Star Treks back in the UK 2016....

So I get home from work and i'm going through my email. Nothing stands out then I get an email  titled 50 years in the making from Destination Star Trek... I opened it and it was an advert for the next Destination Star Trek convention. I didn't think anything of it until I saw it was in the UK. It had an image saying Destination Star Trek Europe and the the last con was in London, so thinking it would be in Germany or France or somewhere like that. No big deal I would have to miss it but and it is a big BUT under that it said UK Convention Announcement. What could this mean... is the next DST con going to be in London again or in one of the other major cities in the UK??? 

Ok so what does this mean for me and my line up of Con for 2016. 

London Super Comic Con 20-21 Feb

London Film and Comic Con Spring 27-28 Feb

London MCM Expo 27-29 May

 Star Wars Celebration Europe 15-17 July

London Film and Comic Con Summer 29-31 July

London MCM Expo Winter ???

Now I know i am no longer going to Hyper Japan. For the only reason that for me it has gotten worse very year and the event at the O2 was the breaking point for me and that left a space in my con calendar. So how does DST fit in. I don't know I want to go i am a massive Star Trek fan and I was looking forward to the new movie Star Trek Beyond hell i really liked the 2009 reboot movie and Into Darkness was ok not great but i still enjoyed it for the most part.... Then i saw the trailer... I did not like the trailer. I pretty much hated the trailer but i will wait till i have seen the movie before I discount it all together. And it is the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek So this is a big year for Trekkies/Trekkers... 

I think i read there was a big 50th con in Las Vegas and/or New York SO the idea of a UK convention never crossed my mind. From what i understand the UK is the third biggest consumer of Star Trek with America being 1st and Germany 2nd. I guess it would not be the first time back in 1996 it was the 30th Anniversary and there was a big convention at the Royal Albert Hall in London. So why not the 50th at the Excel Center again in London or the NEC in Birmingham. 

And yet here we are with a possible UK con i will find out on the 2nd of Feb when i think the tickets go on sale. The good thing is that it is in October so there is plenty of time to get ready for it. Here is the link to the site http://www.destinationstartrek.com/

Let me know what you think or if you're planning on going.  

So yeah... Life gets in the way....

Let me start by saying.

I hope you all had a good Christmas and a great New Year. 

Like the title says Life gets in the way. I should of and if I am truly honest with myself I could of posted earlier but stuff just happens and sometimes there is nothing you can do about it. but one of my new years resolutions is to try to post more stuff regularly than i have done in the past.  

So lets catch up. 

First off Mecha month. 

Mecha Month was going great he first week with out any problems I watched Full Metal Panic and it was like seeing an old friend for the first time in many years. And that is one of the major points of doing it. It give me a chance to re-watch a lot of anime that I have not seen in a long time. Then came the second week and that is where i started to have problems....

Mecha Month Week Two.....

I spent the first four days watching Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure. I really like this show and it is an off shoot/side story/set some how set in the Tenchi Muyo Universe. And I am a BIG Tenchi fan so an mecha show set in that world I was all in. And it is a show that may not be roll on the floor laughing funny but it is comical and lighthearted with some real laughs in it. Most people compare it to Neon Genesis Evangelion, but that is very unfair to Dual. If you can do go out and try to see Dual it is worth the effort.   

Days five to seven. I watched the disc one to three of Dai-Guard. This is a great show that looks at what it would be like if the real world had Mecha in it and just who would be dealing with the paper work and red tape..

I should of done a post there was no real reason why i did not but things were starting to get busy at work and i lost track of time and days as one week just merged with the next. 

Mecha Month Week Three...

I finished off Dai-Guard in the first three days of the week. 

And that was when my DVD drive on my PC died. Nothing would work CD's, DVD's nothing I could not open the drive and if i could oppen it and test a disc then it would just make a noise and if it's doing that then i can't be a good thing. Now normily it would not be a problem I have a playstation and Xbox so i could still watch DVD's. But and here's the kicker.... 90% of my anime I own on DVD is from America so it's Region 1 and I live in the UK so I am Region 2. Because I live in the UK we just never got a lot of shows on DVD. We got mostly movies or OVA's. But full 13 or 26 episode shows were rare for us. So going to Cons I was able to get a lot of imports and so I started to use my PC's DVD drive to watch them. So I am without away to watch anything. I am looking to upgrade my PC and aprt from more Hard Drive space I want to get a Blu-Ray writer. In the four years i have been doing the whole Mecha Month thing i have never missed a day let alone a week. 

Next year I will be ok I think I will stick to Blu-Rays for the 2016 Mecha Month. 

So that was the failed Mecha Month. 

December and Star Wars!!! 

But then what happened in December... Well work just went mental there was so much to do and I had major changes to my time table I didn't know if I was coming or going. That is why December has only ever had one or two post each year. Also since the loss of my dad Christmas has been tough, it  was always his favorite time of year and it's the time of year we miss him most.

Also I had to take my mother to the hospital a few times and you can lose half a day just sitting waiting be been seen. She is fine so no need to worry  

But this year WE HAD A NEW STAR WARS MOVIE!!!!! I saw The Force Awakens 5 times I loved the movie and each time i went to see it the film just got better and better. Do I think it is the best of the movies... NO but it is a lot better than Episodes 1-3 and it was the kind of movie we were hoping for back in 1999. 

So that was December hopefully I will be back on track starting from now so here's to 2016 and all the fun we are going to have.  

Meacha Month Week one.

Mecha Month is here everybody... 

Yes it's that time of year where we celebrate all thing GIANT ROBOT!!!

As mentioned before in an earlier posts i have gone for the more comedic Mecha anime's so things are a lot more laid back. If you remember my list for 2015 was 

 Full Metal Panic Season 001.

Godannar.

Dai-Guard.

Martian Successor Nadesico.

Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure.

Day 1-7 Sunday to Saturday 1-7/11 

The first show was the DVD of Full Metal Panic... WHAT!!!! I hear you cry... Yes I said DVD. I know i have the Blu ray Box Set and i did try a disc and the anime looks AMAZING. But I didn't know i was going to get it at the London MCM EXPO and that it is on 3 discs so it would of thrown off my day to day break down of the month... I would of have four days and nothing to fill it with... But next year i will have to put The Second Raid on the list.  

( Image found on google.com )

But getting things back on track.....

Full Metal Panic is an anime from 2002 and is based off a Light Novel. Now i don't really understand the whole Light Novel thing in Japan but i think it's very similar to the Young Adult novels here in the West. 

The show follows the adventures and or miss adventures of Sousuke Sagara a member of the anti-terrorist group called Mithril. As he is asigned to protect a young Japaneses girl call Kaname Chidori from terrorist groups who want to use the Black Technology hidden deep inside Kanames head. 

I came across this anime when i was at university back in 2002/03 when i was watching a lot of Fan Subs. ( Fan Subs were a big thing back in the very late 1990's early 2000's ) I feel in love with the Mech Designs. They were very Real Robot in nature and look like something the armies of the future would use. Also the show was funny it was light heart'd and just fun. The story moves at a fast pace and is wrapped up at the end. Though it is open enough for two more shows. I can not recommend this show enough it is a great watch and the animation is really good. I could go in to a blow by blow of the story and break each episode down but i really do want you the reader to go out and watch the show.

I know i am posting this on Monday day 9 of Mecha Month and i have said anything about day 8 but i will cover that in the net post. But as a hint...... Ok i will just come out and say it. I will be covering Dual! Parallel Adventure Trouble. Or as i like to think of it as Tenchi Muyo ripping off Evangelion. Also lets not forget i still need to work my way through that stack of Gundam kits from last year.... So still lots of fun to be had with this years Mecha Month. 

Let me know what Gunpla you are building or what Mecha anime you are watching. in the comments below or if you have any shows that i can add to my list for future Mecha Months. 

So till next time ...

KEEP IT METAL!!!!!.

London MCM Expo October 2015.

The weekend of 23-25/10/15 saw the return of the London MCM Expo at the Excel Center. I've said before in the past that i am not calling it London MCM Comic Con... But that's not the point.

The Expo this time round was pretty good. Sadly not as enjoyable as the May con but i still had a lot of fun.

The same old complainants still remain and i do hope things get better for the next con...

Cosplay photos should not be taken on the show room floor (something that will never change)

The area for the queue is not used effectively enough (something that can be easily fixed)

over crowding in the Excel Center mail corridor. (something that can be easily fixed)

Better use of space to give a better lay out of show room floor. (not so easily fixed)

Things are getting better and the MCM team are learning more and more with each con. I understand that each venue have their own unique problems and i only go to the London con... Something i really need to change. After all the other MCM cons are not that far away so travel is not a major problem. So something to look into in the coming years. But back to the point. Things were ok at this con i was not happy with the layout but was very happy with the fact that the Esports was moved to the opposite side of the main corridor. And the talks were not all on the show floor. Companies like Bandai, Tamashii Nation, Namco as well as the usual Manga Entertainment, MVM and All the Anime were there as well as others. This all feels like the MCM is growing and that is only a good thing. There was a lot of the cosplay there and it all looked amazing. There is not really a lot to say about this con. It was very by the numbers but still a good day.   

I spent a  fair amount of money this time round as well. Something i have not done in a long time. the last time i picked up this much stuff would of been the 2008 Expo. 

So i picked up..

S.H. Figuarts Super Saiyan Gokou

S.H. Figuarts Super Saiyan Gohan

S.H. Figuarts Stage Act 4 

a free 1up Mushroom

a large Superman Lego figure

Space Dandy season 2 dvd

Gundam 0079 box set 1 blu ray

Full Metal Panic Complete box set blu ray

Baccano! complete box set bluray

Real Grade 1/144  Gundam MKII

Real Grade 1/144 Gundam Astray Red Frame

What was good was that the anime box sets were on sale before the release date. So as soon as i got home i cancelled most of my pre-orders on amazon.co.uk. And i saved a few pounds getting them at the con so a win in my book. And that is what you want from a con. 

I have just gotten in to retro gaming and i have noticed over the last few con the number of stalls selling old Nintendo and Saga  games have been steady growing in number. So i was hoping to pick up a few games but this time there was may be three stalls and all the prices were a little to high. If i can get it cheaper on ebay i will. So that was disappointing. But there is the gaming mart in November so i am hoping to pick a few things up there.

So all in all a good day even though it started to rain around midday it did not dampen the mood at the con. I was very happy with the con and looking forward next years May Expo.

And that is it for 2015 as far a cons go. London Film and Comic Con Winter was cancelled and will return for a Spring con next year So my con season is over. I have the gaming mart to go to but that will be a lot smaller than the con. So 2015 has been a good year for cons and  i am looking ahead to 2016 with the big Star Wars con. 

If you went to the London MCM Expo Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.

Lets not forget 2015 is not over just yet and in a weeks time it will be November and that mean MECHA MONTH!!!!