Shooting Star Dreamer

Support the Artist! Hello everyone and long time no see! It's been quite a while since I've made a blog post, but I'm sure many of you are wondering if Shooting Star Dreamer is dead/has died. I'm here to confirm and say that this blog is definitely still alive and well! Unfortunately, the last official post was made towards the end of August, which was definitely a long time ago. Here we are on the final day of the year, everyone's getting an update at this time, and I'm sure some readers are itching to find out what happened. Needless to say, life has been pretty hectic for me with school finishing and everything that comes with it. It's been a very busy second half of the year and I apologize for not keeping the blog up to date. As they say: things happen. Despite this rough spot, the dreams are definitely not ending here. As always, with a new year comes a new beginning. This time of the year is my favorite as there are opportunities for chan...

In our society, there are numerous categories that help define a person. When asked about an individual, it is easy to describe them by choosing a collection of these such as race or gender. While these groupings can be somewhat hurtful, they are mostly helpful in creating unity or learning more about ourselves. One of the more controversial labels are those that describe our interactions with the world. The word introvert describes those who gain energy from within, while extrovert describes those who gain energy from the outside world. Neither type is better than the other, and both embody a similar relationship as yin and yang. Of course, these types are stereotyped in various forms of media. Anime does a pretty good job of portraying them in a more positive and realistic light, but there are still mishaps. These generalizations stem from common traits, hobbies, and other basic characteristics of an individual that are usually unrelated to an outer or inner personality. ...

This is a guest post by Lem Enrile. Have you seen a live cheer dance performance before? I know most of you have. Even if you are not so fond of it just because your friend dragged you to watch one, I’m sure that you’ll be amazed with the cheerleaders’ performance. Most often, you would see girls being thrown high up in the air as if they are flying, and then they would graciously land on their feet while wearing a goddess smile. For a very long time now, girls have dominated the cheerleading world. Admit it. When you hear the word cheer dance, you would immediately think of girls with tight-fitted clothes and short skirts, armed with frilly pompoms. Or if there are guys on the team, they are usually the ones who lift and support the girls while performing their stunts. If you are a fan of cheer dance, then you would probably like the anime, Cheer Danshi. However, Cheer Danshi has a different take on cheerleading – its members are all men , specifically, college guys. And the...

Today marks the birthday of μ's team leader, Honoka Kousaka. Honoka is a character from the very popular idol anime Love Live, which is now airing it's second season known as Love Live Sunshine . She's born on August 3rd, and is a fiery Leo. I've done a post before on Honoka Kousaka celebrating her birthday , but I wanted to give another quick shoutout to her today. Honoka is a huge inspiration to me and my blog. Therefore, I wanted to give her some spotlight! For Honoka related pictures on Pixiv, please follow this link . Look below for a video featuring one of her songs. Thank you for reading and Happy Birthday Honoka!

Hello everyone! This a quick and important announcement (which is partly responsible for the inactivity) that I finally want to release to public. Shooting Star Dreamer will have a table at one of Florida's largest anime convention, Metrocon! This is our first time doing anything of the sort, and we hope to do our best! The merchandise our booth will provide are anime bracelets, necklaces and other forms of jewelry. These creations are produced by our sister organization, G.T.I Kreations! I have attached the link to G.T.I on my blog. Please give them support as well! G.T.I Kreations Facebook Event Page Our booth is located at table I-23 of the Artist Alley!  We are located in the Vendor Room which is on the second floor of the convention center! As always, thank you for your continued support!

Credits to this wonderful artist for the backdrop. Character: Tadokoro Megumi from Shokugeki no Souma Hello and welcome to the first episode-by-episode blog post I've done in a long time. Since this segment is still a work in progress, I'll probably limit my posts of this type to one per season, but we'll see how things continue. Now you may be asking, what does the O&A mean at the end of this title? Well, even though I'm delving into a more common area in anime blogging, I'd like things to be different here at Shooting Star Dreamer. So instead of the generic review, I'll be highlight and giving an overview of each episode and providing thoughts along the way. Lastly, I'll be extracting different things from the anime and making the symbolism public. Thus, this segment is called O&A (co ntrary to Q&A) which stands for Overview and Analysis. With that out of the way, let's continue! To kick things off, I'll covering my favorite...

Character: Miki Hoshii from Idolm@ster What is an otaku? This question is asked quite a bit throughout the anime community and the answer differs depending on who you talk to. This question is eventually what led to the creation of this blog! Shooting Star Dreamer's first blog post sums this up, and the later post  discusses breaking the otaku stereotype. Today however, I'd like to highlight the opinions of others, instead of solely my own. Also with this, I'm opening (or somewhat changing) a segment of my blog, known as Shooting Star Spotlights. Contrary to other spotlights, I want this category to highlight bloggers/websites/posts, but specifically anime bloggers. Each spotlight under this title will focus on a specific theme, and all blogs or websites I provide will have a post relating to this theme. The websites I pick may not necessarily be active, but will contain posts that deserve attention. So below are posts that I feel discuss the concept of otaku we...

Hello everyone! Shooting Star Dreamer has focused on anime from the past and present alike, but now its time to move on to newer and better things. In order to do this, we need to keep up with the current anime. So with this Summer season, the anime hiatus is over. Here comes my official watchlist! Disclaimer: This watch list features anime that I find interesting and plan to try out. There is no guarantee that I'll finish the anime, but I'll at least attempt to do a post on each one!  For those viewing this list and wishing to leave a recommendation, feel free to comment below with your anime. I'll take into account every request, but I won't guarantee that I'll enjoy or finish it. (Don't let this stop you from recommending though!) Click the title links for more information and PV! Summer 2016 Anime Watchlist  SHOKUGEKI NO SOUMA: Ni no Sara Masou Gakuen HxH Tales of Zestiria the X Ange Vierge ...

Enjoy a picture of Iowa, our resident American ship girl!  Hello anime fans and fellow otaku, and happy 4th of July! Since today is a holiday, expect a new anime-related post from this blog tomorrow. (I promise, we'll be back to our Japan-centered topics soon.) For now, I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday festivities. (for those of us who are in America.) Have a cook out, light some fireworks or sparklers, but most importantly, be safe! Until next time, see you~

Being able to share your true self with another person is the greatest companionship. Being an otaku isn't always an easy thing. In fact, living a normal life is probably easier. Many otaku have the urge to hide their interests from friends, family, and romantic partners. To be honest, it's easy to understand. Growing up in different parts of the world, it's often hard to find like-minded individuals, and it's horrible getting shunned or left behind because of one's interests. Many otaku turn to the internet to find others like them, but there's also other outlets in the form of conventions, meet ups, clubs, and hang outs. For instance, I am an otaku that consistently felt different from others, as little to no people shared my interests. However, participating in my local anime scene, blogging and connecting to people online has changed that quite a bit for me. Just because you're an otaku, doesn't mean you can't have good romance! E...

Fans of anime and Japan are referred to as many things. Some are negative, some are positive, but certain labels tend to stick more than others. For instance, we hear the word otaku tossed around a lot. Here at Shooting Star Dreamer, I try to give otaku more positive connotations, and refer to myself as such in a good way. However, this isn't always the case for everyone. Since I talk on the word "otaku" quite a bit, I'd like to give some insight into another word that has a lasting impression; Weeaboo. If you don't know what this word means, here's a textbook definition: "A non-Japanese person (especially one of Caucasian ancestry) who behaves in a stereotypically Japanese manner or seeks to appear stereotypically Japanese." ( source ) Pretty interesting right? From the get go, this word is pretty negative. At it's core, it's pretty much a label for people who behave in a such a way, more-so a label to give to someone you don'...

Support the Artist One year ago, a great game known as Splatoon released. Splatoon was an interesting game; it was quite different and filled with a childlike charm. It stood out in the genre of shooting games, with it's vibrant visuals and not-so violent gameplay. At first glance, people had written off Splatoon as a simple children's game, but it proved to be so much more. Splatoon became a new Nintendo exclusive and gained immense popularity. No one saw it coming, but Splatoon had taken the hearts of many and still holds it's popularity to this day. When I first saw Splatoon, it felt like a game from a different time period. Outside of references, graphics, and all of the technical things, a game's design can bring out different emotions in players. Splatoon, was a game aimed towards those of the past, as well as those in the present as well. Featuring wacky colors and graphics, an underwater theme, combined with a new sense of coolness, Splatoon feels...

Good evening! Yesterday, May 21st, marked the birthday of my favorite female anime character, Yamada from B Gata H Kei. Unfortunately, I was too busy to make a post on the previous day regarding Yamada, so here's one now! Yamada is an interesting character. The first distinct thing about her is that her first name is never mentioned throughout her series and still remains a mystery to this day. Although her actual background is somewhat mysterious, it doesn't keep her from being an enthusiastic and open person. Although she's not too popular of a character, (she has little merchandise, fan art, and other typical anime goods) her anime usually stands out in the minds of those who have seen it for being unique in more ways than one. This is exactly what attracted me to Yamada; she's unique and doesn't really fit into the generic anime norms. With that being said, being born on May 21st makes Yamada a Gemini, just barely. She falls on the cusp of the dates, s...

Ever find yourself swamped with tons of images and don't know what to do? Since Spring is now here, it's the perfect time to get all those beautiful pictures in nice folders. Although this task isn't always an easy one. I've had a problem with organization and locating images for a while now, but I figured out a colorful and vibrant way to lay out my folders. Today, I'd like to share my way of organizing anime images and creating an anime-styled folder. Please keep reading if this interests you, and if you're lacking images, check out my many anime-based image posts! With that being said, let's begin! A layered organization scheme is very useful for art gallery folders or anime series folder where there's a lot of categories or characters. When gathering images, I tend to browse websites such as Pixiv . I find that Pixiv provides images that aren't found in other areas, as they're uploaded directly by the artist. Websites such as Ya...

Support the Artist! Hello everyone, and happy Springtime! I'm currently enjoying Spring Break right now, along with tons of other people, and hopefully you're having a good time as well! Spring is known for a lot of things: warmer weather, flowers, rain, and more. However in Japan, the sign of Spring is more simple; Cherry blossoms (also known as Sakura). Cherry blossoms are bright pink flowers that bloom in Spring. They're featured in a lot of different anime, art work of Japan, and other such mediums. In fact, we have cherry blossoms here in the United States. Since Spring is here, I've taken the time to provide you all with wonderful sakura-themed wallpapers for your computer needs. All the wallpapers featured are safe for work and at least 1080p size, allowing most users to have a high quality background. All credit is given to the artists of these beautiful images, and if any of them have a problem with their art being included in this pack, please cont...