Shooting Star Dreamer

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...

Artist Credit! Hello everyone! Hopefully you're enjoying February, the month of love and history! Specifically speaking,  February is Black (African-American) History Month. In many cases, Black History Month gets pushed to the side which is an unfortunate incident. However, I believe that it deserves a spotlight, even in mediums not directly related to such culture, like anime. First and foremost, I'd like for you guys to check out my previous Black History Month Anime post, from last year. It was my first time writing on such a topic and I believe you'll find some interesting things there, as well as diverse characters. If you have the time please give it a read. With that out of the way, I'd like to welcome you to my second post on this holiday; version 2.0. Last time I focused mostly on the presence of dark-skinned character, black or not, in anime. Surprisingly, a lot of characters fit into this list. The moral to take from that previous post is simple;...