Hello to all our Amazing Adventurers!

We’ve got the April newsblog right here for all our lovely followers! This month’s newsblog will be full of all the regular stuff you’d come to expect with some sneak peeks at what Pixie and I are working on, great entertainment recommendations for all you lovely people, and some other fun stuff in this fully loaded update. We hope this newsblog helps your Spring continue to be an enjoyable one!

1) A Look at Andy Through the Years -

From the Visual Development Department

This week, we thought it would be fun to show you our idea for what Andy will look like at various stages over the course the entire length of our upcoming webcomic Terrible Twosome. We did this a couple weeks ago with Addy and we thought we’d give you a snapshot of our other main character Andy as well. As you know, one of the dreams we have for this project is to have all the characters age in real time as the comic progresses over the years that we create and work on it. In this artwork, Pixie plays out this concept again with the other half of our story’s partners-in-crime. Now, to be completely upfront here, this is just a working concept, and these looks are not final for at least the middle and high school eras shown here. However, this at least gives you an idea for what we’ll be going for in the comic. So, as always, keep your eyes peeled for all things Bear & Pixie to hear further updates if you like what you see here!

2) An Unlikely Studio Ghibli Great That’s Worth the Watch! –

From the Anime Movie Division of the Department of Animated Storytelling

After a brief break last week with Strange World, I was pulled right back into the mysterious siren song that the Studio Ghibli films sing. This week, I decided to rewatch Ponyo, another great film by Hayao Miyazaki. To be fair, it isn’t one of my favorites of his work. However, I do think that this movie still has the hallmarks of some of his best work. With incredibly beautiful animation, likeable characters, and a well-executed story, Ponyo fires on all cylinders for a pleasant family movie that you must watch at least once. True to his style, Miyazaki uses this film to tackle deep themes of acceptance, environmental harmony, love, happiness, and devotion in unique ways through the story of Ponyo, a little girl who is the daughter of a sorcerer and sea goddess who ends up befriending a boy named Sosuke. Throughout the movie, Sosuke shows Ponyo what it’s like to be human and Ponyo shows Sosuke the value that love and balance plays in life. Yet again, Miyazaki expertly uses his craft to make yet another storytelling masterpiece with this film. We highly recommend you watch this film as it is an essential film for any Studio Ghibli fan to watch in our opinion. At Bear & Pixie, we give this movie an 7 out of 10. If you’re interested in seeing this one for yourself and you have a current HBOMax account, you can watch it by clicking the picture below. [WE ARE NOT SPONSORED BY ANY COMPANY. We are only giving you a genuine, un-sponsored recommendation.]

3) Artist Shout-Out -

From the Artist Relations Department

We wanted to start off this year’s Artist Shout-Outs right by giving it to one of the absolute best illustrators out there, Kamome Shirahama. Kamome is an amazing mangaka who currently writes and illustrates her own manga, Witch Hat Atelier. If you haven’t been around the Bear & Pixie newsblogs for long, we’ve already highly recommended her manga for you all to check out as it is an amazing story full of multi-faceted characters, incredible art, and stellar worldbuilding. Her art is characterized by highly detailed rendering, fantastic line work, and the ability to us ink like a master. Her art is so good that it definitely deserves a follow on Instagram. Also, if you feel so inclined, this amazing artist’s Twitter link is below if you would like to support Kamome any further. [We are not sponsored by Kamome Shirahama. We are only fans and genuinely wanted to give a shoutout.]

Artist’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mome_kamo/

Artist’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/shirahamakamome

4) Bases on the Moon?! -

From the Fascinating News Division

Just the other day, I saw this article about how a Texas company had recently won the grant to be able to 3D-print bases on the moon. How cool is that?! Before this article, I didn’t even know you could build structures out of 3D-print. Now there are companies looking to figure out doing it on the moon as well! Interested to learn more about these moon bases for yourself? Go check out the article to find out for yourself! [We are NOT sponsored by any news organization. We are just wanting to share something cool with our incredible fans.]

Link to Article: https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3754520-texas-company-wins-grant-to-3d-print-moon-bases/?ref=thefuturist

5) A Pirate Adventure That’s Sure to Steal Your Attention! –

From the Anime Division of the Storytelling Department

Recently, Pixie and I started watching a brand-new anime (for us), since we finished Fire Force, called Fena: Pirate Princess that is honestly quite good in its own right! Right now, this show is only subbed so, for all you dub fans out there, this one might not be for you. However, we think it’s still worth a watch even if you’re not that much of a fan of subbed animes. Fena: Pirate Princess is all about a girl named Fena who, at the beginning of the anime, doesn’t really remember much, if anything, about her childhood. She was orphaned and raised as a servant in her brothel for most of her life but, when she escapes to an island of pirates, she starts to uncover truths about her family. This launches her on a high-seas adventure as she captains a band of pirates to embark on a quest to find out more about her past. Honestly, this show has it all from action, adventure, drama, and a little bit of romance thrown in to spice things up. I really didn’t have high expectations for this show when we first started it but, I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised. Fena: Pirate Princess manages to pull off a lot of different things with its story and plot effectively while continuing to be entertaining to watch. Even the ending doesn’t really land the dismount with a little bit of a flop in its final episodes, the show itself is at least worth watching all the way through once. We feel like this show easily earns a 7 out of 10 on the official Bear & Pixie rating system and we highly recommend you check out this show for yourself. If you feel so inclined to do so, you can watch this show by clicking on the picture below on CrunchyRoll if you have a subscription! [We are NOT sponsored by any company. We are only giving a genuine opinion/recommendation.]

That's it for this one! Thank you for reading our newsblog. Our sponsor for this newsblog is…us! We don’t accept sponsors for our email list, and we never will. If you feel so inclined, it would mean a lot to us if you would like to support us in making our dreams and stories a reality. Ways to support us are all outlined below. Thank you so much for your time and love. Hope you have an amazing week!

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Warm hugs and happy wishes,

- Bear & Pixie