OMG, come to think of it, it’s been a year since I started this blog. I have never thought I could keep blogging for a year because I gave up in a few months all this time. I really want to say thank you who visit here and leave a comment. Thanks to all of you, I could keep writing so far…I am very happy. I want to do my best from now on! これからも頑張ります！ありがとうございます！

 So I wanted to cerebrate myself somehow…Yes, I shall cosplay again! Well, which character…uh…okay, back to my first cosplay, I did the character from the certain otome game. Then again I gotta cosplay someone from an otome game! So I decided to cosplay him.

 He is Tsukimori Len (月森　蓮) in Kin’iro no Corda -primo passo-(金色のコルダ) which is based on the same title otome game I have played next to Harukanaru toki no naka de. The reason why I chose him is because I thought he could suit me more than any other guys in this anime. Tsuchiura is a bit muscular, Shimizu is shota-looking, Yunoki is almost a 女装少年, and Hihara’s hairstyle doesn’t suit me. So the left is just Tsukimori. His characteristic is definitely tsundere. But I am sure he speaks and shows his dere-side more than Rukawa does.

 Tsukimori is well-bred and so proud to everybody else and even himself. The heroine is just a schoolgirl who is given a special violin by the fairy and has to willy-nilly attend the music competition. So she shall practice the violin and fall in love with your favorite…There’s no need to explain anymore, huh?

 I must say this is the hardest cosplay I have ever done. First look at his hair. It’s light blue, isn’t it? I don’t see a lot of characters whose hair is light blue except for bishoujos. Anyway, I bought a wig and got the hairdresser to cut as usual. But the funny thing is that he thought I was going to cosplay Ayanami Rei because of the wig’s color. No way, if I really did it, I would be immediately killed by Ayanami’s fans. However, the problem was not only the wig’s color, but eyebrows. Since the hair is light blue, the eyebrows should be dyed as the same color. Otherwise it would look very weird. So I had to get the eyeshadow to dye my eyebrows.

 I had to practice this…yes, it was so embrrassing for such an ojisan to buy an eyeshadow at the store. You can call me hantai or whatever you want!! I can’t look back now, so I paid for the contact lenses. As usual, I used the auction to get the costume. Darn it, I was fooled by them. There was not a school vest though the auctioneer showed me the complete outfit. Anyway, I shopped around and got it.

 The most important property for Corda cosplayers is the instrument for each character possesses. As for Tsukimori, I needed a violin. I tried to find out the cheapest one…but this was difficult. I don’t remember how many times I was beaten by other auctioneers. But I made it, I got this 1000-yen viloin.

 Okay, I got ready. So today I had a photoshooting. But umm…for some reason almost all the photos are covered with something purple. How come? The room was too bright, is that why? Anyway, I seriously need a photographer. But I am always rejected because I am a man. It’s not fair. こんなの不公平だよ！

 I shall upload some photos those are still okay.

 Play a tender lullaby to me…

You can see more photos here.

 If you happen to be a photographer or love to take a picture, you might be sure of this. Well, although this term could be well-known among photographers, it started to be famous since the certain incident which happened in Akihabara a while ago…

 On Sunday afternoon, the main boulevard used to be blocked off so that just pedestrians can walk freely. This is what’s called 歩行者天国[hokousha tengoku] which means walkers’ paradise. We Japanese abbreviate this ホコ天[hokoten]. When this street becomes hokoten, some 地下アイドル[chika idol] 女装少年[josou shounen], or cosplayers are having fun. In such a time, some of them went too far, I mean, they (mostly girls) started to even show some nudity. Such skimpy characters like Yoko in Gurren Lagan quite attract a lot of photographers so that the cosplayers are surrounded by a bunch of them.

 There was a brave 地下アイドル(?) named 沢本あすか[Asuka Sawamoto] who claimed herself as a self-gravure idol. She climbed on the pillar on the hokoten, and stretched out her leg so that her underwear was clearly shown. Then a lot of photographers and spectators closed to underneath her and took pictures. Sawamoto said she did it for fans who like to take a photo by law angle. Yes, this is ローアングル[law angle] and people who love this are called ローアングラー[law angler]. 

 Needless to say, the good points in this are that you can get a shot of her pantsu(underwear). And even some cosplayers like this because ローアングル makes legs look longer than they actually are. But ローアングル is not welcomed in such a public place even if you can get a permission from cosplayers or idols.

 She got arrested because of her performance, and police started to patrol more strictly in Akihabara. They prohibited 地下アイドル to perform in hokoten and cosplayers to attract people. However, this incident was just a prelude for the upcoming nightmare…

 Speaking of ローアングル, there are a lot of anime which show you bishoujos’ underwears by using this such as School Days, Negima, Kimikiss, or Ikkitousen. This kind of anime shall be called パンツアニメ[pantsu anime]. Don’t say エロアニメ[ero anime], showing her pantsu is still okay in 2D, but 3D is not good :p

 This is too broad. I don’t know how I should explain this genre…well, literally 人外[jingai] means non-human being, that is, anything which is not a human being. If such a creature turns you on, you would have 人外萌え[jingai-moe]. So ケモショタ[kemoshota], 猫耳[nekomimi], 獣人[jyujin], エルフ[elf], ドワーフ[dwarf]or ロボット[robot]…anything! But if anything except for a human being counts, would it be alright to count 絶対領域[zettai ryouiki]? Nah, I don’t think so. In that case, it would be too broad.

 But here is the point. Generally, in order to be qualified to be as 人外萌え, there are some conditions for the creature,

a. it mustn’t be a human being, but the human-shaped could be fine

b. it should be capable of communicating with human beings even if it can’t speak

c. it should be adorable (something small would be preferable)

d. it could communicate with just the hero

 I must say I am very weak for such a creature as a matter of fact. Speaking of this type of creature, I can think of Halo in Gundam series, Potato in Air, Ryuuku in Death Note, Tachikoma in Stand Alone Complex, Jiji in Kiki’s Delivery Service, Totoro in My Neighbor, Totoro, or Penpen[Misato's pet] in Evangelion. Everytime I see such an adorable character, I feel like to buying the doll of it at the toy shop.

 I really really feel moe for Naa-san in Kirarin Revolution now. I am seriously wanting the doll!! (*´д｀*)ﾊァﾊァ

 Needless to say, the hit movie 電車男[Train Man] is one of the major factors that dramatically changed the otaku’s image. The story features a love story between an otaku and a non-otaku young lady. Meanwhile, 腐女子彼女[My fujoshi girlfriend] features a love story(?) between a fujoshi and a non-otaku boy. But what if both of the two are mutually otaku?

 You can see such plot in となりの８０１ちゃん[My neighbor Yaoi-chan] which follows a fujoshi and an otaku. The show doesn’t tell us how the two got to know each other (as far as I am aware?), but I would like to mention otakus’ matter of love in the real life[３次元] this time.

 When I was a student at university, I had an otaku friend whose girlfriend was also an otaku (not a fujoshi). They got to know each other at the mega doujin event, Comic Market. If you follow Zetsubou-sensei, you can think of Fujiyoshi Harumi. Unfortunately, he was dumped by her though they dated for three years and a half. She was four years his elder, so at that time maybe she should be 26 or so. She seriously wanted to find a steady boyfriend for her upcoming(?) marriage, so they broke up in the end.

 If they had succeeded in getting married, their marriage would have been celebrated with this word, コミケッコン[komikekkon]. コミケ[komike] is an abbreviation form of コミックマーケット[Comic Market], and ケッコン[kekkon] means marriage[結婚]. Technically, it should be コミケ結婚[komike kekkon], but it became like this to put it.

 Although he didn’t come to pass, there are some otaku people who could succeed since a word like this exists. Comic Market is not a matchmaking spot, but there might be even some otakus who are absorbed in girlhunting. At any rate, コミケッコン means to get married to your partner whom you got to know at the Comic Market. However, it doesn’t have to be the Comic Market but any other doujin events.

 If you are a male otaku, would you like to date a female otaku? Would you like an otaku girlfriend? The reason why I am asking this is because I heard a conversation like this in となりの８０１ちゃん[Tonari no Yaoi-chan]. There is a scene where the three fujoshis have a chat at the cafe(腐女子会議, fujoshi meeting).

A:　あたし最近、腐女子を隠すのが面倒になっちゃって、最近彼氏と別れちゃったの。[You know, I broke up with my boyfriend a while ago because I got tired of hiding my fujoshi tastes.]

B：　じゃあオタクと付き合えば？[So why don't you date an otaku?]

A：　嫌よ！オタクなんて自分の萌え話ばっかりでこっちの話全然聞かないもん！[No way! Otakus never listen to me, but just talk about their moe stuff!]

 In this way, female otakus seem to care about how general people feel about otaku more than male do. Even though fujoshis dwell on the fantasy world, they can actually distinguish 2D and 3D. So I think this is why there is a term 隠れ腐女子[kakure fusjohi] and 隠れオタク[kakure otaku] which means hiding fujoshi and hiding otaku. Unless they go to such otakish spots, they never talk about otaku things. And they good take care of their looking so that other people can’t tell they are actually otaku. I guess they are not willing to get in 痛車[itasha] even if it belongs to her boyfriend…

 General people might say otaku are supposed to date otaku, but I don’t think so. Although they are otakus, it’s a man and a woman as a matter of fact. Whether he/she is an otaku is not that important. Thoughts, tastes, and compatibility…these things are eventually important as general couples. To understand each other brings about a long-lasting relationship, I suppose so.

 I sure like tsundere girls, but I don’t even necessarily look for such a girlfriend in real life. If my girlfriend happend to be a tsundere, it should be fine, though.^^ Then I don’t care she is an otaku/fujoshi or not. What really matters to me is that she can accept the fact that I am actually an otomen and a cosplayer or not. Even if she is an otaku, this has nothing to do with it. Because I know there are a lot of otakus who don’t like cosplayers or otomens. Also, I am a man, so I want to relax in front of her when I get tired. In such a time, I don’t want her to be in the tsuntsun-mode. See what I mean?

 No matter what, if コミケッコン really happens a lot, would there be such a movie in the future? I am kind of looking forward to seeing that.

 If you haven’t realised this yet, please try to recall as much the anime you have watched as you could. I am pretty sure you have already seen this in all your life. To get to the point, ロボット[robotto] means a robot. I think you already see what I am going to say…Yes, ロボット here doesn’t even necessarily mean a real robot, well something like a machine, but pretty close to a real human being. In other words, it’s a humanoid, and you can also say 人造人間[jinzou ningen].

 It seems like most anime (or whatever) where a humanoid shows as a lead could be such a heartbreaking story that fans get touched. Normally, humanoids are heartless and emotionless. Humanoids are supposed to just follow the master, obey the order, and work as they are told. However as they spend time with human beings, they would get humanized. You know what I mean? It’s like a heart is planted inside him/her. They eventually display their feelings so that they wouldn’t even fulfill the mission anymore. But they know their places, so they can’t live as a human being…what shall I do?? Why am I doing this? I have to complete my mission, but what makes me hesitate? Is this…love?

 OMG, this is kinda cheesy. But there is always a deep story anywhere humanoids are. No matter how close to human beings they are, robots are robots. These two creatures are not able to have a happy conclusion. The girl you love is actually such a 人造人間, but even that, if you want to believe her smile is real, you would have a ロボット萌え[robot-moe]. Speaking of such a 人造人間, I can think of Ayanami Rei in Evangelion, Nagato Yuki in the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, Chi in Chobits, No.18 in Dragon Ball, Abeno Yasuaki in Harukanaru toki no naka de, Abusolute Boyfriend[絶対彼氏], My girlfriend is a humanoid[僕の彼女はサイボーグ].

 When I experienced this ロボット萌え for the first time, it was in anime film, のび太と鉄人兵団[Nobita and the Troop of Robots] in 1987. There is a girl named リルル[Lilulu], she is my first time seeing a 人造人間. I must say she is a really heartbreaker.

 I don’t think I have to explain this, but actually I seriously feel this term could be a yearly famous word this year[年間流行語] The reason why I think so is that I have heard more than 10 non-otaku people around me saying this word in a conversation. It’s not so sure that I am going to see how it goes after Sky Crawlers releases. In this film, there are other keywords like ティーチャー[teacher], but why is just キルドレ[kirudore] going to get into the mainstream?

 キルドレ[kirudore] means children who stopped growing up at the puberty and have an (almost) eternal life. So in other words, they never get old. Yes, never get old…I know I might be wrong, but anyone wants to go on being young, doesn’t want to get old. If there is a reason why キルドレ is famous, the point should be here, I assume.  Director Mamoru Oshii[押井　守] wants to send his message to young people those who don’t have a purpose in their lives with this term he created. I am not an anime reviewer, nor good at writing that kind of thing, so I will leave it to you.

 What I want to say here is that anyone who has a purpose in life doesn’t get old? Or else, is there any other way around?  In real life, anyone gets old. This is true. But sometimes I see people who look so young for their ages. As far as I am aware, there are two types of people;

A. a person who has something keeps him/her going.

B. a person who has no responsibility.

 People who has no purpose in life do not realize their beings, so does that mean they don’t get old? This question reminds me of something I saw in Howl’s Moving Castle. A 19-year-old girl, Sophie gets transformed into an old woman because of the curse. The curse actually exposes his/her mental age, so she becomes such an old lady. She doesn’t really enjoy her life, in other words, such a boring life…

 At any rate as for type A, such people look lively, and their eyes are brilliant. I don’t know what exactly keeps them going, but they seem to enjoy their lives. So they don’t look old for their ages. As for type B, such people are free. It doesn’t mean they are NEET, but nothing seems to bind themselves. They have no spouse to rear, nor such an obligate work(though they are working). They don’t carry a heavy burden, so that’s why they look young.

 Me? I am definitely type B. I am just an otomen cosplayer, you know. I like to spend my time and money for my own, and have no responsibility. I have never thought of having a family(甲斐性無し！こんな男になっちゃダメですよ). What I am thinking about now is which character I shall cosplay next. However, before I became a cosplayer, I was much fatter and fed up with a stressful job. In such a time, one colleague said to me, “You look old for your age (at that time, I was 24).” I changed my life at a time, I mean, changed a job, moved out, and found a new hobby, cosplay. Since I became a cosplayer, some people say I am a student(!). I know I am too old to cosplay a 14-year-old Nagisa KaworuCome to think of it, I even changed my friends. It’s not on purpose, I didn’t realise it. What I am doing get me new people, new friends. Those new cosplay friends of mine are all like me. No responsibility… 

I know I shouldn’t say about キルドレ before the film releases. But in many ways, I feel キルドレ is going to be such a famous word. For general people, キルドレ just means to go on being young, I suppose so.

BTW, you want to be a キルドレ in that way? 

 If you happen to follow doujinshi[fan-made comics] or such a video game, you would be sure of this. This is a primitive method for all the doujin fans to create doujin stuff. To get to the point, 学園[gakuen] means school and 化[ka] means to change sth in the certain way. Or else, it is to transform like something. 学園化[gakuenka] means to put all the characeters in the series into school setting. Can I say schoolnize? Anyway, why is this such a rule-of-thumb? No, this is not a doujin thing anymore because even the originals use it as a side story or something like that. Above is, yes, 3年Z組銀八先生[san'nen Z-gumi Ginpachi-sensei] which occasionally comes as an extra story in Gintama. In this story, Gintoki plays a role as a teacher, and other characters show as a student. Don’t care about their age! It’s a fantasy like yaoi.

 Anyone experinces a school life. There are a lot of kind of teachers or classmates, and it is pretty easier to fix your favorite characters up with a “job.” You can arrange as you like. Who should be a teacher? What kind of subject should he teach? How does he act as a teacher? Rude or humble? DelusionImagination never ends, so that this makes it easier to make a story. 

 Even if the original story takes place in a fantasy world and the characters do a totally unreal thing, those characters naturally get close to our real life by using this method, 学園化. I assume such is a fundamental reason why this is so popular.

 So, which anime do you want to schoolnize? 

 It’s not very uncommon that spin-off works(anime, novel, or live-action movie and drama) come out when the original gets popular. But this is a good thing or not, I mustn’t say. Even if it could satisfy general people, it wouldn’t even necessarily content the sheer fans as well…Mostly, those fans who really really follow the original might be dissatsified. Yes, when it goes too far, fans shall inslut the spin-off with this term, 原作レイプ[gensaku reipu].

 原作[gensaku] means the original, and レイプ[raipu] means rape. Caught on, haven’t you? This is an insulting word for such a hideous spin-off which almost ruins the original. In other words, it’s like raping the original and destroying it. Fans are particular, so I don’t think it’s possible to create such a spin-off which could content all the fans of it. When something like visualized(like a movie or anime) becomes a novel, this doesn’t seem to happen. But the problem is the other way, I mean when the novel or manga becomes a live-action thing, this could seriously inflame fans. I am not going to take up anything to give you an example, but mention some points which make fans angry.

a. There are some new characters who never show in the original. 

This might destroy the original’s image and fans really hate it when the new character stands out more than others. Also, when the plot has nothing to do with the original, it could be the same thing.

b. The character design or the cast don’t go well with the original.

 This really happens when a live-action movie or drama version comes out. It would be a nightmare if an amateur becomes the lead such as Higura

c. The most important episodes or plots get eliminated.

 Yes, this means the director doesn’t understand the original at all or merely misunderstands…so eventually it destroys the original. When such a long story becomes a film, a director has to omit some parts to edit. If this doesn’t go well, fans would be angry.

d. People who don’t know the original are quite pleased.

 As I have said, fans are particular. The more the spin-off contents general people, the more fans dislike it. Also, the more the press advertises it, the more fans are not willing to accept.

e. The original’s author already passed away.

 What if the author had seen this? Yes, fans would value the author’s thought, so there’s no way to know how the author feels about the spin-off if he/she already passed away.

 There are a lot of threads where fans insult the certain spin-offs by using this word. If they don’t really like it, why are they doing this? Because they are sheer fans, so they end up seeing it no matter how terrible it is. I think it’s not a bad thing because people those who don’t know the original are pleased although I sometimes get disappointed to see such a spin-off…The point is, that anyone who wants to see and anyone who doesn’t want should be apart so that there will be no arguement.

 This post contains some pornographic contexts. Viewers’ understanding is required.

 As I have said in my previous post, I shall explain one more term which is commonly used in doujin circles as well…That is 触手[shokushu], which means tentacles. Yes, you do know what I am talking about? If you follow hentai anime, game, doujinshi, you would be sure what this is for. When I saw this for the first time, it was in porn anime called 淫魔妖女[imma youjo] and 妖獣教室[youju kyoushitsu]. A lot of tentacles of a weird monster tie her up, poke her…えっと…vagina and scrape…OMG, I can’t say anymore!! At any rate, this is one of the most common ways to create doujin manga, especially hentai. You just pick up some of your favorite bishoujos from the certain work, make tentacles rape her. But why is this that popular?

 According to manga artists (or doujin artists), 触手 is very convinient because it is so simple to draw. Unlike men’s…その…えーと…penis, 触手 doesn’t have to be censored even though it functions as men’s sexual organ. And you don’t have to draw guys, but bishoujos only. Torture her as you like…

 In tokusatsu AV, this shokushu is frequently used so you can surely see those sentai bishoujos tortured by them. At the certain shop selling tokusatsu AV here, shokushu winds around the stairways…this is true, you know.

 Besides, スライム[slime] is also used in such a way, I mean, they melt her costume and get into her…うん、まあ、そんな感じ. Maybe they are mutually friends. ^^ 

 I am not too sure if this can be moe for anime fans, but this is absolutely a genre of moe for otaku. If you really like any ranger-style bishoujo anime such as Magic Knight Rayearth, Yes! Puricure, or Sailor Moon, this could break the barrier between the fantasy and the real world. To get to the point, 戦隊[sentai] means a ranger, and 特撮[tokusatsu] means special effects. Both are fundamentally for a kids’ thing, and this kind of program is mostly aired in the early morning. If you follow any Masked Rider series[仮面ライダー], you must wake up before (at least) 8 o’clock on Sunday! ^^

 Unlike サムライガール[samurai girl], any bishoujos should dress up as a ranger-style fighter in this genre. Because of this, Sayo in BLOOD+ or Shana in Shakugan no Shana don’t count. And the costume could be so skimpy that it turns men on. I might say 美少女戦士[bishoujo senshi, cutie fighter] to bestow a better ring to this kind of girl.

 At any rate, tokusatsu programs[特撮番組] where ranger-style heros or heroines fight against monsters, have been popular for kids no matter how many years pass. In fact, when I was a kid, I used to be a big fan of 特捜！エクシードラフト[Tokusou! Exceedraft, from 1992 to 1993] which follows the three policemen who pursue criminals although I didn’t watch any Ultraman series. I am grown-up, so I don’t watch this kind of program anymore…But I didn’t think about this way, I mean, this is to be surely fetishism when dressed bishoujos(not 2D, but 3D) are heroines.

 I don’t mean to be rude, but I must say those people who love this genre are really enthusiasts. And some of tokusatsu heroines are even little girls[つるぺったん]. OMG, this is hilarious. This is really legal? Is it okay?? Of course, as you can imagine, this is linked to a porn industry. Not everything is porn, but you can even buy porn video where real sentai bishoujos show. Er…I still remember such anime though I forgot the title. Oops, there’s one more term I have to mention, but I will talk about this next because it relates to doujin.

 Actually, those fans who really love tokusatsu are not only male otakus but fujoshis. It’s normal that girls yearn to be like Sailor Moon, but this is not what I mean. Ask tokusatsu fans about the heroes in the series. They are all bishounens! So what does this imply? Yes, it lures fujoshis so that they create doujin comics with 3D bishounen. This is called ナマモノ[namamono]. Of course, any heroes in tokusatsu should be handsome. If you look back to the past Masked Rider series, you can confirm all the heroes are handsome. But as far as I am aware, things changed after Masked Rider Kuuga[仮面ライダークウガ] in 2000. There has been a lot of bishounen heroes who seem to be able to get fujoshis at once since this series, I assume?

 An irrelevant note, I have two friends who love Masked Rider series. They recommended Masked Rider Den-O[仮面ライダー電凹] in 2007, so I watched a bit. But I stopped watching it soon because the storyline is too complicated. Can kids really understand this? I think it is almost for adults. Then I tried Masked Rider 555[仮面ライダーφ] in 2003. I can understand this, but the story is too dark like a soap opera. This is something mothers love…Maybe this divides into two parts; before the heroes transform, it is for mothers(or fujoshis), and after that, it shall be for kids, no?

 Oh, never mind.

* He is the lead, Kano Hayato[叶　隼人] in Exceedraft. Oh no, I used to be a big fan of him. I wonder how he is doing now.