[Intermission] Interview with bangin ―３周年記念スペシャル！④―
Once again, it’s been three years since I started this blog. I can’t believe myself, I mean, I didn’t really think I could blog for so long. But I am still doing this. That is, of course because I have my readers. So this time I got an interview which is for people who follow this blog in order to know about me more. Well, I am very honoured.
―Hi bangin, nice to meet you. Shall we start?
bangin: Nice to meet you, too. Sure, why not?
―First, congratulations for your third anniversary.
bangin: Ahaha～thank you very much.^^ Arigatougozaimasu. I never thought I could keep this blog for three years.
―So have you ever had any blogs?
bangin: Yes, I had some. I used to do anime review, but I gave up soon because I am not a good anime reviewer. No one came.
―So how did you start this blog?
bangin: Well, actually it is not my idea, but my friend’s. When I left a comment on her blog, that happened. I still remember that. I just said, Do you know what otomen means? She said no, and her friend came in to explain. And then she suggested I should start a blog which introduces otakish words, Japanese slangs, or that sort of thing. I didn’t think it would be cool because anyone can learn from wikipedia or other bloggers. However, I changed my mind. Maybe it would be nice because I am Japanese. Are there any Japanese bloggers who have done something like this? Maybe not. Not like wikipedia, Japanese otaku introduces anime-related words in English…that sounds good. So this is how I started this blog. Oh her friend suggested wordpress as anyone can comment easily. And as I blogged, some people came little by little. I was really happy because I didn’t have any comments when I did other blogs.
―I see. Speaking of English, how did you get your English?
bangin: My major at university was English culture or society…but I didn’t study at all. I seriously regret it. Anyway, I started to study English after I graduated. You can see my English level through what I have written, can’t you? It’s sucks, I always make a mistake.
―You speak English?
bangin: If I have to. But people who have spoken to me know how terrible my speaking is. If you speak slowly, I could catch it. Otherwise, I would be like (((;°Д°))).
―How did you study English?
bangin: I, well, used to go to the library to get some articles of the English newspapers such as Japan Times. And also listened to the radio. I didn’t want to spend much money to study.
―So you haven’t studied out of Japan?
bangin: Well, actually I spent a year in Vancouver, Canada. But it was, you know, Working Holiday.
―Working Holiday?
bangin: It is a kind of visa. You can work and live in a country you choose for a year. It’s pretty easy to get, not like a proper working visa. When I applied for it, the countries I could choose were Austrailia, New Zealand, UK, German, and Canada. I wanted to go as near as possible to America, so I chose Canada. In fact I made friends with her in Vancouver, I mean, who motivated me to start this blog.
―How do you enjoy your blog?
bangin: Well, I just introduce a term, people point out something…something I didn’t even think about. Readers are so smart. And I mustn’t say I don’t know. I should know what they ask. Otherwise, my blog is useless. But in other words, I even learn from them. This is, you know, to “share.” And when we have something in common, I feel it very enjoyable.
―You have met some of your readers, haven’t you?
bangin: Yes. They let me know before they came to Japan. I had so much fun with them. They are from everwhere like Singapore, New York, Mexico, and German…they are really nice. I feel it is good that I have my blog. I wish I could meet more people.
―Meanwhile, you are a cosplayer, aren’t you?
bangin: I am. I have been a cosplayer for…almost three years, too.
―How did you start to be a cosplayer?
bangin: Three years ago, when I went to Tokyo Game Show with my friends, I saw a lot of cosplayers. They all looked so cool, and…when I asked them a photo, they stroke a pose at once. They are in the character! And I feel like doing the same. It reminded me of when I was in the drama group.
―Drama group?
bangin: At university. I did an actor thing for two years. But I was never the lead, such a big part. I was always a minor part like a waiter B. In fact I really wanted to do a big part. I wasn’t chosen. Meanwhile, if you cosplay you can be anybody. You just cosplay the hero from your favorite anime, you are the hero. That’s it. You don’t have to be chosen. You just choose. Whatever is okay! I think I really enjoy cosplaying.
―Do you make your costume?
bangin: No, I can’t do that. I always buy at auction. And I can’t even cut a wig so I always have my friend who happens to be a hairdresser cut my wig.
―How do you choose your character?
bangin: I don’t know. But it seems like I tend to choose a cool character like Lelocuh, Saito Hajime[Hakuouki], Shironuma Tetsuo[sweet pool]…Kichiku Megane…
―Most of your cosplays are from otome games or BL games, aren’t they? Why?
bangin: I don’t know～＾＾ Come to think of it, I just pick up them. Maybe because I like them.
―Thank you very much, and is there something you want to say to your readers?
bangin: Oh yes. Thank you very much for following my blog. And I will keep up as much as I can! Let’s have fun together. これからもよろしくお願い致します！
Love, bangin.
[Cosplay] Perfume of Love -Mirage of Blaze- [３周年記念スペシャル！ ③]
If you have followed my blog for a long time, you would know I am a big fan of Mirage of Blaze[炎の蜃気楼], wouldn’t you? Yes, this anime is still my No.1, and no other series can surpass this for myself. I have shown my Mirage cosplay here for a couple of times, however this is too normal to count cosplaying. But once again, this is cosplay for myself. Why on earth do I so love this anime? I don’t know. I am not intersted in 主従萌え[shuju-moe], but even that, I can’t stop love the suit guy, Naoe Nobutsuna[直江信綱].
Mirage of Blaze is really depressing. It won’t make you happy for sure. There is only sadness, despair, and even madness in this story. No matter how many times they get reincarnated, Naoe finds his master, Takaya and go on loving him. But the master-and-servant relationship never changes, and Naoe can’t have him…Naoe wants to end this, but he can’t…
Love is sad, and so painful. I think most of the fangirls feel sympathy toward the two guys, so do I. I am still stuck at the world of MoB, and still love Naoe. He is still my No.1 even now.
In order to cerebrate this 3rd anniversary, I cosplayed Takaya and Naoe. Luckily, I made friends with a MoB fangirl. She used to be a cosplayer, and would cosplay Takaya. So she helped me with my cosplay. We had a photoshooting at a quiet garden next to the Nou[能] stage. Even though we were annoyed by a lot of mosquitoes, but I really like her work. Since she is a big fan of Naoe, she directed me as she liked. I really enjoyed.
Let me say this again, I love Naoe. I really do. And I shall dedicate this cosplay to Irene, teko-chi, and azu-chan. Please play the music before you see the photos. Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
[Cosplay] 続・いろはにおとめん ―３周年記念スペシャル! ②―
オトメンがコスプレイヤーとして生き、その溢れる信念を一着のコスプレに託して闘った、最期の時代―幕末…[The last era in which an otomen lived as a cosplayer, placing his life and belief on a single costume…Bakumatsu]
I don’t think most of you know about this anime because this is such an old series, and not a hit anime. But just like Hakuouki, my 歴女 friend, and her friend(who is also my friend) really loves this anime. I just wanted to cosplay the hero, Akidsuki Youjiro[秋月耀次郎] again because I cosplayed him just once. Once I came to such a nice park which really goes well with Japanese costume, I had to do him, right? Well, the better point is, that this costume is still more comfortable than Saitou’s. I was sweating a lot, though.
I just thought Youjiro was my friend’s favorite, but I was wrong. Actually Sakyounosuke was her best. Oh no, he was voiced by Kousuke Toriumi[鳥海浩輔] whereas Youjiro was done by Daisuke Namikawa[浪川大輔]. At any rate, as I observed some of her favorite anime, I found out one thing. She tends to love such a cool samurai, and he must have something like a mission to fulfill. But at the same time, he must have remorse that he couldn’t make it in his past, so that is why he has to make it right this time. I am not too sure about 武士道[bushidou] or the spirit of samurai. If you love samurai, how do you like them?
Anyway, the photographer did a great job as usual. I was so pleased to cosplay him again! Please play the ED of the anime, 愛の剣[Ai no tsurugi].
[Intermission] Third Anniversary -３周年記念スペシャル！①-
Omg, just omg, it’s been three years since I started this blog! I can’t believe it, how could I do this? I had never blogged for a long time, but why have I been boing this? The answer is, yes, you readers. Because you are following my blog, such a damn blog in which Japanese otaku writes something with his not-so-good English and shows his cosplays.
Anyway, come to think of it I have had a lot of nice memeories thanks to this blog. For one thing, I could make friends with many people from everywhere. And I have even met some of them in real life like windbell, double, any other Singaporean I cosplayed with, Cat Clan, Hinano, and Tokyo Moe who kindly helped me with my cosplays. They are all so nice to me, and…they are so sweet memories. Thank you very much. And if you happen to be a lurker, I am gonna say, thank you.
And I do have to say thank you to my friend who suggested me that I should start this blog. She is a banker in Hong Kong, and a fangirl who always follows Japanese history-related anime such as Samurai Champloo. Currently, she is in love with Hakuouki[薄桜鬼] which is based on the otome game, and her favorite is this.
Saitou Hajime
He is Saitou Hajime[斎藤 一] who is a man of few words, but so loyal to the head of the brigade named Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizou[土方歳三]. I think she tends to love such a cool swordman, in other words a samurai[侍]. The spirit of samurai is kind of 萌え[moe] to her, well then? I must say she is quite a 歴女[rekijo], and loves a character voiced by Kousuke Toriumi[鳥海浩輔]. Anyway as I said, I must say thank you to her for motivating me to start this blog…so I decided to cosplay him.
But please know this; Hakuouki has several series, I mean not only the anime, but any other game series like 随想録[zuisouroku]. In the anime, Saitou wears 着流し[kinagashi], but he shows in a different costume in the other games. So I cosplayed the Western style[洋装] of it because I prefer it.
From last month, I prepared to cosplay him, buying the costume, a pair of the boots, a wig, and cut it. And of course I was trying to find a best photograher to take this cosplay. Because this time is really special. The person comes to my mind shortly, yes, he is the photographer who helped me when I did Durarara!!. I spoke to him to ask, but he was too busy to help me. Actually when I asked him, it was still the first of May. So that means I had to wait for about two months. But I still could make it on time, though…
The photographer took me to a certain big park in Tokyo. He loves to take cosplays there and Hakuouki really fits. He has even taken other Hakuouki cosplayers there. In this park, there is Japanese Garden[日本庭園]. I cosplayed Saitou for the first time…with the best photographer. You know, it’s been humid in Japan, so I was sweating a lot with this costume. But I didn’t really care. Because as I said, I was waiting for my turn coming for two months. After this session, I have no idea when the next time would come. So I did my best, I really did. After I finished, I realised my inner shirt was soaked with sweat.
Here is Japanese proverb, 心頭滅却すれば火もまた涼し[shintou mekkyaku sureba himo mata suzushi] or surpress your ‘self,’ even a fire is cool.
I shall dedicate this cosplay to my long-lasted friend, Wabisabi. Read the rest of this entry »
Δ [sankakkei]
Keisuke Honda
World Cup is over(I mean, for Japan). But this is not why I haven’t blogged for more than a week. Just I was busy, I am sorry. Now in Japan it is amid a rainy season. Actually we had squall today, and I always carry an umbrella with me when I go to work. I don’t remember how many times I got soaked last month. I hope it will be fine soon.
So I was going to make another entry for internet slangs, but I just found a funny term so as to make one post, that is Δ[sankakkei]. I know you call it triangle in English, but we say 三角形[sankakkei]. When we see this mark in real life, it would be either in a math class or a result of the test. I mean, I don’t know how it is in your country, but we use ○[maru] to mean correct, ×[batsu] stands for wrong, and Δ[sankaku] means neither. Or close to the right answer, but not really so you have just one point although full point is two.
Anyway, when this comes to internet slang, the meaning would change for sure. Please look at the pronounciation of Δ[sankakkei] carefully. You can divide it into two parts, san and kakkei.
Sankakkei → san, kakkee → さん、かっけー →○○さん、カッコいい[xxx-san, kakkoii] or xxx-san, cool → Δ
See? I assume most of you know what さん[san] means. さん is a kind of honorifics, and the most common. Some bloggers speak to me like bangin-san[バンギンさん]. This is perfectly correct. かっこいい[kakkoii] means cool, and かっけー[kakkee] is a bit more casual way to say かっこいい. You can say like お～、かっけー！[Woo, it’s sooo cool!] It reminds me of パネェ[panee].
What is so special about this? Seemingly, it sounds like appreciating someone, but actually Δ is a way of mocking or joking. Having said that, it might be a really good way to flatter. Like パネェ, 2ch bugs use this kind of saying on purpose to make a fun of someone. Both パネェ and かっけー used to sound like such a delinquent boy[ヤンキー]. If you add ッス[ssu] at the end, it would sound more like it. banginさん、パネェっす！You don’t have to copy this, of course. こんなのマネしないでね、いい日本語じゃないから（笑） As I said, ○○さん、かっけー also means appreciation. However, if you see （棒）[bou], watch out, that means 棒読み[bouyomi]. There is no sound of appreciation; banginさん、かっけー（棒）[you don’t think I am cool at all actually].
In February 2008, someone commented on 2ch to announce he was going to murder. His online name was 愛知[aichi] so that 2ch bugs started to joke him saying 愛知Δ. Because of this, Δ has become famous everywhere on the net. For some reason, Japanese soccer player, 本田圭祐[Keisuke Honda] was targeted. It is said that the way he is is quite arrogant and eccentric. In such a time, Nikkei online business made an article to introduce 本田Δ[honda sankakkei], but actually this became wildfire because the article merely described a part of 2ch.
Honda Δ
After that, a few more marks came up. □[shikakkei] means ○○氏、かっけー[xxx-shi, kakkee]. 氏[shi] is also a kind of honorifics, and more polite than さん[san], but sounds too formal. It sounds like newspaper or TV news. （÷）[kakkowaru] means カッコわるい[kakkowarui] or not cool. ÷[waru] means to break in a mathmatic way. bangin（÷） means banginさん、カッコわるい. Oh no please please don’t say that! ><
No matter how arrogant Honda behaves, he got a few scores during the last World Cup. Because of his performance, Δ has changed its nuance in a good way.
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 