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So, this is a link to all the photos I took during the Hetalia Holiday Meet Up. It was really great to see a lot of the same people from the UN Day Hetalia Meet Up, and I had a lot of fun being "aniki" for 's Hong Kong :3

mentioned that there would be a cosplay event in Golden Gate Park on the 12th, but I don't think I can go. Classes end for the semester the day before, and I'm going back to San Jose right after, so it would be a hassle to travel back to the city when I would be very tired from finishing final projects. Oh well, there's always anime cons or other meet ups...

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I'm not sure how I feel about this case. On one hand, Handley knowingly bought a dirty manga and chose to import it with USPS where it might be opened and searched, so he sort of deserves it. On the other hand, what has happened to creative freedom? Will the goverment suddenly decide to seize and censor every manga, or ban manga altogether?

He might serve up to 15 years in prison and pay a $250,000 fine. He's pled guilty already, so he'll be punished one way or another. But still, serving prison time and paying a hefty fine just for a manga? Especially a dirty one? Is it really worth it?

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...does Dev Patel NOT have the Zuko scar? *squint* It's kinda hard to tell in this pic because the left side of his face is slightly turned away...

I have a sinking feeling that The Last Airbender is going to be terribly disappointing and not follow canon ("This is just like something out of a bad fanfic!")...

EDIT: Oh hey, nevermind, I found a better picture of Dev Patel's face from the left. He does have the Zuko scar, but it's really hard to make out because it's almost the same color as his skin... Also, the picture has a shot of Sokka- he's so... Caucasian-looking... >.>;;

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I really like watching Axis Powers Hetalia. The webcomics are cute, but the anime's just so adorable. It's great that each episode is only 5 minutes long, it's easy to watch many in a short period of time.

Germany and Russia are still my favorites. Some surprising new favorites are England and China. England's a new favorite because I noticed he has the same voice actor as Sasuke from Naruto and Ishida from Bleach, Noriaki Sugiyama. I've always liked China from the webcomics, but I really like him now because he says random Mandarin phrases in the anime. It's strange and funny to listen to...

This past Saturday, I went to a Miyazaki Q&A session at UC Berkeley. It was really exciting, because this was the first time Miyazaki visited America in about 20 years. I think he's in San Diego for Comic-con or LA for the Ponyo movie premiere in Hollywood right now.

Overall thing I noticed about Miyazaki- he was very Japanese. To clarify, he always sat up straight, and his hands were usually folded in his lap. He sometimes answered questions indirectly, and he started many sentences with "Ano..." According to my more advanced Japanese-speaking friends, it's because he's from an older generation; younger generations are usually more forthcoming with answers.

But I liked him very much. He uses "boku" to refer to himself (usually only young boys do that). And when he was thinking of how to answer a difficult question, he always made a low "hrrrm" noise, which the audience thought was hilarious. Even when he had one word answers, he always said it in a emphatic way that you knew what he was saying without translating, and it was really funny. Miyazaki's a fun, energetic and animated man.

That being said, I can't wait to see his latest movie Ponyo. I know I could probably watch it right now online subtitled (it's been out for a year in Japan), but I'm willing to wait for the English version that's coming out next month.