Shooting Star Dreamer

Ever find yourself needing or wanting a large amount of anime images for no reason? Maybe you're running a Tumblr blog and want to keep it active, but you can't be bothered to find and download pictures by searching all the boorus? For bloggers, collectors, or graphic designers, this Image Grabber is one of the best tools ever created. The Image Grabber can found at this location . It's an easy download, and quick setup. To download simply navigate to the page on the website labeled "Downloads." You can pick a version that's available for your operating system. As of now, there's only a Linux and Windows version. For a list of available file names for your pictures, go here . Showcasing side by side windows. For those who don't like to download things unknowingly, I've taken a few pictures of the program. The interface isn't anything fancy, but it gets the job done. It's not too confusing and if you run Windows 8 you can easil...

Certain times its somewhat difficult to continuously buy manga and anime. When it comes to this, people usually are forced to obtain said products using underhanded methods. While that's a great way to constantly intake different series, its definitely not for me. Since buying is out, I decided to take a quick trip to my nearest library where they conveniently stock manga. I'm sure some of you have heard of this series before; I have as well, but this is my first time actually checking it out. The story is pretty simple, a college student by the name of Keiichi Morisato, ends up calling the Goddess Helpline by accident. Surprisingly he talks to a real goddess, by the name of Belldandy. Eventually he wishes for Belldandy to remain with him forever, thus the story begins. Of course they get wrapped up in all sorts of events. The series began kind of rocky and the copy from the library definitely looked it's age, but it was readable. Still, I was interested enough that...

A few years back I remember someone posting a particular picture. The image had two sides, one featuring cute anime characters, the other a man in a suit. There were only three words that filled the blank space, which asked "Anime or Success?" When I first saw this picture, I instantly thought it was crazy. In order to become successful we can't enjoy and love anime? What a bunch of garbage that is. However, at that time I was the only one who felt that way. At that point, I didn't really realize that way of thinking that came with such a mindset. Recently, I researched a way of thought process called " Success Without Sacrifice ." There was so little support to this way of thinking, that it was hard for me to find any sort of article that agreed with this point of view. It feels like our society conditions us to think that we have to give up something in order to achieve something else. While this may work for some people, I feel that we are only lim...

Hey guys! Usually I don't do more than one blog update per month, let alone one post per day, but I'm trying a few new things this time around. There's a few things I wanted to talk about during this update. First, I've been working on my gadget bar to the right. I understand that the follower gadget doesn't always appear, and that many people don't want to follow with their Google Accounts. Other people don't even have an account to begin with. So I've decided it would be better to change this way of following. Of course you can still access it through the gadget bar on the right or subscribe by email, but from now on it's best to click the link that says " Follow Me! " at the top of my page. I just hope this clears up a few issues that arose when people have tried to follow my blog. Also, I would like to announce that I've finished creating a profile on a website called Flavors.me. It's pretty much a basic profile, with...

I've been running Shooting Star Dreamer for over a year now. It hasn't always been easy, but it's definitely been a fun experience. On top of this, I learned a lot from managing something of my own. There's no one checking my writing and telling me what to include or exclude, no one is telling me what to say, and the only ideas I share on here are my own. It's a nice feeling having something that's your own and nurturing it. That being said, I remember the start of Shooting Star Dreamer being a little rocky. I've always been on this platform, but my blog style was completely different. For one, I didn't use the same colors, and my layout was less interactive and more static. While I had more freedom in what I could add to my blog and customize, it just wasn't for me. I went through of couple of changes, then found this template and stuck with it. Still, it would've been helpful if I had learned a few lessons from other people. There's ...

There are times in life when we feel like everything and everyone is working against us. No matter what we try, things just seem to not be on our side. People refuse to agree with our values, morals, or beliefs. Others criticize everything about us, berating even our personalities. We even begin to remember a common Japanese proverb;  出る杭は打たれる。( The stake that sticks out gets hammered down.)  If we happen to be that stake, then should we allow ourselves to be hammered? When everything seems to be falling apart, should we really just sit down and whine about it? Should we curse our lives, and bear the burden of hatred? How about confirming to the demands and opinions of others? Definitely not! Have the guts to never give up! I've begun to notice how much pressure there is on people today. Yes, there are the daily stresses, financial concerns, and health worries, but I'm not talking about these. I'm talking about the expectations that are placed on us. No matter what...

Today is officially Sasuke Uchiha's birthday. Whether you can't stand him or like him, he was born today. Sasuke Uchiha (うちはサスケ, Uchiha Sasuke) is one of two known surviving members of Konohagakure's Uchiha clan. He becomes a shinobi so that he can become powerful enough to avenge his family by killing their murderer: his older brother, Itachi.

Throughout our lives as otaku or anime fans, we tend to indulge in many different forms of media. Some of these tend to be games, others are anime. Recently, I've been playing a game by the name of Mabinogi. I'm currently on a hiatus, but I remember one part of the game's story  that really stood out to me.  Mabinogi is a Korean MMO based on Irish mythology. The artwork is anime styled, and the main draw to the game is basically the freedom to live an ideal fantasy life. The game also features a vast story, split into a a handful of chapters. I'm going to focus on Chapter 1 of the Mabinogi story line, featuring the conflict between Paladins and Dark Knights. The story addresses the issues between both the Light and Dark sides. We also get a few messages of advice directed towards the player character, as you are literally the protagonist of the story. Still, the contents of the story and everything that happens isn't the focus right now. I'd like to fo...

"What is gender? Is it merely a label humans have decided for each other? Are we really right in determining gender from birth? Is love really blind?"As I played Kare wa Kanojo, these questions came up in my mind. For such a short visual novel, it's story and characters pack quite a punch. This post will contain a somewhat obvious spoiler, beware. For a quick summary, Kare wa Kanojo is a short visual novel that is available for download on computers and android. The title can translate to "There She He's." The story takes place in 1997 Japan, following the life of our protagonist Taichi. After his move to a small village, he encounters two girls who soon become his close friends. The visual novel is created using the software "Ren'Py." The graphics are made using 3D Custom Girl and GIMP. It's completely free to download, and in my opinion is well made. The creator obviously knew the workings of human emotions quite a bit, and was ...

"It's just fiction, a mere cartoon. What in the world can you learn from something that's not real?" Day by day I see ecstatic fans lose their burning passion when faced with people who don't support their beliefs. It's happened to me before as I found anime that I relate to greatly. I learn from these various work of art, but they're constantly ridiculed for being "fake." So just like that, people stomp on my dream. "Don't even try relating this to real life, it's nothing like it." What do you mean? Our anime is written by real humans, so how can it not be based on their experiences? The next thing people say is "Well, in real life you can't do all these amazing things that take place in anime. Our world doesn't have these amazing conflicts and battles, it doesn't have all these fictional creatures, and humans are nothing like anime characters. You're just delusional." At this point I coul...

Hello everyone! I understand that it's been a long time since my last post. Luckily, I have a lot of good things in store for you guys! While nothing is really being updated this time around, I just wanted to send out a quick post to say "hey, I still exist!" I'm currently participating in a local convention known in Metrocon. Aside from this, I've started college again, and it's somewhat time consuming. I'll most likely give my thoughts and summarize my experience at the convention. Until then, please be patient! Again, I'd like to thank you for sticking with me for this long. Hopefully we can continue to enjoy discussions and examine the many aspects of animation. Until next time~