香ばしい[koubashii]
Yes, it normally means savory, it gives you an appetite. But no, when it comes down to the otaku world, everything would mean a different way. This term can be mostly found in 2ch in order to mean an extraordinary, crazy, or insane person or the likes. 香ばしい[koubashii] is an adjective, so you need to add a noun behind this, like 香ばしいやつ[koubashii yatsu or guy], 香ばしい書き込み[koubashii kakikomi or comment].
This origins from the TV CM of the famous snack, こうばしコーン[koubashi corn] which is one kind of とんがりコーン[tongari corn]. The CM used to be aired around 1997 or so, especially it could be seen midnight. A lot of anime fans who watched anime midnight came across this CM, and got influenced by such an extraordinary context. The quick song repeatedly said コーンだけでも香ばしいのに～ゴマだけでも香ばしいのに～♪[Just corn is savory, just sesame is savory]. This phrase lasted forever during the CM where a fox was cooking corn and a seal was cooking sesame (too bad, I couldn’t find the video). This weird CM hit otaku people, so that they started to use it to describe such a weirdie in 2ch.
There are some more similar words like KY, 痛い[itai, painful], 電波[dempa] or DQN[dokyun or dokyuso]. Sigh, such a weird is everywhere, but particularily in the otaku society, it could be notorious rapidly…The most 香ばしい comment I have ever seen was a long long dellusion he(?) had in mind…I like to have dellusion since I have some 2D thoughts, but I always have to be aware of the possibility that I could be such a 香ばしいやつ. つい最近もいたよそんなやつこのブログにも…あれは本当に香ばしかっt
Anyway, so long as we have a common sense, we are fine. If I am being a 香ばしいやつ, please stop me!
[Intermission] 侘寂
Here ends my cosplay this month. These two weeks were very enjoyable. So much was going on, and I had a lot of experience in such a short term. I have no plan right now, so finally things settled.
After I finished Suefumi, I cosplayed one more character, that is, Hijikata Toshiro[土方十四郎] in Gintama[銀魂]. I think I have cosplayed him a couple of times, however, I cosplayed his occasional costume, 着流し[kinagashi]. Kinagashi is something like a kimono for men, but it is more simple and easy to put on. It really takes time for women to put on a kimono. If necessary, it needs someone’s help. You might think of 袴[hakama] when it comes down to men’s traditional clothes. Well, like Zetsubo-sensei. Here you can see one more men’s Japanese traditional one…that is 着流し.
Hijikata is a the lieutenant of Shinsengumi, so he usually wears the uniform. But when he is off, he wears a kinagashi. I cosplayed it, remember I told you that real fans would like to complete all the costumes of the character they love? Yes, I love Hijikata! I know my place, but sometimes I wish I could be cool like him. At best, the otaku Hijikata should be suitable for me. lol
We spent much time for Suefumi, so there was not much time left because the park closed so soon. But we had a beautiful sunset, now sunset time is really short. Maybe it only lasts 30 minutes or so…don’t you think it is kind of sad, huh? But in such a ephemeral moment, there is a man wearing a kinagashi…oh, this is something like one of the Japanese virtue, 侘寂[wabi sabi]? こんなコスプレも楽しいな＾＾
Hijikata is convenient to me because he might be in the late 20’s? I think I can cosplay after I am 30! I need to look for a character like him for my cosplay life. Read the rest of this entry »
[Intermission] めぐりあい･･･-Happy Ending for Suefumi-
This post gives away some spoilers, so please do not read this enrty if you are going to play the game, Harukanaru toki no naka de-Maihitoyo-. Read the rest of this entry »
[Intermission] Once in a lifetime-一期一会-
A while ago, I got e-mail from my aunt. One of her acquaintances had tried to contact me, so I spoke to the woman. She, who is a designer, has a friend who is a professional photographer who basically works in NY, and he got an office in Tokyo lately. The photographer named Jun Takahashi is planning to have a new gallery with a brand-new theme, that is, NIPPON-JIN[日本人]. He is going to take a lot of Japanese people who quite embody the “color” of Japanese. For example, Goth girls in Harajuku, Gaten-kei[ガテン系, blue collar], salarymen[リーマン] or something like that. So he seems to regard cosplay as one of such colors. Oh yes, I agree!
Anyway, he is seeking for such people so she gave me this oppotunity. B-But I am a man…is he sure about this? こんなオッサンでもいいの？So I asked her to tell my web album to him and he can decide.
A bit later, she told me that he had never taken any male cosplayers before, so I was welcome. May I?
She let me know his site, so I visited…WHAT? Is this Robert De Niro? Toshiaki Karasawa? Takako Matsu? Shidou Nakamura? All those celebrities were taken by him? He is going to take my cosplay?
Am I in a dream? If so, I don’t want to wake up! Don’t stop my dream! So yesterday, I went to the certain studio in Tokyo…
There were a couple of people who was getting ready for the session. A kimono girl, a dancer girl, two blue collars…and me, cosplayer. I cosplayed Kakei Jubei and Tsukimori Len on the day. Most of the people was surprised to see my light-blue wig. My turn came. I entered the room, and saw Mr. Takahashi. Even though he was such a high-rank person, he was so friendly! A really awesome person is not arrogant, that is true.
The room was fulled of the staff and the other guests, so I choked. But I did my best…and after that, he said, “You have a strong eye power, nice cosplay.”
ああ…泣けてきた、泣いていい。Cosplay is a cliquished hobby here, so everything in my cosplay life was not even necessarily good. Because of this, some of my good friends stayed away from me. But now, everything got recompensated, or I can say it is okay if the world ends tomorrow.
I don’t think I will meet someone like him again, so I…I did my best. Read the rest of this entry »
[Intermission] 再会の輪舞曲
I don’t have time to introduce a new term since I have some more photoshooting. I promise I will when things cool down, so please wait until next week.
After I cosplayed Kira Yamato, I joined another cosplay event to do this character. He is Tsukimori Len[月森 蓮] in Kin’iro no Corda[金色のコルダ] which is based on the same title otome game. I actually cosplayed him before, but this time I cosplayed his occasional costume that he wears when he plays the violin on the stage. In this way, Japanese cosplayers like to cosplay all the costumes that the character wears. The more you love the character, the more you want to complete all the costumes, no?
Well this time, I went to the local cosplay event which took place at the rose garden. But too bad, now is not the best season for roses so we didn’t see a single one. Even that, the location was so nice.
However, I am supposed to cosplay him once more this weekend. I will make a post on it with the photos soon. Read the rest of this entry »
[Intermission] Me making a debut as a Gundam pilot
These days are hectic. What makes me busy must be only one thing, yes that is cosplay! Two of my cosplay buddies took me to the cosplay event at Tokyo Dome City(next to Tokyo Dome), and we exchanged our costumes only for the day. I lent him my Kyon’s costume, and borrowed this costume.
This is Kira Yamato[キラ・ヤマト]who is well-known as a 総受けin Gundam Seed. I hadn’t tried any Gundam characters, so this was a nice chance to me. Though I knew Kira had several costumes, but what I wanted to try was his casual one. Since Japanese cosplayers like to copy every one costume of the character they shall cosplay, this is, of course, one of Kira’s costumes, too.
Kira is gentle, but a bit soft. The most difficult thing to me was how I could make such a tender smile. I am good at making an evil face, but it was my first time cosplaying a pure boy. I think this character requires a shota-look.
Another pleasure was that I could use my Halo which I bought when my Internet friend came to Japan last spring. I didn’t think I could use it as a property this time. Read the rest of this entry »
ヘブン状態[heaven joutai]
あっ…ああ…き、気持ちいい…んんッ…！アッアッアッーーー！
Before I start to explain this, I have to mention the DS game that coined this term, Duel Love-恋する腐女子乙女は勝利の女神[A maiden in love is the goddess of victory]-. In this game, there are several bishounens who shall do martial arts. You choose your favorite boy, and support him. How you shall support him is to good take care of his body, like doing massage, a band-aid, or if necessary you can breathe words of love so that he gets up. This game is to play with Nintendo DS, and on the upper panel his face shows while his body shows on the lower one. You shall use a touchpen, and do things as commanded. As it works, he would start to feel, and utter a sexy voice(but if you fail, he would become in a bad mood). Depending upon how much of ecstacy he is in, the background changes…When he is in the highest mode, it is called ヘブン状態[heaven joutai]. Let’s see how it goes together. じゃあ…一緒に見てみようか…？
アホ過ぎるｗ女の子ってこんなの聞いてハアハアしてるなんてエロいなぁｗｗ. こすれ[kosure] means rub it!, and he said さわってくれてるとこ…気持ちがいいよ[What you are touching feels good].
The character design is Hisaya Nakajou who worked on 花ざかりの君たちへ[Hanazakari no kimi tachi e], and those bishounens are voiced by Fukuyama Jun, Okiayu Ryutaro, Nakai Kazuya, Sugita Tomokazu, Ono Daisuke, Nojima Kenji, and so on. ああ、なんなのこのわざとらしい声優陣はぁッ！This game is, if nothing else, for BL fangirls as you may imagine.
However, a word ヘブン状態[heaven joutai] is not seen anywhere in this game. This was actually found in the game magazine that introduced this game, and some 2ch bugs or male gamers picked it up to mean such an orgasm. So it doesn’t seem that fujoshis use, rather male otakus shall use it. As a man comes to orgasm with masturbation, he would be in this state. But remember, what comes after that is to be 賢者タイム[kenja time].
緊急家族会議[kinkyu kazokukaigi]
A long-lasted shoujo (gag?) manga, あさりちゃん[Asari-chan] showed me a really hilarious and realistic scene years ago. The episode starts with 10-year-old Asari-chan who is reading a BL doujinshi in her room. When she enjoys it, her elder sister Tatami comes in and sees her reading a manga from behind. As soon as Tatami learns it is a gay manga, she gets shocked in terror since she doesn’t know anything about BL. Asari explains what BL is to her, however, Tatami who is still upset confiscates the doujinshi. But after that, the mother finds the doujinshi in Tatami’s room, so she misunderstands it belongs to her. They end up having a big fight over the yaoi dounjishi.
I found the closet scene in Tonari no yaoi-chan. Here shows up Yaoi-chan, her younger sister, and their mother. Yaoi-chan is a fujoshi, but her sister is not. However…The important moment is between 1:28 and 2:08.
Makes me laugh, but this could be a serious matter to all the otakus. It is not uncommon that a mother finds a porn magazine underneath her son’s bed when he is out. Then when he gets home, he finds the magazine which is supposed to be underneath the bed, on his DESK. At this rate, it is still okay. But the more imcomprehensible the thing is, the more parents would be shocked. For example, what if your mother finds a lolita-looking girl’s DVD, bishoujo figures, or full-size dolls? If you happen to be a BL fangirl, what would you do when your brother found your BL comics(or unfinished drafts if you make a doujinshi)? Are you really okay if your parents knew you are a big fan of shota games? To much worse, if you happen to be a fudanshi(BL fanboy), what would you do if something like this happened?
This kind of thing is a matter to, of course, cosplayers. Unless they live by themselves, they would have to hide the costumes in the closet or whatever, and make an excuse when they are questioned why they carry a trolley. I live myself, and my family knows I am actually a cosplayer. Nah, I am grown-up, so whatever I do, they don’t really care. If I crossdressed and danced on the street in Akihabara, they would repudiate me(I swear I don’t). So long as we follow the general rule and have a common sense, I think it doesn’t matter. We know we just have fun with that, but it sure requires understanding for others. If your parents can understand your taste, it would be great. But it doesn’t go well in Japan. I have mentioned that such an otaku thing is considered as a trigger of juvenile crime on the past entries, so when your parents accidentally find your stuff, the dinner is going to be…緊急家族会議[kinkyu kazokukaigi], or urgent family meeting. The dining room is to be a court, a father is a judge, a mother is a prosecutor…and you are a defendant. Don’t worry, I will be your attorney, and protect you shouting 異議あり！(Objection!)
If an otaku becomes a parent, it is going to be an オタ親[otaoya] or an otaku parent. If your parents happen to be オタ親, your otaku life would be very happy. You can even go to the comiket together, watch a tokusatsu[special effect] hero program! If you become an オタ親, you can possibly make your children otaku. Actually sometimes I see a mother cosplayer accompanying her little cosplaying boy. He doesn’t seem to know what he is doing…^^ But I wonder what will happen to him when he is grown-up.
Wait a minute, what if an otomen becomes a father? Can I say 乙父[otochichi]? Can I be the one?
Oh never mind.
[Intermission] First Cosplay in 2009!
So also this year, I will keep cosplaying. I wonder how long I am allowed to do this kind of thing…Ah, let an ojisan like me to cosplay a bit more! Come to think of it, I wonder what kind of character I have chosen so far? I mean, there are a lot of characteristics like dark, cool, tsundere, or hetare…I think I seemed to have chosen such a dark and evil character like Lelouch, Yagami Light meanwhile I did some cool characters like Rukawa Kaede or Hijikata Toshiro. But remember, since I am not that young, the series I love do not even necessarily meet your taste. Maybe there is a generation gap. How many of you would know Mirage of Blaze[炎の蜃気楼]?
I am sorry, but I coundn’t bring myself to stop following Mirage of Blaze, so I decided to cosplay him. He is Mori Ranmaru[森 蘭丸], an evil schoolboy. He is actually a supporting character, but from time to time, he shows in the episode, and makes things complicated. He hypnotizes people, and uses as a puppet. He does not commit anything himself, but makes his puppets do his dirty works. So evil!
A bit while ago, in order to make a post on Otome Road, I met up with one of my Internet friends, Jared-san. I hypnotizedasked him to be a photographer on the day. Hopefully, he was on it. After we finished Otome Road, we moved to a quiet park to take this cosplay. Thank you very much.^^ Read the rest of this entry »
[Intermission] Crying Out for Love in the Center of Otome Road-乙女ロードの中心でアイを叫んだキョン-
地球をアイスピックでつついたとしたら、ちょうどいい感じにカチ割れるんじゃないかというくらいに冷え切った朝だっtI can’t stop asking myself why I have to be here. As usual, I left home, headed to school, took six classes, and I was going to the classroom of our SOS Brigade to have a nice tea served by Asahina-san. But before that, I got caught by Haruhi, and asked to do an errand. Nah, not asked, but forced! As you may know, I have no choice but obey her. Otherwise…right, Koizumi? There would happen a closed space and bring about such a catastrophe, eh? I know, I know. I shall do that as you have commanded. So? What do you want me to do now?…WHAT? Go to 乙女ロード[Otome Road] and get some doujinshis? Are you saying I must go there? That district? “Yes, you have to obey her, otherwise we have no idea what will happen.” Damn Koizumi! Alright! I gotta go, does it settle, right?
…So this is why I am here. Today is going to be my worst day in all of my life. Will you follow me? I will show around. Read the rest of this entry »
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 