My Favorite Anime Movies

NOTE:  This post was written before the holidays, I meant to post it but the blogger app was being evil. Anyway, here it is in its original form!

Hiiiiiiii!! I'm baaaackkkk! I finally got a chance between my abundance of work and projects to write a new blog post! I thought why not go back to basics today and since most of my readers enjoy anime I thought why not discuss an anime related topic? If you're like me then you love having movie marathons during the holidays. I love turning on the lights, curling up with a blanket and tea and delving into an awesome movie.

Without further ado, here are my favorite anime movies:

Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose

Let's be real, does this surprise anyone? Out of all of the SM movies, this is my favorite one. I was obsessed with it growing up. I didn't own it myself but I frequently rented the VHS from Blockbuster and borrowed my best friend's copy a lot.  Yes, children before redbox and Netflix we had to venture out to a store to rent movies!

This is the very first Sailor Moon movie. When Mamoru, Usagi, Chibiusa and friends are visiting a botanical garden their day of fun is interrupted by the appearance of a strange man. The man turns out to be the childhood friend of Mamoru's - Fiore...oh yeah and he's an alien. Fiore is obsessed with Mamoru and is extremely jealous of Usagi and Mamoru's relation. So he is determined to wipe out the senshi and keep Mamoru for himself. As usual, Mamoru is kidnapped and Sailor Moon of course has to save him. That's just a very brief summary of the movie.

Why do I love this particular one so mush? I love learning about Mamoru's past, which is something we don't know all that much about. Personally I find this the strongest movie out of the three. Plus one of my all time favorite scenes in Sailor Moon history occurs in this movie. Usagi transforms into Princess Serenity to save Earth from being destroyed by an asteroid. Though I haven't seen it in Japanese...I prefer the English dub of it. The song "The Power of Love" played in the English version of this movie absolutely made it! I wish Viz would do a remake of the song and slip it into their release. 

Nevertheless I can't wait for Viz to release this and sob when I finally have it in my hands, for that day a childhood dream of mine will have been accomplished.

Inuyasha The Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler

I think every Inuyasha fan can agree that this is the best Inuyasha movie. Inuyasha's father had three swords - Tetsaiga (given to Inuyasha), Tensaiga (given to Sesshomaru) and Sounga. Sounga was a very powerful demon sword. So powerful that its power possesses Inuyasha when he obtains it. The sword was tossed into the bone eater's well and the sheath upon it sealed. The seal however is broken and Inuyasha must re-sheath it. Only the sword ends up in the hands of Takemaru - a human the sword resurrects and posssses who hated Inuyasha and Seashomaru's father. He is intent on killing them both  as well as doing Sounga's bidding. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru must work together to bring down their enemy.

This movie has the best story line out of all of the Inuyasha movies. I love how we get to see Inuyasha's parents and get a glimpse into his childhood. The best thing about it though is the two brothers with a mutual hatred of each other must put aside their differences to work together.

Summer Wars

I first saw this on Toonami a few years ago and immediately loved it. It is a wonderful story and the animation is stunning!

It's about a boy who agrees to pretend to be his friend a girlfriend and accompany her to her grandmother's 90th birthday. While there, he receives a text with a math equation and his attempt to solve it results in a hacking of Oz - a major online platform that not only controls people's social media, but also their finances and their jobs! Think Google if they controlled your bank account. It results in a virtual reality war against the hacker and may result in mass real world destruction.

It is a fun story to get lost in with a good mixture of action and comedy. It shows the bond of family unlike any anime I have ever seen before which is refreshing.

Naruto Shippuden: Road To Ninja

This is actually the only Naruto movie I fully enjoy (save for the one where we get glimpses of Kakashi as an anbu). In this one, Naruto and Sakura are transported to an alternate universe where pretty much everything is reversed. Naruto's parents Minato and Kushina are alive while Sakura's parents died to save the village. Hinata is tough and possessive of Naruto instead of her sweet, shy self. Kiba hates dogs, Shikamaru is an idiot and Rock Lee is a pervert. My all time favorite reversal is that of Kakashi and Gai. Kakashi is basically Gai, but amplified. He is spazzy and over enthusiastic. It's adorable!! On the other hand Gai is lazy.

It is a fun little "what if" type movie, if you're a fan I highly recommend checking it out though it isn't essential to watch.

Howl's Moving Castle

Okay, I could include all of the Studio Ghibli movies here, they're all wonderful. But I narrowed down my choice to just one; my favorite, Howl's Moving Castle.

This movie is about a young girl named Sophie. Her family own's a hat shop and she is seen as the sort of "plain Jane", timid, responsible daughter working at the shop while her sister is gorgeous and adored by men. One day the witch of the waste happens into the shop and Sophie makes her mad, so she curses Sophie - turning her into an old woman.

Sophie goes on an adventure to find the witch so that she can reverse the curse placed upon her. Along the way she finds herself in the moving castle belonging to the "evil" wizard Howl as Howl's cleaning lady. But this isn't a typical fairy tale. A war is ongoing and the king is using magic to win it. Howl must fight for what is right and Sophie must in a way help him to find himself again.

As with all Ghibli films this is a wonderful adventure flick and will surely capture your attention. It's fun and clever too. I just love it so much, even more so than their ever popular Spirited Away.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed this post and that my summaries weren't too horrible. What are your favorite anime movies? Comment and let me know!!

Xoxo

Heather Zombie ❤

Eclipse & Non-Scary Halloween Films

Hi everyone! I hope the formatting of this post is alright! I am posting it from Blogger's shitty app since I fell off of a ladder Saturday night while hanging some Halloween lights. My back is still killing me, I'm confined to the couch so no computer for me. It was an old ladder that had been fixed once already. I reached too far and the ladder gave way and collapsed, taking me with it. I fell into the DVD cabinet in my living room and on top of a lamp shade. That sure was fun x___x. No worries though, my dears! I'm fine, just pretty sore in some places still. 

I meant to have this up last week but the past week was incredibly busy for me. I wanted to talk about a cool experience from last week and share another Halloween post! So they're being combine into this post.  I have a few  DIY decor posts on the way, it's just a matter of actually finishing these projects. So stay tuned for them! 

Sunday night  of last week (September 27) was a very special night. Not only was it a supermoon and not only did we have a super moon eclipse, but we had a blood moon eclipse as well.

For those that don't know, a super moon is a larger brighter moon. A blood moon eclipse is an eclipse that follows a regular one where the moon starts to turn red. It has to do with the position of the sun. I'm a total nerd for these types of things so I was outside watching.

There actually have been a series of blood moon eclipses since April of last year. I have gone out during every single one of these while braving rain, wind, asthma attacks, the cold and annoying clouds to see the blood moon. Every single time save for last night, it was either raining or very cloudy. Damn New England weather!!

Which brings me to that sunday's adventure. I stood in my driveway and in the road of my street, watching the first part of the eclipse. I kept having to run back and forth because of the moon's position changing. I actually stood outside and watched the entire first eclipse - I watched the moon start at full and then disapear. I must have been out there for an hour and a half just staring at the sky. Time sort of disapeared.

My neighborhood can be wonderfully spooky at night. 

I did try to get pictures of it...but this was the best I could get -_-'. 

I tried 4 different cameras and could not capture the eclipse. The moon must have been too bright.

After a while my grandpa joined me. (My grandparents live next door to me, I should mention. )For once I explained something to him; telling him about the blood moon. We watched the eclipse through his binoculars.

As I watched the eclipse, I happened to see a single leaf fall slowly from a tree into the road. There wasn't any wind. I have never in my life felt so close to nature or so close to the moon. I even dragged my mom outside to watch. It was so beautiful and amazing. I couldn't believe that my neighbors (I could see their tv flashing in their window) would rather watch TV than to see the beauty that I was.

After the moon disapeared, my mom made my come inside for a while because the cold was aggrivating my lungs. After a while, Vicky Imessaged me and told me how red the moon was, so I ventured back outside. I went directly to my grandparents' yard to get a better view. I stopped, looked up at the sky and there it was.

  [Photo credit to a friend of Vicky's.]

               [Photo credit to Vicky]

I was astonished, it was so beautiful! And I was so happy I could finally see this wonderful sight. It was literally over a year in the making. The weathermen said it would be cloudy and possibly hard to see but it was clear as day right in the center of the sky.

I stood and watched for a while, even dragged my mom out of bed to see it. I stood for a good half hour staring at it and looking at the stars. The stars were so bright and beautiful. I just stood there thinking about how amazing the universe is and how we're only just a tiny spec in it. I thanked Mother Nature for allowing me to see the amazing sight. It really was breathtaking.

Now, we shall segue into the next part of this post: my top non-scary Halloween films! I realize that not everyone is a horror nut like me and many people get scared easily. So as requested by my friend Max, AKA Based Ryu (Hiiiii!!! :D) here is my list of family friendly Halloween films to get you into the spirit.

                     Hocus Pocus

I'm not going to bother to discuss this since I did in my last Halloween movie post. It is an absolute must see though!

        Nightmare Before Christmas

I have already discussed this one as well, it is a Halloween classic and belongs on this list as well. Jack Skellington is like the PG face of Halloween. 

                          Casper

I LOVE this movie! Yes, I'm talking about the one from the 90s with Christina Ricci. I was obsessed with Casper as a kid. Ghosts and Halloween, what's not to love? 

                       Beetlejuice

If you never saw this movie for Halloween I am so sorry. Your homework will be to go watch it!! This Tim Burton classic is about a couple named Barbara and Adam who are killed in a car accident and suddenly find themselves stuck in their beloved home as ghosts. Soon the yuppie Deetz family along with their goth daughter, Lydia move in and disturb the peace. Barbara and Adam are too tame to scare the family from their home, so they enlist the help of  bio exorcist Beetlejuice to drive them from their home. 

I've actually been stalking channels because I've been dying to watch this one lately (I don't own it ;____;) but it hasn't been on when I've been able to watch it. 

                      Corpse Bride

If you liked Nightmare Before Christmas, check this one out. Set in the Victorian era, a shy and clumsy young man named Victor is about to be married to a young lady named Victoria whom his parents arranged his marriage too. After fumbling and making mistake after mistake during the rehearsal he runs into the woods to practice his vows and accidentally finds himself married to the beautiful Emily...a corpse risen from the grave. 

                  Practical Magic

I love this movie so much!! It's about the women of the Owens family, who happen to be witches. A curse is placed upon their family that any man that falls in love with them is doomed to die. The main characters, Gillian and Sally are sisters that are incredibly close though both very different. They live with their eccentric aunts since their parents are dead. Sally is the more logical of the two and Gillian is the fun loving romantic. I don't want to say much more in fear of spoiling the movie for anyone that hasn't seen it! 

                   Frankenweenie

Another Tim Burton movie, this one was years and years in the making. In black and white and a throw back to the old monster movies Frankenweenie is about a boy who loses his beloved dog and brings him back to life. 

        Scooby Doo on Zombie Island

If you're a 90s kid, chances are you've caught this one on Cartoon Network during the Halloween season. This one is about the Mystery Inc gang reuniting after being split up and doing their own thing for a case. This case brings them to Moonscar Island where they hope to encounter a real ghost instead of a man in a mask. They soon stumble upon a dark secret which is more than they bargained for. 

This was a Halloween staple for me as a kid. I also high recommend 

Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost, 

 Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School 

and Scooby Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf'. 

                  Halloweentown

This is a Disney Halloween classic.  Ahh I miss the 90s Disney Channel original movies. They were so good!! This one is about a girl named Marni, her brother Dylan and sister Sophie who figure out that their grandmother is a witch and follows her to her home in Halloween town; where all of its inhabitants are monsters and a dark force is attacking them. 

Honorable mentions: 

Coraline 

and Edward Scissorhands.

There you have it! My eclipse adventures and some non scary Halloween movies so you all can enjoy this spooky season. Anything you want to see as part of my Halloween series? Comment and let me know! Stay tuned for more! 

Xoxo

Stay creepy 

Halloween Countdown: Heather's Top Halloween Movies

Hello my darlings! Though you probably didn't enjoy reading about my suffering, I hope you at least learned something from my last post.

YES! It is finally that time of year! I officially have begun decorating my home for Halloween. I can't wait until I'm feeling well enough to pull out the rest of my decorations. Though I don't need to decorate as much this year because a lot of my decorations got kept up from last year xD. Anyway, here is some of what I have out so far:

Taken from my Instagram

And I have these really cute leaf candles that I put in water to float around. I am loving them so much, they're so pretty that I'm afraid to light them!

Also taken from my Instagram

I'm hoping to continue to update and show you all my decorations as they go up. I know some of my online friends would die to come see my house around Halloween. Ahh fall, I love it so much *^*. It is my favorite season and of course I love Halloween so much. My favorite thing about living in New England is the fall leaves. It is absolutely beautiful here! I love the way my house looks when the leaves begin to fall, I have a large front yard and trees that surround my house so I have beautiful leaves everywhere. I just love fall so so much.

Fall, last year.

Fall is the one time of year I can totally be myself and not get treated like a freak or get odd looks when I go out. Even in April, I'll dress like it's Halloween. I just go all out spooky for October.

To kick off my celebration of this most wonderful spooky season on this blog, I thought I would discuss my list of essential Halloween movies. These are movies I absolutely HAVE to watch as Halloween draws near. Every September and October I have horror movie binge watching marathons. I watch a TON of movies, but this list are the top that I save for closer to Halloween.

 I am hoping (though I promise nothing) to post a lot more often with Halloween themed posts from discussing costumes, to makeup tips to DIY decor and even recipes. It all depends on the time I have and if I remember to actually update. I will do my very best though, after all I am the creepy queen.

Anyway, here are my top 5 movies for Halloween. I'm sure I've discussed some of these before, but who cares.

Hocus Pocus

It's all a bunch of hocus pocus!! 

I am a sucker for witch movies, after all I am one (I am a practitioner of Wicca. I consider myself a witch and I have a coven.  Maybe I'll do a post on this if anyone is interested but I've honestly been a bit afraid to do a post about it all). I have been watching Hocus Pocus ever since I was a little kid. I've always wanted a black flame candle as well, though I wouldn't care if the Sanderson sisters showed up. I'd love to hang with them. Hocus Pocus is really the ultimate Halloween film that people of any age can watch. It takes place on Halloween. It has witches, zombies, ghosts and a talking black cat. Plus the beautiful scenery. It really is perfection. I find myself watching this movie many times during the season.

Trick r Treat

One of my favorite horror movies. Trick r Treat is an anthology horror film with a bunch of intertwining stories revolving around Halloween. It is the ultimate Halloween film and has everything. It truly captures the spirit of Halloween. And literally has the spirit of Halloween, this cute little nugget named Sam...who murders people.

I would hug him...if he wasn't going to stab me with his lollipop.

A sequel has been in the works for several years now and I absolutely can not wait for it! The creator of Trick r Treat is coming out with the movie Krampus, which is supposed to be a holiday horror film about the famed Krampus. I can't wait to see that one either.

Halloween - Rob Zombie's and the original

I love both the original Halloween and Rob Zombie's remake. The original is a classic. Nothing can beat the classics. For those that live under a rock, Halloween is about Michael Myers who killed his family as a child escaping from the mental hospital and going on a killing rampage on Halloween night. Laurie Strode (who SPOILER turns out to be his baby sister) played by the wonderful and original scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis is his main target. They just don't make movies like Halloween anymore.

As for the remake, I love the re-imagining of it. I love how Rob Zombie brought in the back story of Michael and showed a new side of him while also keeping the spirit of the original film. But Scout Taylor Compton as Laurie Strode's screaming and whining makes me want to strangle her.  Both in my opinion are must watches on Halloween. Though I DO favor watching the original on Halloween night.

Rob Zombie has a horror movie coming out called 31 and I absolutely can not wait to see it!

Nightmare Before Christmas

This is Halloween, this is Halloween.

Okay, let's be real. How can we talk about Halloween movies and NOT include this classic??? I have watched Nightmare Before Christmas ever since I was a baby. What's great about this movie is you can watch it for two holidays...which I make sure to do. Jack Skellington is one of the most well known symbols of Halloween in Pop Culture. Tim Burton is a mastermind for Halloween, almost all of his movies are perfect for the season. It doesn't feel like Halloween to me without this film and I just wish I could visit Halloween town. Fuck Edward and Bella, I want to be Jack and Sally. Tim Burton is coming out with a sequel to Beetlejuice (YAAASSSS), though I'm not sure how long it will be until it comes out.



Some other movies I love watching for Halloween time include The Conjuring, the Chucky movies (save for maybe Seed of Chucky. That movie was a train wreak), Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street and Ginger Snaps. What are your favorite Halloween movies? Comment and let me know. Until next time!

Xoxo

Stay creepy!

January Lust List : DVDs

Hi everyone! As you remember (because I wouldn't shut up about it) I had a poll on one of my last posts to help me choose the next topic. Thank you so much to the two people that voted, you're awesome ^_^!! As requested, I am writing today about the 12 (with two bonuses) movies and shows on my wishlist that I am lusting over this month. I say DVD because I'm behind the times and still don't own a Bluray player (I know, so sad ;__;) This is in no particular order.

1. Hellsing Ultimate Vols 9 and 10 Bluray & DVD combo pack

I already own Hellsing Ultimate volumes 1-8, but the price of 9 and 10 has been too steep for me to justify getting just yet. I want this set so much to complete my collection. It had two of the most badass episodes of the series. Note: Amazon has stopped selling this themselves because of an apparent problem with the stock. The price has skyrocketed. I hope it'll be back and cheaper soon!!

2. The Purge 2, Purge: Anarchy

I loved the first Purge movie and I've been dying to see this one. I have heard that it's everything the first movie should have been. It was towards the top of my Christmas list, but I never got it.

3. Annabelle

I am a big fan of the Warrens. I absolutely loved The Conjuring so of course I had to check this out. I actually just watched it last night and I loved it! It wasn't as good as The Conjuring was but pretty damn close! I can't wait until The Conjuring 2 comes out, as of right now it isn't scheduled to be released until next year. 

4. Maleficent

I saw this in the theater and loved it. Maleficent has always been one of my favorite Disney villains. Angelina Jolie was SO fierce and badass in this movie and I love that Disney didn't make it well, a typical Disney movie.

5. Adventure Time season 4

Adventure Time is one of my many favorite shows. I don't own any of the seasons and would actually love to own them all. I chose season 4 for this list because Netflix doesn't have it and it contains of my favorite episodes: Fionna and Cake. I LOVE the Fionna and Cake episodes. I wish Cartoon Network would make us a spinoff or at least give us more than one of their episodes a year.

6. Descendants of Darkness vols 1 and 4

Also known as Yami no Matsuei. It is a lesser known anime series that I discovered while I was in middle school. My best friend and I were obsessed with this show, she owned volume 4 so we would have marathons of both of our collections whenever we had sleepovers. It's about an organization that handles the processing of souls after death. The main character Tsuzuki Asato and then his partner Hisoka Kurosaki are shinigami that work for the judgement division of the organization, having to get the dead people and bring them to trial for judgement of how they lived their lives. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are often mixed up in an investigation of some mystery that they have to solve. The show deals heavily with the occult, my favorite story arc being the Devil's Song episodes. It introduced me to my favorite classical piece, The Devil's Trill by Giuseppe Tartini.

It is gory, creepy and has some yaoi (I LOVE my yaoi!). I own volumes 2 and 3, but not 1 and 4. This  show is out of print and you can only buy the DVDs used now, for years I have been hunting for them and I just recently found them on amazon. I need to complete my collection.

7. Into The Woods

I saw this movie with one of my friends this past week and it was fantastic. I love musicals and of course I was bound to love it since it IS based on a sondheim (the composer to one of my favorite movies, Sweeney Todd) play. Although the plot was rushed (in their defense, they were cramming a possibly 3-4 hour play into a 2 hour movie) it was great and the music was great. Plus it had Meryl Streep. Meryl was fierce. Meryl is queen. Though this is still in theaters, it is up for pre-order and releases in March.

8. The Addams Family (1960s) vol 1.

I love the original black and white Addams Family TV show from the 1960s. Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams is queen!! It is one of the very few things I can stand in black and white. I would love to own any volume of this show, but volume 1 is what's on my amazon wish list.

9. Chrono Crusade: Complete Series 

This is another beloved anime I discovered in middle school. I was obsessed with this as well. My summary of this may not be so great, as it has been so long since I've been able to watch this show. It is about the Madgalene order, an organization that destroys demons. The main characters are a nun named Rosette Christopher and her sidekick (who happens to be a demon) Chrono. Throughout the series they are hunting for Rosette's missing brother Joshua, fighting demons and discovering dark secrets along the way.

It is a great lesser known series. I normally dislike shows about nuns or anything religious but Rosette is a badass nun! I love the whole demon aspect of the show and how the nuns shoot them like crazy with their guns. I love that Rosette isn't a typical nun. Her and Chrono are like the black sheep.  I definitely recommend checking this out, especially if you liked Trinity Blood.

10. Modern Family: any season!

I love Modern Family! It is one of my favorite shows, I sadly don't own any of it but I want all of it. It is what I like to call one of my happy shows: a show that just comforts me and that I can watch over and over. I watch reruns of the show all the time and have seen some episodes probably 20+ times. I just love it so much!


11. Game of Thrones season 4

Game of Thrones is my favorite show (since True Blood is over and though I love it, went downhill as the seasons went on. The last season was bullshit). I own seasons 1-3 and need to own this one. Plus this season has the purple wedding, which was an oh so beautiful thing. 

12. The Fault In Our Stars

I haven't seen this yet, but I read the book. The book was so fantastic that I read the entire thing in a day. This book made me cry harder than any other book. I really want to see the movie and see how it compares.

Bonuses:

Sailor Moon season 1 part 2

I have this pre-ordered already so it technically can't be part of this list, but I am lusting over it SO much! I already own part 1. Part 2 contains my favorite episode (the episode where Mamoru discovers Usagi is Sailor Moon and Usagi learns she's princess Serenity), I'm really excited to see how it is uncut and with the new dub. It comes out February 10, I should have it in my possession on release day. Just a few more weeks!!! Would anyone like me to review the set when I get it? Or even review set 1? I also can't wait until Sailor Moon R is released, I am DYING to own it uncut. 

Black Butler: Book of Circus

This hasn't even been dubbed or announced in the US yet, so it doesn't truly count. But I loved this series so much! Black Butler is one of my favorites and they really did this justice with the manga. It was one of my favorite manga arcs and it was just great to see animated.

So that's it! Thank you for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed this. Any fans of any of the shows/movies above? If you would like any other lust lists or have any topic suggestions let me know in a comment or you can even tweet me! I should mention that you don't need to make an account to comment and you can do it anonymously. Hope you're all having a lovely evening (or day if you're reading this during the day) <3

Xoxo
Moon prism power makeup!