[Intermission] オフ会にようこそ! Ⅲ(welcome to off-kai)
I don’t know why so many foreigners like Japan. What makes them come to Japan? One of my friend is coming soon again from UK for business. He has already worked here for over a year, but he still loves Japan so he applied for a job again to come to Japan. I am glad to hear people like Japan since I am Japanese. I don’t think here is such a nice country, though.
Anyway, my Singaporean friend named double came to Japan again so we met up in Tokyo. He has been to Japan for five(?) times! And this time his main purpose was to see the live performances in which his favorite rock bands showed. He has some friends in Kumamoto(熊本) and Nagano(長野) so he can get a free accomodation when he goes there.
Last year, He and I joined the cosplay event to do Evangelion. But this time there was no time, so we met up just one time during his staying. When I saw him at Shinjuku station, he looked grown-up more than last year. Time flies. Maybe he can’t cosplay Shinji-kun anymore? Yet I still cosplay Nagisa Kaworu! I think I must be looking older. ホント俺どーしよ（泣）
We had lunch, talked, and went to karaoke with his friend named Soshi who is studying a certain university here. And lastly, we went to an izakaya (pub) to have dinner. OMG, he won’t be coming Japan until he finishes the national service…and is he going to get shaved? No way, Shinji-kun…okay don’t worry, I am flying to Singapore to save you with Unit 01. 楽しかった、またオジサンと遊ぼうね！ Read the rest of this entry »
イクメン[ikumen]
For anime fans, it is crucial that any male characters are all good-looking, that is, you can say イケメン[ikemen] to mean a handsome man. But how can you imagine such a handsome guy is taking care of his child? Since I dwell on 2D[2次元], I can’t even think of being something like this. However, I would like to introduce this term which has been a big social interest, イクメン[ikumen].
Apparently, this stems from イケメン[ikemen] though I don’t know who came up with. It is usually written in katakana, but I might write it as 育男 in kanji. 育[iku] stands for raising, and 男[men] means a man. Please know 男 can’t be officially read as men. Only in a trendy way, it could be allowed to read like that.
To get to the point, イクメン means a man who is engaged in raising a child. If necessary, he could take a child-care leave. I have no idea how this sounds out of Japan, however, it seems to have been odd that men take a child-care leave. Even though the law allows men to take it, most men are not willing to do so for some reason; there would be no salary during a child-care leave(or else, possibly pay cuts). Besides, they might be worried about what would happen to their own career or colleagues. For example, while he is away, someone else has to do his work. Also he would be concerned about after he is back to the company.
How many of working men are actually ikumen? Yet it is only 1 or 2%. Having said that, actually more than 30 to 40% of them want to take a child-care leave because they know child-raising is very hard, and want to help their wives. But above reasons make it difficult to be an ikumen. What about in your country?
By the way, how do women feel about ikumen? I just quickly investigated, and most of them would think it is a good thing, or ikumen is cool. I read an article about an ikumen got a lot of chocolates from the female colleagues on Valentine Day after a child-care leave. In the olden days, things used to be like fathers have to work while mothers are at home. But such is over, I feel women are even getting stronger. I have already explained 草食男子[soushoku danshi], however, there is a totally opposite of it, 肉食女子[nikushoku joshi]. That is to say, a very active and aggressive women in career or…even love.
The above image is from the TV drama series, アットホーム・ダッド[Stay-at-home Dad] which follows a 37-year-old who has become an ikumen because of a certain reason. He used to be a director for commercial advertisements, but all of a sudden he got fired. His wife is back to the company she used to work for so he has to be at home in order to take care of his girl. This drama is high-rated so it has been re-aired so many times. Because of this drama, a word 主夫[shufu, house husband] spread out.
I don’t mind if I become a 主夫 at all because I would be able to stay at home. And I am good at any chores, but child-raising…oh no, I have no confidence. っつうかその前に子供いないから分かんない（笑） So I found the best way for me.
This is a shoujo manga, きみはペット[You are my pet] which follows a 27-year-old woman who is a powerful business woman. She is well-educated, and capable of doing anything at a company. But she breaks up with her boyfriend because she is too great. One day, she finds a young boy(Momo) in a cardboard box like a stray dog in front of her home. She decides to pick him up as a pet.
Yes! This is it! Pets don’t have to do anything, right? I don’t mind being a pet at all. But I promise I will make food, clean up, or do other chores for you. Please make sure you feed me, okay? ちゃんとエサはちょうだいね＾＾So young lady, why don’t you have me? こんなペットはいかが？ （笑）
[Cosplay] Big Blue…
The cosplay event I joined last Sunday took place near my place, and that was so nice. The venue was the local park where you can enjoy swimming, golf, and tennis. The admission fee was free, and the location is close to the sea. In such a boring town, this must be the only one good thing, really.
At any rate, there is no new charaters I can cosplay now, so if you have followed my blog for a long time, you might have already seen me cosplaying him.
He is Tsukimori Len[月森 蓮] in Kin’iro no Corda-primo passo- which is based on the otome game. I think I have cosplayed him more than three times, and this time I decided to cosplay another version of him…that is 学ラン[gakuran]. Actually, you can’t see Tsukimori wearing a gakuran in the anime nor the game. So where does he show in a gakuran? The answer is in a certain illustration from the manga. You say no one can recognise! But actually Tsukimori cosplayers can do so because we Japanese cosplayers like to complete all the costumes the characters wear. Anyway, gakuran is useful because you can use it for any characters who wear it. If you happen to be a cosplayer, I recommend you should buy one! Read the rest of this entry »
[Cosplay] Here is Greenwood
In fact, I have already cosplayed this series, but I wanted to do again because I bought a digital single lense camera. Come to think of it, I tend to cosplay another character right away once I cosplay someone. Though the costume is not that cheap! What a waste, I should cosplay the same character more. Why didn’t I consider having a photoshooting at a different spot? I’ve got to use my camera, haven’t I?
I wonder how many of you know this old shoujo manga, Here is Greenwood[ここはグリーンウッド]. I don’t think so many of you know this series, but this is one of the most popular shoujo comics in 1980’s. 年は聞くなよ、計算すんなよｗAnd for some reason, there are quite a few male fans although it seemed to be rare that men read any shoujo stuff at that time. At any rate, I am cosplaying him in this entry.
He is Tedsuka Shinobu[手塚 忍] who is a head of the dormitory. Very clever and smart student, but so evil! Most of the classmates are scared of him because he is cold-blooded, and uses whatever he can use. Even the teachers can’t resist him because he holds their weak points. Actually, I didn’t intend to cosplay him, but a friend of mine suggested that I should do him. I like such a dark-hearted character like him because I don’t have to act. だって演じなくていいから超ラク^^
Please look at the images. See? Looks like very old, doesn’t it? Not like nostalgic, nor retro, but just old. You can say 昭和臭[Showa shu] if you were born 1964 onwards. 昭和[Showa] is the era name before the current one, 平成[Heisei], and then 臭[shu] means such an odor. If you have been anime fans just for a couple of years, something like Here is Greenwood sure looks so old to you. When this anime was born, the era was Showa. Having said that, 昭和臭 is used to ridicule such an old-fashioned thing. Because of this, it doesn’t have to be Showa stuff.
Also, to mission something very old to someone else, or to brainwash with such a thing is called 昭和洗脳[Showa sen’nou]. 洗脳[sen’nou] means to brainwash. Yes, I sometimes cosplay someone from such an old series…because I am scheming 昭和洗脳!
To my surprise, this anime was broadcasted in America. Read the rest of this entry »
The classification for 童貞[doutei]
I have been waiting for a chance to introduce this, but I didn’t know how since there are not only one term, but a few more. So this time, the right time came along when I watched the movie, The 40 Year Old Virgin[40歳の童貞男].
If there is American style of 電車男[Train Man], I must say this really fits. The story follows a 40-year-old guy, Andy who works at an electric appliance store. Although he is a nice guy, he actually loves to collect figures and play video games. Yes, he is a figure otaku. The clothes he wears in this movie reminds me of the hero in Train Man, I mean, it’s a bit too conservative. In fact, when I walk around Akihabara, I sometimes see someone like him. Even non-Japanese…日本人じゃなくてもそういう人っているんだ…Back to the topic, he has never dated anyone, yes, he is virgin! We say 童貞[doutei] to mean a virgin guy, and 処女[shojo] means such a woman.
When Andy and his friends are talking about sex, he pretends to be experienced, but it doesn’t go well. As a result, he ends up admitting he is virgin. And his friends decide to help him graduate from being virgin, it’s called Lost Virgin Project[童貞喪失計画].
Makes me laugh so much, but after I watched this movie, I decided to make a post to classify 童貞. Like 腐女子[fujoshi], there are some classification depending upon the experience he has or the age.
Her breasts are like a sandbag!
a. 神聖童貞[shinsei doutei]: This kanji is wrong, the right spell is 真性[shinsei] which means bona fide. 神聖[shinsei] means holy or sacred. This is something 2ch bugs misspell on purpose to make a pun. 真性童貞 is a bona fide virgin, which mean a man who has never had a sex nor any experiences of women. Andy pretends to be experienced in front of his friends although he is virgin. 神聖童貞 is used to insult such a person on the web. Could he be actually a 神聖童貞? If you doubt such a dude, do point out, You are a 神聖童貞！By the way, virgin sounds sacred in a way, so I think that’s a funny pun 真性 is written as 神聖.
b. 素人童貞[shirouto doutei]: He has had a sex, but only with a prostitue. In other words, he has never succeeded in love. If you start to date a girl, you meet her, know each other, have fun, and…make love. That’s a normal course. But for some reason, he can’t get a girlfriend, so he can’t have a sex even if he wants to do so. So he makes a shortcut, yes, he buys a sex. In this way, he graduated being virgin. 素人童貞 is such a man. 素人[shirouto] means an amatuer. Yes, he is not skillful in love…
c. 非道童貞[hidou doutei]: Almost the same as 素人童貞, however, 非道童貞[hidou doutei] sounds not good. 非道[hidou] means anti-humanism, that’s to say, it’s a cheating way. Paying a big money, he buys women…there is no love. Besides, rumor has it that most ero-manga artists are 非道童貞 because they could be using their own experiences of such things to expolit money from virgin readers.
d. セカンド童貞[second doutei]: I guess this “second” comes from the baseball terminology. When the first pitcher is away from the position, he is going to be the second. He has had a sex, or used to have a sex a lot before, but he has been sexless for ages. That’s セカンド童貞[second doutei]. How long does the term require in order to be classified as a セカンド童貞? A year, 5 years, 10 years? I am not too sure. But why do they have to be a セカンド童貞? I assume it has something to do with an otaku. If he is not interested in having a sex or girls, he would follow something else. And when he realises, he finds himself being a セカンド童貞…and the final destination is going to be a カレセン[karesen]. Or else, if he got traumatized in the past, such a terrible heartbreak, he might give up. あーなんかこの方がカレセンっぽい！
e. 二次元童貞[nijigen doutei]: 二次元[nijigen] means 2D, not a real thing. To be more simple, it means a man who has never masterbated with a 2D girl. Mostly 2D girls mean anime or eroge girls, but it could mean figures or dolls. There is no scene Andy masterbates with his own collections, could it be…?
f. 魔法使い[mahou tsukai]: It’s a wizard. Ha? What are you talking about? I know, let me explain. Legend has it that any virgin guys are going to be a wizard after 30. But things changed, I heard the age has come down to 25. If you hear a wizard, you would think something cool like Harry Potter. But the truth is no. In the olden times, magic was a scary and uncanny thing. So most people used to think wizards were outcasts. In general, it is said that all the men finish learining how the world works after having a lot of experiences(of course not only about sex) at the age of 30. However, they are still virgin even though they are over 30…so that most people consider they are outcasts like 魔法使い. 別にそんなことないと思うけど（苦笑） At the same time, those people are most likely to be mislabelled as gay or lolita-complex or shotakon. In Japan, some gossip magazines often say some of the single male cerebrities are gay. Lately, Fukuyama Masaharu[福山雅治] has become a target. BTW, you can get promoted to 妖精[yousei] or fairy after 45.
There is a catch line for this movie, 遅くて何が悪い！[What’s wrong with being late?] Yes, there are many ways in life. To get married and have kids, or to be a 魔法使い, it’s up to you. And I have chosen this way…to be an otomen cosplayer. Whatever you do, don’t be like me. 僕のような人間になったら人生終わりなんで（苦笑）
[Cosplay] I Promise You…
I have cosplayed Kakei Jubei from GetBackers a couple of times because he is one of my most favorite characters. Though GetBackers is already over, I still love it, and do love Jubei. For some reason, GetBackers seems to be a bit popular in the US, am I right? At any rate, I made friends with a fangirl who also loves GetBackers a while ago. And then she happens to be a cosplayer, and loves Kazuki! OMG, there’s no reason not to ask her to collaborate together. We worked together at the summer comic market, but did again. This time, she tried a different costume. Hey, how can we believe Kazuki is actually a boy? これも女装少年だよね（笑） By the way, do you know how Jubei and Kazuki got to know each other for the first time? In the episode, Jubei sees a pretty girl inside the house from outside. He has a soft spot for her, but it turns out to be a boy, yes, he is Kazuki. Knowing Kazuki is not a girl, Jubei vows to protect his best friend.
I think Jubei is cool, but at the same time he is a bit clumsy. Sometimes he makes things too complicated although there are much better ways. He is trying to protect Kazuki, but he becomes too stubborn. In other words, he doesn’t know how to be good. Even that, all the things he cares about is none other than Kazuki. I like such clumsiness! Because I am clumsy, too. Besides, his lines sometimes sound like something like an otome game, makes me laugh, but I like it. だって乙女ゲーム好きだからｗｗｗ Read the rest of this entry »
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 