沢尻方式 [sawajiri houshiki]
Koda Kumi is apologizing in public.
This post relates to my previous post.
Nah, it’s what’s called, a chain reaction? The same nightmare happened to another diva, Kumi Koda[倖田夾未]. If you happen to follow Japan’s entertainment industry, you might be sure of what has happened to her. In the radio talk show, when she talked about her assistant who got married, she said, “Well, I hope his wife could give birth untill she turns 35, because amniotic fluid would go bad after 35…” She never thought about this way, as a result she got blamed by a lot of women who are over 35 and single. What she said is not medically true, so even Dr. Nishikawa (she is 36) got upset about this. That’s strange, she used to be blamed because of her rude saying, ブサイクは生きる価値無し[No ugly people deserve to live]. At any rate, she had to apologize in public with tears…like Erika did so. In this way, apology followed showfolk piss people off shall be called 沢尻方式[sawajiri houshiki]. 方式[houshiki] means a method. Erika currently has no jobs because of her mistake, and Kumi had to cancel her promotion for her latest album (but she will do her live tour). Umm, she politely apologized, though…let’s say like 地雷を踏んだ[jirai wo funda]. 地雷[jirai] means a mine, and 踏んだ[funda] means tramped. To make a blunder when you speak is, we say, 地雷を踏む[jirai wo fumu]. Yes, we don’t know where exactly a mine is, but if we tramp it, BOOOOOOMB!
Like Sawajiri apologized in front of the press...
Anyway, she had a huge reputation as a diva, everyone used to highly appreciate her. But what? Once she made a blunder, people has ostracized her…A tiny word could change everything, and destroy everything…even long-lasted reputation. Oh no, it’s like the famous word of destruction in Castle in the Sky, isn’t it?
This almost happened to our idol 中川翔子[Shouko Nakagawa]. But she is okay, she just said the wrong information. Even that, she politely apologized…and the anchor apologized next…Everyone seems to be so careful, ugh. There’s often an old saying, 口は災いの元[kuchi wa wazawai no moto, Least said, soonest mended]. Yes, indeed.
The day I would apologize to you would come someday??ｶﾞｸｶﾞｸｶﾞｸｶﾞｸ(((;゜д゜)))ﾌﾞﾙﾌﾞﾙﾌﾞﾙﾌﾞﾙ
By the way, you can watch her apology here.
[Intermission] My third cosplay
Actually, this is my fourth cosplay, but the third one is Itoshiki Mikoto(糸色 命) in Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei[さよなら絶望先生] who is seemingly an ordinary doctor. There wasn’t much to write about it except the fact that I got a permission for the photo session from the real doctor, so I didn’t mention here. This time, however, is to be the final photo session with my cosplay mate because he is going back to his hometown soon. I really wanted to cosplay as much as I could…so I decided to cosplay below characters;
本当はこれで４回目のコスプレになるのですが、３回目の糸色命（さよなら絶望先生）は、本物の医者から撮影の許可をもらったこと以外は特に書くことがあまりなかったので、ここには載せませんでした。今回は、私の相棒が実家に帰ってしまうために、彼との最後の撮影会ということで出来るだけたくさんコスプレしようと思い、次のキャラをやってみることにしました。
1. Maebara Keiichi in Higurashi no naku koro ni [前原圭一 ひぐらしのなく頃に]
2. Kyon in the Melanchory of Suzumiya Haruhi[キョン 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱]
3. Lelouch in Code Geass[ルルーシュ コードギアス反逆のルルーシュ]
Keiichi could come to my mind right away because it seemed to be simple. Oh hey, as the result said, am I becoming a yandere? Though I already did L last time, I hopefully could get a permission to post photos of my mate’s Light here. Besides, I will do again soon since I succeeded in persuading my colleague to cosplay Misamisa. At any rate, I must say this time was pretty tough since my aunt who makes my costume has been sick. I couldn’t catch Zero’s outfit till my mate’s departure. In fact, after we made a reservation for the event, my aunt got sick, so that I didn’t know what to do…OMG, what shall I do? No man, you’re gonna cosplay Lelouch, right? Lelouch has to stay cool no matter what, mull it over, and find a breakthrough. Ah me, think! Okay, there’s no need to be upset about Maebara Keiichi because his costume is just a half-sleeve shirt and a red inner T-shirt. Well of course I knew I should get a nice baseball bat for him.
圭一はすぐに思いつきました、簡単そうだし。あのヤンデレテストの言うとおり、俺もヤンデレになりつつあるのだろうか…Lはこの前にやったのですが、今回は相棒の月君の写真を載せていい許可をもらえたのでやることにしました。しかしまたすぐにデスノートのコスプレはやることになるでしょう、というのも同僚の女の子にミサミサをやってもらう交渉が成立したからです。しかし今回は本当に大変だった。なぜなら私の服を作ってくれる叔母が病気になってしまったため、衣装が用意できない状況に陥ってしまったのです。イベントの予約を入れた後にそんな…どうしよう、どうすりゃいいんだ…いやいや待て、お前はルルーシュのコスプレやるんだろう？ルルーシュはいつでも冷静に考えて、突破口を見つけてきたじゃないか！考えろ、俺よ！よし、前原圭一については焦る必要ない、半そでシャツにインナーの赤シャツだけでいいだろう。まあ、バットを買えばそれで終わりだ…
Next I started to work on Lelouch’s school uniform. Nah, I can’t make it! So I went to some secondhand costume stores, and bought a cheap one. But it was only the upper part of the uniform, and no belt (that’s why it’s cheap). The slacks was okay since I have it, but the thing was the belt. Umm, I am not good at sewing, but I’ve got to do this, haven’t I? I don’t remember how many times I poked my fingers with a needle, though.
次はルルーシュの制服だけど、やっぱり作れません。なので、中古で売ってるコスプレ店に探しに行きました。そこで、上着だけを売ってるのを見つけて購入しました。でもこれ、ベルトもついてない。だから安いのか…スラックスは自前でいいけど。仕方ない、作るか！得意じゃないけどやるしかないよね。もう何回針で指を刺したか覚えてない…
Okay, cross it off. Next is Kyon. Ah, I really wanted to cosplay him because, eh, I feel I am following the same fate as him…You know, I have a friend who insists she is the original of Suzumiya Haruhi. I was wondering the way she is pretty the same as Suzumiya Haruhi, but she said, Do I look like Suzumiya Haruhi? Bullshit young man, she is the carbon copy of me. I AM the original, and I AM the God of the Universe, understand? (-___-) Come to think of it, I started this blog since my friend made me do it like Kyon was forced to make the SOS’s website by Haruhi. Kyon has to willy-nilly follow her direction, but he seems to enjoy himself because he is such a ﾄﾞエム…Oh no! So am I the original of Kyon? No wait, he is not an otomen, though. Darn it, if he was, I could be.
できた。これでOK。さて次はキョンです。あー、これやってみたかったんだよね、だってその、僕って何だかキョンと同じ運命をたどってるような気がするんですよ。あのー、実は自分が涼宮ハルヒのオリジナルだと公言する友達がいるんですよ。性格もハルヒそっくりなんですが、「あたしが涼宮ハルヒに似てる？あんたバカぁ？あれはあたしのコピーなのよ、このあたしがオリジナルなの。ひいてはあたしこそが全宇宙の神なのよ、おわかり？(-___-)」そういえば、このブログもその友達に言われて始めたようなものだし、キョンもSOS団のHPとか作らされてたし。キョンはいつもしぶしぶハルヒに従うけど、ドエムだから結構楽しんでるし…ええっ！じゃ俺ってキョンのオリジナルじゃない？あ、でも待てよ、キョンはオトメンじゃないじゃん。惜しいな、キョンがオトメンだったら間違いなく俺がオリジナルなのに。
Anyway, I decided to dye a jacket to make Kyon’s uniform. Since I wanted to do as cheap as possible, I bought a less-than-10-dallars-jacket. But it was my first time trying…I was a bit nervous.
とにかく、キョンのブレザーはジャケットを染めて作ることにしました。極力安く済ませたかったから、９９０円のジャケットを買いました。でも染めるのなんて初めてだよ…上手くいくか不安でした。
Whew, all I have to do is pin some red buttons and sew the school’s emblem. Even to me, it should be a piece of cake. 🙂
ふぅ、これであとは赤いボタンと校章をつければ完成だ。これぐらいなら簡単。
Done. I had better make some more properties like below.
できた。小道具とか用意した方がいいよねー。
As usual, I shall post some photos.
いつものように、写真載せときます。 Read the rest of this entry »
お約束[oyakusoku]
A promise? No, no, no, this is a bit different from what it actually means. Yes, this means a promise, but if you place お[o] ahead of 約束[yakusoku], it would change the meaning somehow…Well, when you watch anime or TV drama, or read a novel, do you happen to be able to predict what would happen next or how the story concludes? If the story goes as you predict, and that is like what you have seen so many times, it could be what’s called, お約束[oyakusoku]. The funny thing is that nobody can break the rule-of-thumb, so everybody has to follow it…To get to the point, yes, it means cliche or cliched. Now we also say ベタ[beta] to mean the same thing. You can say like ベタなxxx [beta na sth] to mean cliched xxx. Okay, I shall give you some example I can think of…
お約束１. One morning, the protagonist schoolboy is almost late for the school because of oversleep. He is running towards the school, but when he turns at the corner, he hits a beautiful schoolgirl. At the moment he has a soft spot for her because she is so ladylike and pretty. At any rate, he has no time to chat, so he leaves with a word “I-I am okay.” Hopefully he can catch the roll call…When the teacher comes to the classroom, he says, “Well, today we got a newcomer, come in!” And when the door opens, it turns out to be the girl whom he hit minutes ago! She steps into the classroom, and finds him…And the two stare each other for the moment…To be continued.
Ugh, this is too cheezy. Who else can use such a predictable prologue? Anyway, this can be called ベタな展開[beta na tenkai, “a cliched storyline”]. So we have learned a protagonist shall encounter a transfered student ahead of any other classmates by accident.
お約束２. “Yes, we are over…I won’t see her anymore,” he sighs in his room. But his mobile rings, and it is from his friend. “Hey, what are you doing now!? Are you absolutely sure about this?,” “What are you talking about?””Oh, don’t you know that? She is leaving Japan, she is going to Paris (otherwise possibly New York or L.A)! Her flight is 3 o’clock, so you can still catch it! Go!””Well, we are finished, though…””You will never see her again if you don’t go.” He starts to think over for several minutes…and leaves for the airport. Usually, the transportation should be a taxi. Of course, he doesn’t pay the driver, but leaves his ID(if he is a student, he could leave his student card and uniform). He tries to find her, but it’s too late. The plane she is supposed to get in leaves…”Oh no, it’s too late..,” when he is out of breath, he feels somebody is behind him. Yes, it’s her. Oh hey, how can she find him in such a crowding airport at once? And how come she knows he is at the airport? “I couldn’t leave as I thought…,” she says. The two embrace each other. The ending theme song plays here…Fin.
This is ベタな結末[beta na ketsumatsu, “a cliched ending”]. We have learned women have a radar to sense where he exactly is even at the crowding airport.
お約束３. In Korean soap operas, there are at least three of below items;
a. traffic accident
b. amnesia
c. conflict between parents over the marriage
d. triangle relationship
e. a mean girl
f. leukemia
お約束４. An ordinary schoolgirl is summoned to a different world on the way to school (or home). And she is supposed to be the Messiah to save the world (example, Twelve Kingdoms, Harukanaru toki no naka de, Fushigi yugi, Kyou kara maou).
お約束５. In bishoujo games, a protagonist boy lives by himself so that he can call in girls anytime. His parents mostly either passed away or are away due to the business for years.
That’s all I can think of now. But what about in your country? Above(expect no. 3) are all common in Japan, but are they so overseas as well? No way, impossible. So if you know any cliches in your country, please tell me. I want to know.
サムライガール [samurai girl]
Is this a new type? Come to think of it, we could find this kind of girl in a bishoujo anime or game. If she is good at some martial arts (mostly kendo or kyudo[Japanese archery]), and always holds a bamboo sword or a real sword, she could be labelled as a サムライガール[samurai girl]. There’s no need to explain this, but samurai is a Japanese warrior and fights with a sword. For some reason, her hairstyle might be ponytailed and mostly she has a very long hair. The rumor has it that the ponytail could stand for a samurai‘s ちょんまげ[chonmage, “topknot”].
Usually, she could be a girl of few words and stay cool most of the time. Yes, she wouldn’t be so good to you first. Rather, she seems to have a reason why she has to do so. Of course, she doesn’t seem to do good even with any other girls…so she might be isolated. If you want to pursue her, don’t give up no matter how cold she is to you, and figure out the reason why she is fighting. In other words, make sure you disarm her, otherwise she would be very nervous. When she gets disarmed, she would burst into tears! I guess this moment would turn you on…Nah, this is something like クーデレ, isn’t it? The difference should be that she must hold a sword (or maybe other weapons). I assume she needs to protect herself, so that’s why she must hold a sword. So long as she does so, she can stay cool. Even though she looks strong when she is fighting, she might be screaming inside…Ah, disarm her right now, she needs you! Just kidding. :p
Well, speaking of a サムライガール, I can definitely think of Kawasumi Mai [Kanon], Sharon [Words Worth], Shinohara Izumi [Doukyusei 2], and…maybe Yuyama Kakunojou in the final episode[Bakumatsu kikansetsu irohanihoheto]. I think more samurai girls will show up in the future. But wait, how come then this type of boy doesn’t show up in a bishounen anime?
[Trial] 歌唱戦士Gundam Seed [kashou senshi Gundam Seed]
As I have said here, I finally took up AVplaya-san’s suggestion. So this is the new service on the karaoke equipment DAM[第一興商], 歌唱戦士Gundam Seed where those characters in Gundam Seed shall evaluate your singing. I choked a bit, but did my best(maybe?)…Anyway, let’s see how it goes together.
First, you shall choose your mobile suit before you sing. I selected the freedom Gundam[フリーダムガンダム, from the second one on the below line], and next you can choose a song you want to sing. But in this service, the songs you can enjoy are mostly from Gundam Seed or Destiny. So I selected Kira Yamato(Hoshi Souichirou[保志総一郎])’s Tomorrow…
Putting aside my terrible singing, this movie is awesome. I really appreciate how well they edit some nice fragments of those scenes as a karaoke video. Okay, before you depart, Lacus says, 必ず戻って来て下さいね、私のところへ[kanarazu modottekite kudasaine, watakushi no tokoro e, “Please come back to me”]. And after you finish singing, someone shows up and evaluates. In this video, Shin Asuka said, こ、これほど腕を上げてるなんて・・・！[ko-korehodo ude wo ageterunante…!,”I-I didn’t know you have improved your singing a lot!]. Well, thanks for the compliment. (・з・)
You can print out your result. Who shall evaluate your singing is actually at random. There are numerous messages from characters, so it would tempt fans to collect all the messages.
If you come to Japan and happen to be a karaoke fan, why don’t you try this?
BTW, for more information about the lyrics and the translation, you can see here.
黒デレ[kurodere]
OMG, this is awesome, it must be something exists not only in anime, but also our real world. I want to appreciate the first person who came up with this term. At any rate, I have introduced some spin-off terms of ツンデレ[tsundere] so far, but again I encountered a new one. Darn it, I am sure otaku people will keep making a new spin-off term of ツンデレ endlessly…
Well, if you follow Niconico, and have watched 愛しの彼が振り向かない[itoshi no kare ga furimukanai] Mikuru version, you might be sure of this term. In this song, she cries out for one-way love for Kyon, and lack of something could get him interested. With that, she even slightly(?) insults ツンデレHaruhi, ヤンデレNagato, ガチホモKoizumi, and バカTaniguchi. Oh God, she is such a 腹黒[haraguro]! Most Nico fans got surprised about this, and labelled her…as a 黒デレ[kurodere]. 黒[kuro] means obviously dark and デレ[dere] means such a sweet attitude. Can I translate this like dark-and-sweet? Anyway, let’s review what we have seen about Mikuru so far.
1. Haruhi grabbed her breasts in front of Kyon, and stripped her off.
2. She cosplayed a bannygirl, a nurse, and a maid.
3. She left the classroom’s door open and changed in order to show her changing to Kyon.
Above doesn’t seems to be on purpose, but…what if she planned even these? Yes, she might have planned in order to get Kyon. Oh yes, we can see how much she loves him…but she is so clever. Like this, if we are told a girl’s clever doing though she looks innocent, she could be labelled as a 黒デレ. This is very difficult to judge. If she looks so innocent and clumsy that everybody else loves her, watch out, she is too good to be true. Having said that, if she is really really dark and evil behind us, she would be just a 腹黒, not a 黒デレ. Those girls are good at hiding the real them…even we are not told. That’s why it’s very difficult. So 黒デレ girls shouldn’t show the real them from the beginning to the end no matter what happens. The more innocent she is, the more possiblity to be a 黒デレ she has…Because she would be just a 腹黒 when we learn whatever she does is on purpose. It should be veiled…
Even though they have a dark side, they are not yandere. I daresay they wouldn’t be mad because they have a common sense though they might be clumsy. So maybe we can’t tell she is really 黒デレ unless we see the proof. But they don’t show us the proof! Speaking of a 黒デレ girl in anime, I could think of Mikuru(already mentioned), and Siesta[Zero’s Familiar]. And in real world, I could definitely think of ゆうこりん[Ogura Yuko] and the protagonist in the most famous Korean soap opera, Winter Sonata[冬のソナタ]. As for Yukorin, I have witnessed the real her, so she failed to hide. As for Winter Sonata, there is a mean girl(well, this kind of girl always shows) who traps the other characters. But her plan comes to the light, so she turns out to be just a 腹黒. But the protagonist keeps being a 黒デレ until the story ends…I think so.
Ah, be aware of a 黒デレ! She might be…near you!
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 