The Tempest - Shakespeare in the Park 2013

I was lucky enough to get the part of Miranda in this years production of The Tempest with Shakespeare in the Park. I went to the audition feeling a little indifferent about it; I wasn't really expecting to get a role but  I would've absolutely loved it if I did. Luckily, I did get a role and The Tempest then proceeded to take over my life (in a very good way, I assure you). 

It was all immensely exciting for me as I'd never had a part in a production excluding youth theatres and school shows. Being surrounded by people who would take acting seriously and actually wanted to be there was so pleasant, being the complete opposite of taking parts in productions where people who be there just to miss a few lessons. The fact that we were performing open air aswell was even more exhilarating. 

I found it a little difficult when it came to learning my lines, as I'd never really had the opportunity to perform Shakespeare before! We all received individual books with the script inside, and it's funny how much it has changed since the first rehearsal. From many evenings of rehearsals in the rain, it's safe to say that my script is almost wrecked.

At the very first rehearsal, we had to travel down many narrow lanes in our car and eventually turned up in a field full of sheep, to then walk into the forest to find where we would be rehearsing/performing. When I first got there, I was absolutely shocked that this was actually where we would be performing. It seemed so small, but when all the hay bales were out for the audience and the stage was finally set up, it looked spectacular. 

The final performances were brilliant; it even rained heavily during the last scene of the second performance. It was definitely an experience having to perform in the rain!

We were also in the newspaper twice:

Overall, this has to be one of the best events of my life. I don't think I've ever been surrounded by so many lovely, talented people all at once and it has been the most enjoyable experience ever. I'm definitely planning on auditioning again next year!

A few photos...

I had to dance with this "Spartan." He just so happens to think his dancing is incredible, but that's definitely debatable.

Pastel Bun Bun: Store Review

Hello there. What's that? Another store review? Of course!

I recently made an order on PastelBunBun last month.

To visit the store, click the banner above!

I made my order on the 27th May and it arrived on the 12th June. I had a few questions about what the postage would be like so I e-mailed the store owner and she was absolutely LOVELY. I made my order almost immediately and my items were dispatched the very same day!

This is what the package looked like when it arrived.

I love the little please do not squeeze sticker!

And this is what my order looked like! It was all sealed together nicely. I ordered:

- Tofu Cellphone Plush - Green

- Milk Plushie - Pink (I couldn't find the pink milk plush on the store, so the link will send you to the green milk plush instead).

And a bear and bunny grab bag with 53 pieces! This was on the sale and I couldn't find it on the website once again, so perhaps you can't purchase this anymore.

The shop business cards are really cute! Little things like this are always cute and handy!

I also got six little sheets of memo paper along with the business cards!

And here is my first item! The little green tofu charm. 

This little charm is so cute and smallish, I decided to put it on my keys!

Second item!

Milk Plush charm!

I haven't quite decided where abouts I'm going to put this charm yet. It's a little too big to go on my keys, so I'm thinking of perhaps putting it on my school bag? I had a charm like this on there a few years ago and it got lost, so that's a concern.

HMMMM.

And finally...

Bear and bunny grab bag!

The sheets were all kept together like this. I didn't think the sheets would be this small but they're still adorable nonetheless! You definitely can't buy paper like this from around here.
I originally bought this because I'm planning on getting a penpal in Japan at some point as I desperately want to learn Japanese, and I wanted the paper to be cute instead of just simple, plain paper!

These are the first little sheets. They're perfect for making small memos on.

And these are all the larger ones!

This is my favourite sheet! ^

I got a few little stickers to go along with the sheets aswell. I'll probably stick a few on the back of my laptop and my phone. 

Some free lemonade lipgloss was sent along with my order aswell.

The little decoden design on the lid of the lipgloss is adorable! I love the little yellow lemon which is quite hard to see but is FABULOUS.

The lipgloss itself is a little bit messy, but it has been sent from a different country so I'm not really complaining. I haven't actually tried the lipgloss yet, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

The tub is small and compact so will easily fit in a small bag to take around with me. ^_^

The store owner, Anna, also drew a cute little sketch on the order form.

OVERALL.

Service: 5/5

Anna was polite and helpful, replying to my e-mails very quickly!

Products: 5/5

I love each of them. I've been wanting to buy some cute little plushies for a while now!

They were all worth the prices they were at aswell.

Postage: 4/5

My package arrived quickly even though it was from a different country.

I didn't give it 5 as I wasn't too impressed with the postage prices. :-( Anna explained the pricing, and it does say how the postage has had to increase on the website, but I ended up spending a little more than I wanted to!

I absolutely love my order, and I'd love to purchase from PastelBunBun again!

Check out PastelBunBun asap!

June Anime!

This is basically a little summary of the anime's I've been watching this month. I update myanimelist account regularly with each of the anime's I watch! I happen to watch quite a lot of animes all at once. I know I shouldn't but I get too carried away!

1) Hayate No Gotoku

It's about a boy who's parents run off and leave him in large amounts of debt, and then he saves a young rich girl who then pays the debt for him. He then becomes her butler to pay back the money he owes her.

I started watching this anime in November last year, and I finished a few days ago. As there's 52 episodes in the first season, it took quite a while for me to finish. 

Overall rating: 8/10

It's very amusing at times, but some characters seem a little dull and some episodes are continually similar. For example, problems occurring in almost every episode. I understand this is usually what keeps the anime flowing with comedy animes such as this, but it really can get irritating at times.

Nagi, Hayate & Maria are all loveable characters, and I'm hoping to watch the second season at some point as I really loved the first season!

2) Angel Beats!

The protagonist (Otonashi) wakes up to find he's in the afterlife, so he's basically dead. A girl called Yuri asks him to join the Afterlife Battlefront to fight against an "evil" character named Tenshi.

That's basically it in a nutshell, along with the characters trying to recall memories.

I'm still watching this anime now (episode 9) and I really don't like it! I was super disappointed because the clips I'd seen on youtube and around the internet looked hilarious, and I'd heard many good things about this anime. Not only do I not find it funny, I'm finding the storyline quite tedious and quite simply, plain. The characters don't seem to have much depth to them, and they just seem all very placid. It's a shame because I really liked the look of this anime, but I guess it can't please everyone.

Overall rating: 5/10.

I'm not enjoying it, but I feel as if I have to continue watching it to the very end now just to see if it picks up anywhere. 

3) Devil Survivor 2 the Animation

An app becomes available on smartphones showing a clip every now and again of people before they die. The two main characters download the app, and then happen to see themselves. This happens, and they somehow get given the choice to live or die. By choosing "live", they make a pact with the devil to become a devil messenger. This gives them the ability to use demons of their own through their phones to fight off the mysterious invaders, the Septentriones.

Overall rating: 7/10

I really like the storyline, but I'm finding it a little boring at times. I guess it's all just based around fighting off the invaders, and too much action gets on my nerves sometimes. I really do like the main characters though.

4) Muromi-San

A boy goes fishing and ends up catching a mermaid called Muromi-san.

That's really all there is to it.

Overall rating: 8/10

Episodes of Muromi-san are only 12 minutes long each, which is perfect as 24 minute episodes would drag. 12 minutes is a perfect length. It's amusing, cute and just genuinely great. It's such a cute shoujo anime!

5) Oreimo (Season 2)

A basic continuation from season 1. A popular girl who is secretly an otaku.

Overall rating: 9/10

I've said this before; it's one of my favourite animes. I love all the characters and the storyline. I highly recommend this anime!

6) Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt

Two sisters who fight ghosts with their underwear. That's right, you heard correctly. Underwear.

Overall rating: 7/10

As odd as this anime is, it's quite enjoyable. After each episode, I get left thinking WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED, but apart from that it's pretty good. I love the art aswell.

7) Yuyushiki

Three girls starting high school and making their own club. Typical after-school shoujo anime.

Overall rating: 8/10

Funny, cute and entertaining, Yuyushiki is a cute anime which I love watching weekly. Sometimes it seems very childish, but I guess it's not really aimed at my age-group. They have many completely random conversations about topics which they research on the computers in their club-room, which is always pretty funny.

"My love for you is as big as a whale."

And finally...

8) Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)

Humans become almost extinct by a new species called "titans" which are large giants who kill/eat people for no particular reason. The humans build large walls and manage to keep the titans out for 100 hundred years, and then suddenly the titans break them down again. The protagonist, Eren, vows to kill every titan in existence.

The titans are also terrifying. 

Overall rating: 10/10

Exciting, adventurous and suspenseful. Shinjeki has everything I need in an anime (except a little romance). I get so excited for every Sunday when the new episodes come out, I JUST CAN'T WAIT.

PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST ANIMES EVER. WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY. 

Although, it's difficult when explaining to people what it's about. "So yeah, it's about these giants who eat humans..."

AND that is all. 

Disney's Brave Princess Merida Airbrush

Good morning!
I woke up bright and early today and now I'm going to start my morning off with a post. I'm not sure how lengthy this will turn out to be, but whatever.

There's no doubt you've seen or heard of Disney's recent film Brave.

I went to see it at the cinema with my boyfriend last year and it is absolutely BRILLIANT (10/10). Merida is a perfect new Disney princess, being completely original from all the other Disney princesses.

This obviously left a big impact, which caused uproar when this was released:

Yep yep yep, Merida has been airbrushed. 

Many people looked towards Merida as a realistic role model for young children; being independent and not needing to marry, being opposite to many of the other Disney princesses.

The way she has been edited seemed completely ridiculous as Merida in the original film has many "flaws/imperfections" that real people have. Now she has been changed to fit the Disney princess stereotype, complete with an extremely slim waist, a "grand" dress and is just generally different to the original Merida. 

We just so happened to study a internet article on this subject in English, which seemed coincidental as I was planning on writing about this topic anyway. The article we studied can be read here.

People seem to be rather angry about all of this, which does seem to make sense if you have children looking up to princesses who seem unrealistic, and then a character is brought along who is believable and then is changed to be a usual princess. Personally, I don't think there was any need for her to be changed but I don't think everyone should be so appalled with it as something like this was most likely going to happen so Merida could fit in with all the other princesses on logos and such (as shown below).

Sign the petition here to help Merida be changed back to normal!