Things to do this summer: 1) travel to Costa Rica to start my own espionage team, 2) star in a reality show, and 3) mourn the loss of a beloved series featuring a certain pipsqueak alchemist.

1. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker



June 8th marks the North American release of the fifth installment (or so the claim goes) in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Peace Walker for the PSP. It’s the third game in the the 2004 Snake Eater story for the PS2, following the Solid Snake’s “father”, Naked Snake, now known as just Big Boss.

Peace Walker takes place during the 1970′s in Costa Rica and after Portable Ops (a game that took ages for me to find) focusing the “Les Enfants Terribles” project, introducing the FOXHOUND special forces. And for after-story activities, you can grab Big Boss and go on a Monster Hunter adventure with a few more players, or in CO-OP mode against other players ala Metal Gear Online.

2. BBAMAJAM’s Next Top Artist



To add to the excitement of our BBAMAJAM club meetings, artists Jaziel and Shouyume had an awesome idea: an original made-for-YouTube reality show: BBAMAJAM’s Next Top Artist! For four weeks, members (including myself) scrambled to draw fanart for the competition.

The final 3 contestants appeared at JAMPcon, where the winner went home victorious! To prevent further spoilers, I won’t say anything until the actual series is uploaded. Until then, here is a teaser for the show via Zippy on YouTube:

3. The End of Fullmetal Alchemist



While Lost is (FINALLY) off the air and won’t be missed due to it’s amazing storyline, this month marks the end of… possibly the best damn Anime series in 10 years (*holds back tears*). Announced by Hiromu Arakawa herself, Fullmetal Alchemist is officially coming to an end. It will also coincide with the conclusion of the Brotherhood anime that also ends this month.

The manga is still being released in the US, starting with Volume 23 in July. Thank goodness to my procrastinating, I still have 5 volumes to catch up on. Maybe I should hold off longer to read them or I’ll go into severe withdrawal…