My Totoro cake

The other day I was scrolling through anime pictures when I found a website with the most amazing looking cakes with Totoro icing figures on top of it and I fancied a go myself. I got some Dr Oetker fondant icing in red, yellow, green, blue and black (in one box) and bought some of Tesco's own white roll-out icing and modelled these figures. I made them the day before I made the cake and stored them in a cupboard at home. I made a plain sponge the next day, iced it and then placed the characters on top. I created the broom from 'Kiki's Delivery Service', Calcifer from 'Howl's Moving Castle', No Face from 'Spirited Away' and the three Totoros from 'My Neighbor Totoro' and a tree because, well, why not?


Hint- If you want to make a colour always add the coloured icing to the white rather than the white to the colour because otherwise you end up using up more icing than you need to.

Do let me know what you think!

Two strangers

Two strangers wandering through the night

Eyes as empty as midnight's ghost

Following nothing but the darkness

Never have their eyes befallen joy

So never will they know a reason to cry

Nothing can consume their empty souls

As there is nothing there to feast upon

They do not know where they are going

Nor do they know what surrounds them.

And following the darkness is a long road

Only the moon knows who they really are

They are the fear we do not know is there

When the sky turns dark, they come out of hiding

Two strangers wandering through the night

Disappear before hope has returned

Review: Angel Beats

Plot: This anime is set in a high school which acts as a limbo for people who have died, where they learn to forget and give up on anything that happened in their past life. It follows the main character, Otonashi, who meets a girl named Yuri who leads a battle against God for all the bad things that happened to them before they died. She persuades him to join the battlefront along with many other teenagers. Their only real enemy is Angel who uses her powers to fight against them although her real reason is unknown. The group goes through lots of troubles in their quest to defeat God and they gain more enemies as well as friends.

Genre:Action, comedy-drama, supernatural

Good Points:The artwork, plot and characters are great. It is a gripping anime and doesn't disappoint you right up until the end where you realize there isn't a second series. I loved this anime from start to finish. All the characters have there own back story which was interesting to guess and find out about. The comedy isn't over the top and is (sometimes) 'laugh out loud' funny, which I did enjoy.

Bad Points: They do swear a few times but only in appropriate places (when they are in so much danger or stress that they do feel the need to swear or curse). The anime is too short and there isn't a second series. I couldn't find any other thing bad about this anime and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Suggested age range:12+

Star Ratings: (1*= poor or low content  5*=great or high content)

Artwork:*****
Story-line:*****
Swearing:**
Violence:***

Number of episodes:13
Wiki link
Episode link

WE ARE WAR

WE ARE WAR

   

All the things we swore to forget, we remembered.

All the things we swore to save, we let perish.

All the things we swore to never say, we said.

All the things we swore to stay with, we left.

We are the people who destroyed people.

The people who destroyed empires.

The people who destroyed worlds.

I hope you know that we are not on your side.

I hope you know that we will never surrender to the war that you created.

We shall not end it.

If you are stupid enough to keep fighting against us, an invisible army, then so be it.

I hope that you are ready for us because we show no mercy.

Look at what we’ve made.

We’ve made weapons and  machines capable of killing in an instant.

Music boxes, filled with the sound of joy, now play the music of death.

Yet you still trust us?

And you know who we are.

We are you…

H.M December 2015

Note: I wrote this whilst off ill from school one day, listening to these YouTube tracks by HDsoundDI. My Dad said the music summed up the sounds of war. Let me know what you think. . . 

Review: Kimi Ni Todoke

Plot:
High school girl, Sawako Kuronuma, is feared by her class mates. Rumors spread that she can see ghosts and curse other people if they stare into her eyes for more than three seconds. But, in fact, Kuronuma is a shy and timid girl who longs to make friends with everyone around her. When her idol classmate, Kazehaya, begins to talk to her a love begins to bloom between the two of them. But whilst making new friends she is bound to make some enemies too. . .
Genre: 
Romance
Good Points:
The story was sweet and I can't recall the anime swearing. The plot is a suitable one and many children will enjoy watching it. I loved the artwork and the eyes were more human-like so I felt I could be one of those characters which I enjoyed. I can't really put into words why I loved the series so much but I can just say that I really did and I recommend it highly.
Bad Points:
I don't think there were any bad points in my opinion, and this was one of my favourite animes.
Suggested age range:
10+
Star ratings: (1*= poor or low content 5*= great or high content)

Plot line: *****
Artwork: ****
Swearing: none
Violence: none that would be significant- only a hit on the head or a play-fight
Number of episodes: In the first season there are 25 episodes and in the 2nd there are 12
Wiki Link
Youtube link

Poem

Come home

Come home father

Why did you leave?

You left my mother

And you left me

All of our memories

Are fading away

Tears and sadness

Why didn't you stay?

It's been so long now

Here without you

Mothers got cancer

I've got the 'flu

Scared of the hospital

Scared of the cries

All of them dying

Please dry my eyes

I'm getting old now

I've moved away

Wrinkles are forming 

Hair turning grey

I'm still your baby

Mother has gone

She forgot to love you

Where'd it go wrong?

Come home father

Why did you leave?

I'm moving to heaven

Meet me there please

               HM aged 12

It’s going to be a long winter

Today was terrible but, then again, it was like every other day. Always the same. I was cold. I still am. My blanket has so many holes in it that the wind goes right through me. I swear I get a new hole in it every day and the blanket barely covers the top half of my body. People walk past, thinking I’ve run away from home. I can hear them muttering under their breath ‘serves her right’, but I haven’t had food in three days and the last piece I had was a half-eaten sandwich that someone threw at my face.

This morning I waited outside of the baker’s shop opposite, hoping that someone would take pity on me and maybe, just maybe, give me some food but I guess it will just have to stay a hope. Sometimes I dream about food, laid out on a table with a loving family surrounding me and a blazing fire behind me. I get hallucinations where I can hear my mothers voice and I call out to her but, like always, there is no one there. I think I’m dying sometimes because the hallucinations become so frequent. They drive me insane but they are the only happiness I can find in each day -my mum’s voice.

Across the street now I can see a group of friends with warm duffle coats huddled up on a bench holding a cup of hot chocolate. One of them can see me but immediately turns away awkwardly. They all do that. I wish someone would just acknowledge me instead of pretending I’m not there. My hands are now turning blue as I write. I think I am going to die. Maybe I should die. The world may be a better place without me.

One of the girls is looking up towards the sky. She then holds out her hand and a small drop of snow lands on her fingertips. Normal kids would be laughing or smiling at the joy of snow and presents, but all I can think is- it’s going to be a long winter.

Written as a Year 8 school homework 

HM. September 2015