Hello and welcome to Keba's Anime and Manga Place (KAAMP for short)! Here at KAAMP, I write about anime and manga that I have seen/read as well as my views on them. I'll also post about my original stories from time to time.

Just beware that some of my posts contain spoilers. I'll put them in spoiler tags just in case.

KAAMP's history: KAAMP was created in July 2002 by yours truly. It was a sloppy-looking website on Yahoo's now defunct Geocities. I posted my anime fan art on that site. Also, for a time, I posted my thoughts on the few anime series that I had seen. Now that I look back on it, my thoughts were rather ill-informed (is that even a word?) because I had only seen bits and pieces of anime dubs. Now that I've seen more series, I think that my commentary on various anime will be a little better than before.

So, come on in and stay awhile! KAAMP is now in session.

A Great Fundraiser Idea

Last Wednesday, I was walking around the school where I take some classes, and I saw this anime club poster. It was advertising an "anime cafe" in which all the club members dress up as maids and butlers and serve food. This was all to raise money to help Japan recover from the earthquake.

So, after my class, I walked by the area that the club reserved for the "cafe". I was taken to a small table and the waiter gave me a menu. It was quite an extensive menu, mostly of teas (priced around $1) and sweets (about $2 to $4). I ordered a slice of cheesecake and some chai.

As I was eating my cheesecake, and watching the maids and butlers sing karaoke, I thought about what a clever idea this was. So, if you have an anime club in your school (assuming you're still in school), and you want to have a fundraiser, try doing something like this.

Note to Manga Music Video Challenge Entrants

Please disregard. I picked a winner. Thanks again to all participants!

Wow. I didn't know that I'd get so many participants. And they're all so awesome! Which brings me to my next point.

I can't decide on a winner.

I've narrowed it down to two, but I said there would only be one winner. I apologize profusely for those of you who have entered. I'm so sorry to keep you hanging for so long, but I promise I will make up my mind.

After I declare a winner, I'll give him/her the promised artwork. I'll also give my comments to each entrant about their manga after I pick the winning entry.

Thanks for entering, and thank you for your patience.

Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk, Why So Serious?

I've been meaning to post this for a very long time. I'm talking months. I just kept forgetting.

My art teacher isn't really into manga, but he loooooooooves western comic books. But he knows I like manga, and he's cool with that. So, one day, I brought in a few volumes of Death Note to draw some of the characters. While I was looking through one volume, he took a peek at another. Then, he exclaimed, "This guy looks like the Joker!"

Honestly, I would never have connected Ryuk the shinigami with the Batman villain, but now that I think about it, there is some resemblance. My art teacher is convinced that the Joker served as some inspiration for Ryuk's face and hairstyle. Maybe it was because he saw the manga for the first time in black and white and I'm used to seeing the characters in color (I watched the anime first). Anybody else have thoughts on this?

Read This Post

I subscribe to SunfallE, one of the members of the O's mod team. I like reading her "Moderation" blog because she explains the rules of the site and what happens to people who don't follow the rules. She explains the reasons why she is forced to ban people, both in detail and honestly (unlike SOME sites I know of *cough*Tokyopop*cough*).

Having said that, READ THIS. SunfallE asked that anyone who reads this post to link to it. Please read it for your safety.

I would like to take this time to thank the moderators on the O for being so dedicated. Mods, you and the good citizens (by that, I mean good users) are what makes this site so great. Thank you.

L's Name

L's real name is never mentioned in the Death Note anime or the storyline of the manga, but it is given out in the "How to Read" volume of the manga. I know that a bunch of you know his real name 'cause it's been tossed around on this site a lot in fan art titles and stuff. But for those of you who want to stay spoiler-free, I'll put it in spoiler tags.

There's something that's bugging me about L's real name. His name is L Lawliet. But if that's the case, what the heck does the "L" in "L Lawliet" stand for? I guess there are just some answers that raise more questions than give actual answers.