Anime Art

We all grew up with aspirations to want to be some kind of artist. Whether we were drawing cars or even painting scenery as children we always wanted to keep drawing and playing with our colors. We also loved and still do love to look at real art as well as beautiful art that touches us when we look at it. One such art that you can love to look at would be anime art.

Though in comparison Japanese anime art is not really the kind you find in art museums we love to look at them and probably put them up on our computers wallpaper and screen savers. If you are looking for this art you will probably find them through the numerous online websites that have anime cartoons.

Many of these anime art is of three dimensional also known as 3D and two dimensional also known as 2D and many will be still pictures. They will probably be of famous anime cartoon characters that you already know and some of who you don't. The art might be confusing at first because you know that they are Japanese and strangely they look more of western than Asian. With their blue eyes and yellow or orange hair the cartoons and pictures resemble more of the western look than those of the Japanese.

What always gets me however is the clothes they wear and the surroundings visualized in the cartoons. They are usually of the early days of Japanese history with Ninja's and Samurai's being key figures in the cartoon series and the manga comics as well. You will also find the manga comics and the anime cartoons play important key roles in the art of anime.

Anime Desktops

Since the dawning of the twenty first century, many of us now have personal computers at home as well as at work and we usually prefer to decorate them with our own style, making sure that people know that it is your computer. One way of personalizing your computer is by adding things that are dear to you on it, such as your own sticker and you will find that girls like to put teddy bears on top of it and much more. Another way is by putting anime desktops on your computer.

Anime desktops have a variety of designs that you will enjoy looking at. They usually range from the anime movies, cartoons and manga comics. Most of the art design is classic and when you set it up as your desktop wallpaper they make your computer look one of a kind.

Usually the anime desktops are from movies you have seen or from cartoon series that you adore, such as Bleach, Naruto and maybe Pokemon. The colors of these desktops range from black and white to the colorful ones that look good sitting on your desktop as a wallpaper. You can choose to put your favorite character from the movies or cartoon series as well as your favorite nemesis character. The art design on the desktops will have you putting the 3D version of the desktops as your screensaver.

Many of these pictures and wallpapers can be found online, provided by the websites that give you the internet series or the free download movies and series. Or you can look through the various websites that are created with these picture arts. You will find that there are several website that have devoted themselves, to having desktop anime art that is easy to download.

What Comic Value Entails

It's always good to have your comic book appraised by a professional if you are looking to sell it. Comic Value would help you understand what you have in your comic book. There are specifications on how your comic book must look. The glossy cover and the brightly filled pages must still look as good as new or like they have never been read before, even if they have. In fact most people that keep the rare editions or collector's comics usually have two of the same comic. That means one was for reading and the other for safe keeping.

Most of the time you will find that the one for reading is different from the one that is all wrapped up in a clean sealed environment and kept in mint condition. This kind of time and conditioning that is given to the comic books can only be done by someone who loves comics and has the dedication to keep his or her comic book in the right conditions, atmosphere and surely knows the comic value. Such people get the comic book appraised and then put in time and money to make sure that the comic is in mint condition. Some of them even showcase their comic in conventions on these books and superheroes. The comic value goes even higher when more people get to view it and cannot get a hold of another copy anywhere.

It is important to make sure that you keep your comic away from any wet atmosphere or to keep it sealed tight in its case or plastic sleeve if you intend to keep it for a while. Also note that you must keep checking online for more news on how much your book is valued.

Sonic the Hedgehog - A Trajectory From Consoles to Comics

The Sega team probably never thought that the sonic games which they were releasing would capture such a large fan base. Beating almost all other popular gaming consoles of the time, the blue blur character called Sonic the Hedgehog, soon became the neck to neck rival of Nintendo's Super Mario.

The growing crowd following the main character in sonic games, are not restricted to just the online versions or the original gaming consoles. It has moved much further than the most of us can imagine. Because of its simplicity and ability to maintain high levels of adrenaline among it's fans, Sonic the Hedgehog has found a niche of his own as a video game superhero. Various other formats of entertainment media where has also started to appear include printed comics and movies.

Video Game: The birth of the character featured video games divided in many stages and lives. The stages depict higher levels of difficulty as the player moves on to higher levels. The main character, Sonic the Hedgehog is able to secure extra lives and powers as the game proceeds. There are also special stages that occur at random, and must be completed by the player in order to continue.

TV series: Sonic games were aired on television to provide a full time family entertainment at relatively no cost. It was more of a light hearted and humor driven plot aimed at entertaining young children. With time, the television series incorporated more complex plots to grab more age groups and increase the ratings. To enable the viewers not to miss out a single episode, the complete series with all the versions are available in DVD.

Movie: As unbelievable as it may sound, there is a two-episode movie on Sonic the Hedgehog. Though there are some offensive scenes, the movie succeeds in grabbing much attention and critic reviews. The movie was originally released in Japan but was later translated in many other languages.

Comics: Print media has also become part of the magic of Sonic the Hedgehog. There are comic books printed with the Hedgehog as the main character and stories dedicated to its actions and personal life. There is a separate comic series named Manga, which is published in Japan on Sonic the Hedgehog. In fact, there are full-fledged novels on the complete story line of the character. The most complete comic series on the Blue Blur is called "Sonic Universe".

Registering its presence all over the world and in so many forms, has definitely turned out to be a success story for Sonic the Hedgehog and for the Creators of sonic games as well.

Sonic the Hedgehog - A Gift to the World of Games

Its popularity can be well assessed by the fact that the Sonic series has been able to spread its wings through print media, books, and motion pictures alike. The Sega mascot has become a name to reckon with through its journey from 1991 until now.

The designers Oshima, Hirokazu and Yuji put their creative minds together to invent the fifteen year old anthropomorphic hedgehog who was befitting to be a brand mascot because of his unmistakable blue mane. A team of 15 more people further contributed to the image by dressing him up in red shoes, which was a borrowed infusion of styles between Michael Jackson and Santa Claus.

To help the masses relate to him, sonic the hedgehog was granted an amiable personality. However, the amicability was not to be mistaken for passiveness, as Sonic called upon all his supernatural abilities when he needed to defend those he loved. He could run faster than light and he could roll up into a ball in his defense. This could also be due to his low tolerance with anything or anyone who encroached upon his freedom.

Other characters were also worked on, so that Sonic had a special niche for himself. His main foe was drawn up in the form of Mr. Robotnik aka Dr. Eggman. His ladylove was Amy Rose while his friends were Knuckles and Miles Prower. The distinguishing element was his look alike Metal Sonic.

With all of this, the protagonist for the game series was ready. What Sonic now needed was packaging. The game called for a soundtrack that would keep the tempo alive. Masato Nakamura who was associated with the band dreams come true marvellously did this. Post this; Sega felt the need to market Sonic the Hedgehog, so that the audiences knew that the next big thing after Mario, of Nintendo fame, had arrived. This was done by organizing a Wonder three tour, which prepared the masses for the big launch.

The final launch happened in 1991 with Sonic the Hedgehog. The subsequent glides into a host of other series were very well received. The next series for Sonic the hedgehog was launched the year after and was followed suit by Sonic 3D blast, Sonic R, Sonic Pocket Adventure, Sonic Shuffle, Sonic Rush and the very latest Sonic and the Black Knight. For the year 2010, Project Needlehouse, is planned from Segas kitty.

While the video game industry was occupied with the consecutive successes of Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sega involved them in engaging Sonic in cameo appearances, popular soaps and snippets. The buck did not stop here because the print media also took to Sonic the Hedgehog, fondly. Amongst others, the notable contributions by Sonic are those to Disney Adventures, Virgin Books, Archie Comics, and Manga.

With so much said about Sonic the hedgehog it is no wonder that even though he was designed only as an animation character, it is indeed supernatural to catapult to success consistently over the years.

To Mod, Or Not To Mod - That Is The Question

Modifications to standard build cars have been going on since practically the first one rolled off the production line. These days, car tuning and 'modding' in order to improve the performance and handling or to customise the looks of a vehicle have become big business.

Most cars are designed to leave the factory with a suitable initial set up for the average driver's expectations and average road conditions; however many people don't like to be viewed as average, and as cars are often seen as an extension of the owner's personality, 'modding' and tuning have become ways to personalize the vehicle to suit the owner's own sense of style.

In Japan especially, the modification of cars has seen not only a rise in its own owners' sub-culture, but it has also hit the Manga comics and anime in the form of Initial D, and gone on to worldwide box office hit films with The Fast and the Furious. The modification market has become so important to certain manufacturers - most notably Nissan, Subaru and Mitsubishi - that some have even started to release certain models to big name tuning, performance and aftermarket specialists, prior to the actual launch, in order that there are non factory custom modifications ready as soon as the car officially hits the market.

Today there is an extensive array of performance parts available for many different makes and models or car; however body kits and 'body tuning' parts currently make up by far the largest market share of aftermarket parts throughout the world.

Following on from the lead in Japan, and the increased availability of Japanese import cars and parts, the UK scene has exploded in recent years with an extensive list of parts now available, such as neon under-body lights, tinted windows, candy, iridescent, colour shifting and pearlescent paints, decals, custom exhaust tips, spoilers, roof scoops, not to mention lowered suspension, and custom rims!

In the current world of car tuning, style is king. Every tuner wants to post their car photos [http://www.motoraddicts.com] on the latest blog, owners club or online forum. Even those without their own car can create a virtual tuned car with the aid of computer games like 'Need For Speed' before then posting pictures of it online, for others to see their idea of the ideal modified car.

The world of the car as a means of personalized transport has come a long way since Henry Ford is reputed to have made the statement "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." These days a car owner can change the performance, shape, colour or any other styling detail they like.

It seems as though the car truly has become an extension of the owner's personality like never before.

Fun Japanese Collectibles

If you're looking for fun and cute things to collect then look no further than Japan for inspiration. Collecting things is a big part of popular Japanese culture and competition is fierce to have the newest, cutest or coolest item to add to your collection. There are lots of ideas for things you could collect but be warned - once you start this hobby can become addictive!

Japanese erasers are an inexpensive and easy thing to collect. If you think erasers are boring then you're probably thinking of the type you used in school. Japanese collectible erasers are cute, fun and made in every shape possibly imaginable, with minute attention to detail. Miniature food items are particularly popular and look good enough to eat - who could resist a miniature slice of cake, hamburger or piece of sushi in eraser form? Japanese erasers are widely available from online stores and are very inexpensive so it's easy to start your collection and keep it going.

Action figures are also a popular thing to collect in Japan and you can choose any type you're interested in from cute girls to action fighting anime heroes. Figures range from small inexpensive versions that are purchased from vending 'gashapon' machines to large highly detailed and expensive models. Try stores specializing in Japanese merchandise or eBay to start your collection.

If you're into comic books then manga is the obvious thing to collect. These Japanese comic books are read by everyone in Japan from school boys and girls to business men and housewives. As you can imagine, they come in a wide range of subjects with each series containing several sets of manga. The most popular stories have been translated into English and are readily available from bookstores and online stores in the USA and Europe but if you really want to be hardcore, you can also order the original Japanese versions.