[Cosplay] Crawl beneath Me -俺の下であがけ-
THIS ENTRY CONTAINS BOYS’ LOVE CONTEXTS AND DIPICTION. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE, PLEASE DO NOT WATCH, DO NOT FLAG. ABSOLUTELY NOT.
このエントリーはボーイズラブ（BL）表現が含まれております。BLの意味が分からない方、興味や理解のない方の閲覧はご遠慮願います。また、閲覧後のクレームや苦情、中傷的なコメントや質問は一切受け付けませんのでご了承下さい。 Read the rest of this entry »
[Cosplay] 遠くへ…
I was a bit surprised when someone noticed my Tosshi cosplay because I was pretty sure Gintama is less popular than any other Shounen Jump-related anime like D-Grayman or something like that. In this way, no matter how rare it is, there is always someone who could notice who a cosplayer is meant to be. So I decided to cosplay him with no hesitation.
sound episode 2
This is, as you know, Lelouch in Code Geass. But look, this costume is only found in the cover of Sound Episode 2. If you always download a character song, you don’t have to see how a picture is. So if this cosplay rings a bell to you, it might mean you bought this CD somehow or saw it somewhere…
At any rate, it is not very unusual that cosplayers try to complete all the costumes of the characters they cosplay in Japan. So there are of course a lot of cosplayers who do this Lelouch. Because they love Lelouch, because here is 愛[ai] or love.
愛がなくては始まらない。Nothing starts without 愛, especially in this otaku world. If you are just an anime fan or purchase goods, all you need is 萌え[moe]. But if you make a doujinshi[fan-made comic], draw a fan-art, or even cosplay, all you need is 愛. Because you love it, you would like to create it. But remember, sometimes love drives you crazy. If you love it too much, you would go too far and fans might blame you.
Anyway, I like this costume because it is nice for summer. And it is like a thief or a voyager. I hope I could give you the scent of early summer.
○○したら負けかなと思ってる[so-and-so shitara make kana to omotteru]
Nothing is perfect. While most people love it, there are absolutely people who never accept it. Just because everybody else does it, it doesn’t mean you have to do it. But actually there is a time you have to so long as you live in this irritating world. But even that, you might have something you don’t want to do no matter how many people are doing it. Yes, ○○したら負けかなと思ってる[so-and-so shitara make kana to omotteru] or I think I would be a loser if I did so-and-so is to show how much you don’t like or don’t want to do.
However, this sounds like you don’t do it because everybody else does so. So if you want to use this phrase, there has to be something most people do. There is not a specific reason, but you don’t like it. Just because most people like it. It sounds like 中二病[chunibyou]. For example, if you don’t want to watch K-ON, you can say けいおんを見たら負けかなと思ってる[K-ON wo mitara make kana to omotteru] or I think I would be a loser if I watched K-ON. No matter how much most anime fans like K-ON, you never watch it because it is too popular. It sounds like “I am not like you people.”
There were some people who used to say something like this around me. When we were talking about a certain anime we loved, a guy in our group looked annoyed. He said, “I have never watched it, and won’t watch.” We asked why, and he said,”because it is too popular.”
I didn’t really care what he wanted, but I think it is a waste not to give it a try just because most people do it. K-ON is sure popular, and I know most anime fans like it. But how do you know it is not worth watching without watching? What do you believe? You don’t believe what you see, but a public opinion? 自分の目で見たものを信じないなら、何を信じるの？
- I think I would be a loser if I worked.
- I think I am better than anybody else.
Putting it aside, this is based on what NEET said at the interview on TV in 2004. When the reporter asks him why he doesn’t work, he says, 働いたら負けかなと思ってる[hataraitara make kana to omotteru] or I think I would be a loser if I worked. And he even says 今の自分は勝ってると思います[ima no jibun wa katteru to omoimasu] or I think I am better than working people. The 24-year-old NEET shares a room with two NEETs altogether, and he dares to say he won’t work until he turn 40. I wonder if he is still a NEET. Anyway, 働いたら負けかなと思ってる became famous in 2ch after this show, and he was bestowed a nickname, NEET-kun[ニートくん].
I know there are people like him, but there are also people who became a NEET because of the recession. I already mentioned 派遣切り[hakengiri] here. More and more people are losing a job, and looking for a job. I have watched the video that followed a 42-year-old day laborer who stays at an internet cafe[ネカフェ難民]. People like him didn’t want to be who they are. Nonetheless, some critics are saying they are good-for-nothing.
I don’t think so. The 2,125 graduates got a withdrawal of an employment offer this spring, and the 1,093 new recruits got forced to stay at home[自宅警備員]. Still, you think young people are becoming lazy?
This stupid shaven head said he is better than working people, but is that really so? He is free, nothing binds him. He doesn’t have to wake up so early, nor get on a jammed train. He doesn’t have to be bothered by anybody, nor say sorry to anybody. No stress. But you think this life is the best?
While I was asking myself, I thought of a TV drama, すいか[suica] which follows a 34-year-old single woman, Hayakawa who moves to a flat. Although she seems to be anxious about her new life, she starts to do good with other residents. Meanwhile, her colleague, Baba-chan embezzles from the bank they work for, and disappears. Since she is too bored of her tedious life, she absent-mindedly takes away money. Even though she starts to buy whatever she wants, she gets bored soon again because she has no friends to share the happiness, yes, because she is on the run…
- The landlady gives Hayakawa a shopping list.
In the last episode, Baba-chan asks Hayakawa to come to the forest where they have been. The two have lunch there as though nothing happened, talking about the days they used to work together. After the lunch, Baba-chan asks Hayakawa to come with her and start a new life together, showing a plane ticket. But Hayakawa takes out a note from the landlady, and tells she has to buy food and a coffee filter for the other roommates. She says,”I am sorry, but I have to buy a coffee filter, otherwise they won’t have coffee tomorrow.”
I really like this scene. Both Hayakawa and Baba-chan figured out, going further alone or having such a big money wouldn’t necessarily make them happy. Away from such a stressful life, Baba-chan got freedom. Nonetheless, she is missing those days. Hayakawa realises she doesn’t dislike such a busy life with neighbors. What is the meaning of happiness?
Life you don’t have to care about anybody means, in other words, that nobody cares about you. How could such a life be better than that of working people? To be obsessed with being a workaholic, or to be a hermit, you have to choose. There is no answer coming out. Because this world is empty, and we live in such an empty world.
コスプレしたら負けかなと思ってる。
Oh no, I am sounding like an old man! Then I shall make an example, using this phrase. Well if you don’t like me, all you have to say is this, オトメンになったら負けかなと思ってる。[I think I would be a loser if I became an otomen.]
アゲ嬢[agejou]
うーん、スゴい！
A while ago, a charismatic visual-kei singer who actually claims to be a Gundam otaku, Gackt crossdressed in the cover of his brand-new CD. What surprised people was that he cosplayed an アゲ嬢[agejou]. I didn’t mean to introduce this word because I didn’t think this could interest anime fans, however, I am sure Gackt has a lot of fujoshi followers so I decided to introduce it. Actually, I like him because Gackt is a nice cosplayer!
There is a monthly magazine by Inforest Inc., 小悪魔ageha[koakuma ageha]. 小悪魔[koakuma] means a gremlin, and ageha[あげは] is a swallowtail butterfly. Most of the readers are young girls who work at a hostess club. A young hostess is called キャバ嬢[hyabajou]. キャバ[kyaba] stands for キャバクラ[kyabakura] or cabaret, and 嬢[jou] is a young lady. Those girls would follow such a high-end label and a current fashion. アゲ嬢[agejou] is a young lady who follows this magazine, or a model who shows on it. Even in this recession, this magazine is doing good, I heard. This means women can’t stop following beauty no matter how terrible the economy is, am I right? Same goes to otaku, we can’t stop following moe, can we? Can you live without moe? Me, nothing without cosplay. Cosplay is my everything, my life! No cosplay, no life. No moe, no life. そうでしょ？
Anyway, I am not an アゲ嬢, so I don’t know how to be. According to the resource, the most important point is hairstyle and make-up. As for hairstyle, they shall either roll or wear in a bun like a peacock’s feather. And they do strong eye make-up. The bigger the better らしい…If necessary, they wear false eyelashes. Color contacts are also necessary. Even black ones are very popular because it makes your black eyes look bigger. I can’t explain well, so I shall upload some images. Please learn from them, sorry.
Until アゲ嬢 got in the mainstream, there was a similar word ギャル[gyaru] which means a young girl who does a loud make-up and shops around in Shibuya[渋谷]. But ギャル may refer to a teenager, a schoolgirl whereas アゲ嬢 implys around 20’s. And to be an アゲ嬢, you have to be rich…You know, to be an otomen, it takes no money. All you need is 乙男心[otomengokoro]: a gentle heart and shoujo stuff.
アゲ嬢みたい…
I don’t think this could be moe, so I can’t think of anyone like an アゲ嬢 from anime. Wait, there is one, Anya Alstrelym in Code Geass R2, no? I mean, her hairstyle is like an アゲ嬢. Come to think of it, I have seen some Anya cosplayers and most of them look like an アゲ嬢.
厨メール[chu-mail]
I think I already explained 中二病[chunibyou] here, but I noticed there are amazingly other similar terms, and then there are too many to sum up in one post. So I shall pick up one by one, and explain.
First thing first though, I have to explain 厨房[chubou]. If you have been to 2ch, you must have seen a lot of slangs which are very common out there. 厨房 is really one of the basic terms, which simply means an idiot. In fact, it has to be written 中坊[chubou] which means a junior-high. In this way, wrong spelling happens all the time in 2ch. By doing so, they make a new slang. Though even 中坊 is a slang itself…At any rate, 厨房 means by rights a kitchen, however, it means a person who has incredibly no common sense or does such a stupid thing especially on the net. When a real 中坊 does such a thing, he/she is going to be labelled リア厨[riachu], that is an abbreviation of リアル厨房[real chubou].
There has been numerous cases which 厨房 brought about. Especially the most troublesome and painful is 厨メール[chu-mail]. As you may imagine, it means such a mail from a 厨房. If you own a blog, have you gotten any so far?
The impotant thing is when you can figure out a mail you get is actually a 厨メール. Of course, there are 厨メール that obviously look so. For example, you had better think it is 厨房 if he/she is not polite in a first conversation. We Japanese normally use polite Japanese[敬語] to speak to a stranger. Even if the person you want to speak to has the same interest or loves the same thing, please mind your manners(if you dare to speak in Japanese). If you sound too friendly, you would be regarded as a 厨房.
日本人はマナーや礼儀を重視します。同じファン、オタク同士だからと言っても相手はあなたの事を知りませんから、最初からタメ口で話しかけるのは止めた方がいいでしょう。私は上手くない英語でこういうブログをやっていますし、外国人の方にはたとえ日本語が話せてもたまにそういうことを知らない人もいますから、柔軟に対応していますが、他の日本人ブロガーに日本語で話しかける時は注意した方が良いでしょう。
Back to the topic, you might not notice first if the mailer seems to be a good fan of you. But for example, such a mailer might write to you more than ten times in a day, or comment on your blog even though the passage itself looks nice. Or, if you write a fan-made novel(or a fanart) on your blog, such a 厨房 would misinterpret your idea or thoughts, and comment blah blah blah or write down his/her meaninglessly long dellusion. And first you might reply it, but when you feel it’s annoying, you would igonore him/her. Watch out, the 厨房 would change the attitude and show hostility. If you keep ignoring, the stupid might show at the event you join. It’s like stalking!
Since I am doing a blog like this, I sometimes get a mail. Mostly, they ask me to add my blog on their blogrolls, translate something, or simple questions. That is no problem. Once I really got annoyed by the continuous 厨メール. The 厨房 used to give me a lot of incomprehensible questions. Or comment that has nothing to do with the topic. I decided to ignore him, and after a while finally 厨メール stopped coming.
What is the best way to get throgh 厨メール? If you ask me, it is to ignore. Such a 厨房 does not even realise how painful the actions look. In other words, there is no point in talking. They can’t communicate properly. The more you get involved with them, the more you get tired.
When things go too far, you might end up closing your site. If you do that, your fans would be disappointed. Please talk to your friends if you get annoyed by 厨メール. And consider talking to your provider.
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 