up. 

Xellos will be appearing as of Ep. 5! My favorite character for one of my long time favorite series. I'm so very, very, very excited for this!

Here's to hoping for the best.

Tony Tony Chopper is one of those characters that are so awesome/uber cute/serious about their trade that it's hard to find fault with them. (I mean, seriously, a One Piece fan who doesn't like Chopper? I don't think it's possible.) So, armed with the knowledge that the 9th movie was going to be a remake of the Drum Island Arc, I've been both dreading and anticipating getting my hands on a copy.

Granted all I managed to find were a couple OST's and Vegapunk's RAW but... here we go.

Point the first....Noooo! T.T What happened to my lovely Canon?!?! You can't re-arrange things to the point where you have things that COULD NOT happen. No Vivi. No urgency to get to Alabasta cause we all know that it was Little Garden and that such stuff that caused Nami's illness in the FIRST place. And instead we get Robin, Franky, and the Thousand Sunny. *headdesk*

Am I the only one who thinks Robin probably knows some medical stuff amongst her other numerous skillz? (I mean, she seems to know everything else.)

I was also disappointed that, as good as all Chopper's background story is, that they shoved most of what made the canon Luffy/Sanji/Chopper vs Warpool n cronies so interesting to watch in a little corner, smacked it around, and only let the dregs shine through. (Though they did keep the Sanji/Luffy French Airforce combo XD!!!)

No Zoro extreme winter training and getting lost half dressed in the middle of a snowy nowhere.

No squeaky hoofed entrance for Chopper's first showing in his regular form.

And ARUGH! One of my favorite scenes in the series - injured Luffy drooling like a waterfall and going 'Meeeeat' when he wakes up and sees Chopper tending his bedside - nope not in.

The only extra that really impressed me was the clearer reference to the Blackbeard pirates attacking the island before hand when Warpool ran out on the country.*Le sigh* Darn it....now I wanna go rewatch the arc just cause I feel cheated.

Now that I'm back, and had a moment to let my brain properly de-buzz a bit, I must recount the awesomeness.

Very long ride. Very little sleep. Very poor. And it was so totally worth it. XD

The train was a nice change of pace from using the bus to get down to California. Even though they didn't exactly have power plugs handy as we'd been lead to believe -> 36 hour ride pwns 2 hours of portable dvd player battery life. Though urgh... the trip down. Screaming two year old with parents who wouldn't stop bickering. The WHOLE way down. (Or, as I explained to my mother... Jeffery http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs0cYJUqJys )

I managed the 5 main characters we were aiming for done. (Though I didn't get my extra credit Toshokan Sensou one done, yet.) So cosplay turned out very well, if I do say so myself, barring some minor wig/boot/make-up pencil issues. (Shmearing on Medusa's tattoos... makes me want to figure out how to do a diy lick-and-stick tattoos...grrr)

Once I figured out that 'oh look if you tweak these straps here the wig doesn't flop around like crap' my Perona cosplay won vs the two other Peronas I saw at the One Piece photoshoot hands down. (Cause you know you've done right when you walk by the kimono stands and get the little old seamstress ladies coming over to admire your stitches. XD)

So, I was both ok and mildly depressed that I missed the Soul Eater photoshoot. (ARUGH! Why at the same time as the One Piece one?! Why?! 30 minutes is not enough time to strip from the ghost princess and change into a witch! Heck! Medusa's tattoos alone probably took that long...) I managed to get the run off... and was in fact impressed that there were so many who recognized/cosplayed the series...and there were lots of lingering characters. And I managed to get to say 'Hi' to certain people regardless - You know who you are. ^.^

AMV and Masquerade were very fun. (Lots of One Piece in the Masquerade I was sooo happy!) The Dealer's Room was even bigger than last year... and it too had One Piece stuff! ...I've upped my number o' Sanji related merchandise and I finally caved and bought a Portraits Of Pirates figure, cause I found a Sanji ... And HEY! I almost have all of the Straw Hats in figures now! Though, no Soul Eater and hardly any Code Geass. (I want Lelouch as Zero figure!!!)

The hotel had an excellent view of the city for fireworks on the 4th. And, when we remembered, we actually did eat fairly decently while we were down there. (mmm sushi)

In all, I'd have to say a very good trip. I will now crash with pleasure.