This year's cosplay chess game had a theme of Shounen vs. Shoujo. There was a bit of confusion as to what category characters really fit into and at one point Chi came out and had to explain that she couldn't play because she is considered Shounen in Japan and Shoujo here in the US.

Okay here's the line up:

For Team Shounen:
Rooks: Roxas, Kingdom Hearts 2
Cloud, Final Fantasy 7
Knights: Integra, Hellsing
Kira, Death Note
Bishops: Ichigo, Bleach
Lena, Slayers
King: Orochimaru, Naruto
Queen: Sunabe, Naruto
Pawns: Saske, Naruto
Ryoma, Prince of Tennis
Naruto, Naruto (duh)
Ed, Full Metal Alchemist
Miroku, InuYasha
Chidori, Full Metal Panic
L, Death Note
Itachi, Naruto

For Team Shoujo:
Rooks: Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Moon
Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon
Knights: Oscar, Rose of Versailles
Princess Tutu, Princess Tutu (duh)
Bishops: Miraki, Descendents of Darkness
Cho Hakkai, Saiyuki
King: Anthy, Revolutionary Girl Utena
Queen: Utena, Revolutionary Girl Utena (yup, duh again)
Pawns: Watari, Descendants of Darkness
Hitomi, Vision of Escaflowne
Yuki, Fruits Basket
Tohru, Fruits Basket
Ayame, Fruits Basket
Unknown female character (sorry guys I couldn't figure out who she was and there is no list of the participating characters anywhere.)
Kenshin, Rurouni Kenshin

Before the game even started, Saske protested at being on the same team as his brother and demanded that Kenshin switch sides with him. Kenshin being unhappy at being classified as Shoujo jumped at the opportunity and they switched places. Naruto must have put on a large growth spurt because he was one of the taller characters on the board. Unfortunately this gave him plenty of reason to torment his poor pawn, Edward Elric. Luckily the state alchemist had brought his suitcase and could use it to boost him to Naruto's height.

Fight 1: Ayame vs. Miroku
Miroku has stars in his eyes when he sees the beauty of Ayame, his long flowing hair his graceful movements. Unfortunately for him Inuyasha and Songo are watching from the sidelines and take exception to his flirting they knock Miroku out and leave him to the tender mercies of Ayame and his assistant. Immediately they start making plans as to what outfits he might look good in.. sailor suits, maid outfits, maybe a nurse. Ayame's assistant drags Mirkou off, determined to find a good look for him.
Ayame Wins!

Fight 2: Integra vs. Ayame
Oh no, Integra has summoned Alucard to deal with Ayame. She must have seen his delicate pale skin and how he gently held his parisole to keep the sun off and assumed he was a vampire. Luckily for Ayame, Shigure and Yuki are there to protect him and help him escape the danger.
Integra Wins!

Fight 3: Integra vs. Oscar
Integra challenges Oscar in a duel and her fancy footwork easily takes care of him.
Integra Wins!

Fight 4: Hitomi vs. Integra
Hitomi calls Van and Integra calls Alucard to battle, but Anderson shows up and distracts Alucard for long enough for Van to strike Integra down.
Hitomi Wins!

Fight 5: Ichigo vs. Hitomi
Van shows up to protect Hitomi and Ichigo kills him on the spot but refuses to attack a girl. Hitomi takes Van's body and leaves the stage.
Ichigo Wins!

Fight 6: Ichigo vs. Sailor Jupiter
Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars tag team Ichigo and it seems they are winning, but Ichigo transformes into a half-hollow and kills Jupiter. Apparently Hollows don't care if you're a girl or not.
Ichigo Wins!

...Finish what you start

By now you have heard that from now until the end of the year all Skype-Out calls in the US and Canada are free. Free I tell you! So what does that have to do with ESH? Read on and find out.

Well since the Skype out is free for the rest of the year, and we here at ESH use Skype to record our podcast we thought it might be a neat idea to Skype to you readers/listeners to answer your gaming and anime questions live when we record the podcast. All you would need is a computer that has Skype installed, a pair of headphones, microphone, and a question. Email us via our email form on the Hit Us Up page with your question, your Skype contact info, and for hoots, how long you've been listening to our podcast. If we pick you, we will contact you via email to let you know that we want to use you for an upcoming podcast and give you the who, when what, where and why the hell not.

Now with all live deals we have a couple of stipulations. You have to be available between 11am and 3pm EST on Sundays as that's when we do our recording. We reserve the right to cut you off at anytime if we think you are a p0ser or spammer. The only people allowed to do shameless plugs on this podcast are myself and Pandalicious. Don't get it twisted. If we like your questions and input we just might make this a regular thing, so start hitting us up people. We love to love you baby!

NinJaSistah out--

...Finish what you start

So far there is only one volume of Magical x Miracle by Yuzu Mizutani released in the United States, but I wanted to bring it to everyone's attention. This drama/fantasy is being published by Tokyopop and the second volume is due out in August.

Merleawe is a country gal and has just moved into the big city of Viegald to attend the best magic school in the kingdom. On here first day in the city she is kidnapped while buying her school books and dragged by a man dressed all in black into a lavishly furninshed room. It turns out that this man is Vaith the head of the Black Knights and he has brought her into the castle because she looks exactly like the Master Wizard, who has gone missing. Merleawe agrees to dress up as Master Sylthfarn in order to ease the worries of the king and kingdom, but how can she and her pathetic half learned magic replace the Master Wizard?

This is a very cute manga but seems to have a serious emotional side to it as well. Merleawe truly wants to help the kingdom in the same way the Master Wizard did, but may not have the ability to do so. She must deal with the guilt that if she were the real master wizard she would be more helpful. Also several of the characters criticize her for not being Sylthfarn and make it clear that they would trade her back in an instant. They don't judge her as herself they compare her to how Sylthfarn would act. In their minds Syth is perfection incarnate and Mer is a very pathetic stand in.

I can make some guesses where this manga is going. If you don't want to read a possible spoiler stop now. The way Mer acts perfectly like Sylth on a few occasions leads me to believe that: A. Sylth has been transformed into Mer/brainwashed/whatever else would lead him to think he was a girl or B. Mer is a long lost twin of Slyth and he got all the magic out of the deal, and when the are reunited they are far more powerful together. Also there is definately a budding romance between Vaith and Mer.

LUV AND HUGGS,
Magic

...Finish what you start