[Cosplay] When the Next Rain Comes, We Will
So trains have started to move, and the power is working. Some services are still late like delivery or the likes. There is a long line in front of the gasoline stations. What I am concerned is the nuclear thing in Fukushima. I hope they could be fine, and I shall express my heartfelt sympathy to the people who are living in the disaster area.
Well…so many of my cosplay friends are talking about what we shall do or what we can do. We shouldn’t cosplay now or something like that. I don’t really know. But no matter what happens in the world, even if no one knows there is tomorrow, I want my blog to be here with you. While you are here, I want you to be here with me. There is nothing I can give you, but if you kindly allow me, may I show you my cosplays?
Like someone pointed out, I learned how to do make-up. Now I got my brand new camera, Nikon D90, so I want to re-cosplay my old characters to make it better. So this time, I cosplayed my very first character. That’s him.
He is Oono Suefumi[多季史] from Harukanaru toki no naka de -Maihitoyo-. This anime is based on the same title otome game in which the heroine gets summoned by a mysterious voice into a totally unknown world in order to save it from the evil. Of course she is surrounded by several good-looking men and you can pursue your favorite.
If you let me mention Suefumi, I must say he is a really heartbreaker. I would like you play the game or see the anime. The heroine meets him on the bridge in the rain. Even though he is so nice to her, he doesn’t remember who he is. So she decides to help him to remember who he really is…Oh no way, I couldn’t stop crying when I watched the anime for the first time. Of course he is my No. 1 in this series even now. Please play the music before you see, thank you. Read the rest of this entry »
昭和臭 [shouwa shu]
The terrible thing is ongoing in Japan, but I do want to keep this blog because, thank you very much, I have a lot of people who support me. That is why…I shall make a post as usual.
Junk parts for transistor radios in Akihabara
So this time, I shall pick up a funny word, 昭和臭[shouwa shu]. 昭和[showa] is the name of Japan’s era, and this had lasted from 1926 to 1989 before the current one, 平成[Heisei] came. Now it actually is Heisei 23rd [2011], but around Heisei 10th or so, 昭和臭[showa shu] is used to ridicule such an old thing or to point out it’s out of date. 臭[shu] means odor. In a good way, I could say it’s a retro style or classic but if not, it’s out of date. If you don’t want to sound “odor,” you could use 昭和風[Showa fu] or 昭和テイスト[Showa taste]. 風[fu] means vibe. Look at some examples.
This is a telephone as you can see. This type of telephone is called 黒電話[kurodenwa], or black telephone, and very old type. I think this doesn’t exist anymore unless it is in a film. Of course it doesn’t record messages. I am from Showa period so I still remember this type of phone. But if you happened to be born 1991 onwards, you would have no idea. And what about this?
Yes, this is a transistor radio. After World War 2, people used to rely on transistor radios to get information. People actually made a radio themselves using some small parts. If you happen to be in Akihabara, just go and see the outlet next to the station. You will see a lot of junk parts even now. This station has already been re-constructed, but only this outlet still remains. I might say this outlet is 昭和臭. I don’t mean to ridicule, though.
Of course there are a lot of anime series or manga in Showa era, but they don’t necessarily count 昭和臭. How do I say…such a retro character design or cinematography, we might say 昭和臭. As I said, I was born in Showa. But even if I see Heisei anime series, I might say 昭和臭. There is the other way around. Recently, I watched the anime Bokurano[ぼくらの]. Even though this anime was aired in 2007, I just thought it was made much much longer time ago. Then when does this story happen? It’s not officially decided, but Ushiro’s birthday is 2017, apparently the story takes place in 2030 or so. Even that, it looks so old, doesn’t it? Especially Daichi…
Then do you think Rainbow -nisha rokubou no shichinin- counts 昭和臭? This story takes place around Showa 30th[1955], but I don’t think it counts because the design doesn’t look so retro although the clothes they wear fit in the anime. Out of topic, I really like this anime because my favorite seiyu, Rikiya Koyama stars. Also, Megumi Hayashibara narrates the story.
When I speak to my friends, sometimes I feel a generation gap because I have early 20’s friends. I talk about CLAMP anime, they mention Code Geass, but I prefer X. They might ridicule it’s 昭和臭 though I don’t think so. Well, good anime is good no matter how many years pass. In the end, we always conclude that we share good anime series regardless of the generation gap.
By the way, long time ago someone told me that my face fits the characters of the 80s/early 90s. Then should I cosplay the characters from that era? Aside from the topic, I am so pleased to have a lot of messages from you. I don’t know what to say, what to do…what I should do. I am not too sure if this is a good thing or not, but no matter what happens, if tomorrow more terrible thing happens, I just want to make you happy. My blog is always full of happy mood so long as I live on. That is how I felt after watching Bokurano. So that’s why…I would like to do what I can do.
だから見ていて下さい、私の…コスプレ― Read the rest of this entry »
[Intermission] I am okay
If you have heard of what had happened in Japan, you might be worried about me. Yes, I am okay now. Yesterday while we were working, I felt the shaking. First I didn’t care that much, but it was getting very hard and finally I placed myself underneath the desk. The shaking lasted very long, it seemed to be so long. Things were messed up all over. The ceiling was nearly destroyed. If it were a bit harder, the ceiling would have been fallen down. My place was magnitude 6 and a bit.
Anyway, after the shaking we all got out of the office and got together at the park. We waited for the direction which announced what to do. The lucky thing is I am just a チャリリーマン so I could come home. But most people had to stay at the office because the trains were stopped.
My mobile has been out of order because of this earthquake, so I can’t contact my people. Hopefully I could speak to my elder sister and nephew. A few hours later I could reach to all of my family. My apartment was okay, and some things came out of the drawers or fell down. But it wasn’t a big deal. My computer is okay, so this is the only one way to contact now. My cosplay friends are saying they are okay on the bulltien board, so did I. And when I checked my mail, I got a lot of messages to make sure I am okay.
Once again, I am okay. I shouldn’t die here! Until I cosplay Gakupoid…I have a mission to give moe to all the anime fans. And I really want to say thank you for your concern. こんな私でも心配してくれるなんて…とても嬉しいです。
Love, bangin
Internet Slangs -Part Ⅱ-
I have to say sorry because I haven’t introduced words lately for so long now. Now I’ve got to do that, haven’t I? Well, when I have a chat with my friends, I often hear a lot of words I have never heard. So I asked what they mean, and it turned out that they were internet slangs or otakish words. Some of them came out of internet slangs, and became yearly famous words. Okay, now is the time to list them up.
doushite kounatta
a. どうしてこうなった[doushite kounatta]: Why has it become like this? There is nothing to imply so you can say it at the right time. For example, just after you messed it up, you can say どうしてこうなった. As things are becoming worse, you can say it. When you play a video game with your friend, you are about to be beaten so you can say it. If you know Peercast[ピアキャスト], you might’ve been heard of what had happened. It is an open source streaming media multicast tool, and uses peer-to-peer technology to minimize the necessary upload bandwidth for the original multicaster. At any rate, when someone was uploading the ongoing video game using Peercast, he accidentally uploaded the screenshot which was not supposed to be get in. And on the bulltien board which were following the Peercast, someone said どうしてこうなった.
b. ガチ[gachi]: I think I have already introduced ガチホモ[gachihomo] before. Aside from ガチホモ, ガチ[gachi] is often used among young people. It means seriously or really. We also say マジ[maji] or serious. Like saying You mean it?, we say マジで？[maji de?]. However, instead of saying マジで？, more and more young people seem to say ガチで[gachi de]. Originally, ガチ stems from ガチンコ[gachinko] which means a serious battle by wrestlers. For some reason, just ガチ[gachi] seemed to be cut off and everyone says ガチ. Did you ever listen to the Opening theme song of K-ON? There is one phrase saying ガチでスバラシ[gachi de subarashi] or really wonderful.
c. 大事なことなので２回言いました[daiji na koto nano de nikai iimashita]: This is important so I shall say twice. Actually it is not so important, not important at all when someone highlights something. This is joking you as it is not an important thing. For example, I am a fujoshi[BL fangirl]. I AM A FUJOSHI. 大事なことなので２回言いました. This stems from what a certain Japanese entertainer, Mino Monta[みのもんた] said in the advertisement. When he promoted the tooth cleaner, he said ,”this can sterilize, this can sterilize. It’s important so I said twice!”
d. チラ裏[chiraura]: It is an abbreviation of チラシの裏[chirashi no ura] which means back of a flyer. That means such a nonsense or worthless illustration or monologue. They shouldn’t come out, but stay behind because they are not so good. Yes, you can say like I’m sorry, but my fan-made novel is チラ裏[chiraura]. Or you can even say like チラシの裏でやれ[chirashi no ura de yare] meaning do it behind my back. I wonder if my cosplay is チラ裏…
e. とりま[torima]: It should be とりあえず、まぁ[toriaezu maa] which means anyway…
f. 砂を吐く[suna wo haku]: It means too romantic to believe, or merely very sweet. 砂[suna] means sand, but in this context it means 砂糖[satou] or sugar. If you play any otome games, your favorite bishounen would say such a sweet speech like I love you forever or something like that. It sounds too sweet to feel sick. 吐く[haku] actually means to throw up. 砂を吐く means to throw up sugar.
daga kotowaru
g. だが断る[daga kotowaru]: But I won’t do that. This origins from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure[ジョジョの奇妙な冒険], and there is a scene in which the cartoon artist, Kishibe Rohan is on the verge of death. The enemy requests him to cooperate instead of killing him. He is about to say yes, but next moment he says だが断る. He is worshipped because of this scene. When you turn down such a great offer, you can say だが断る.
That is all I can think of now, but I promise there will be part 3. And I am pretty sure this never ends because Japanese people including otaku always coin a new word.
[Cosplay] Big White -Hakuouki-
It is still very cold, but will be warmer soon here. I can’t wait to see cherry blossom[sakura] as I want to do a photo session with sakura. You know, when beauty of nature comes, Japanese costumes look so good. My friends are doing Japanese cosplays here and there. From my cosplays, there are some Japanese costumes like Gintama, Harukanaru toki no naka de, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto…and Hakuouki[薄桜鬼]. Since Hakuouki is still popular, most cosplayers are doing it. Most of my friends has started to cosplay Hakuouki. So have I.
I have cosplayed Saito Hajime who is a member of Shinsengumi as you may know, and I have cosplayed with Chidsuru, Hijikata, Kazama, and Todo. Oh no, here comes a newcomer. He is Harada Sanosuke[原田左之助] who is also a member of Shinsengumi. He and I met last month. My friend saw a wonderful Sanosuke at the cosplay event, and she asked me to speak to him as she was too shy to do so. I spoke to him, and we made friends with each other. After that we e-mailed a couple of times and this is how we joined the cosplay event together.
The event took place at Sakuradamon[桜田門] where is the filming place of Sakuradamongai no Hen in Ibaraki Prefecture. Here is open for visitors so that anyone can come in. Since last year, cosplay events have also taken place from time to time. But it is going to end soon. That’s why we decided to go join though this place was a bit too far.
The Sanosuke cosplayer is actually fresh. After we changed, I noticed his make-up was not enough at all. I was so sure he would look much better if he did make-up well. So I helped him. When he looked himself in the mirror, he had no words to say. All he could say was “This is not me.” Well, I could see who I used to be in him. Because I was not good at make-up at all. When I cosplayed Saito for the first time, I didn’t do make-up. And the Chidsuru cosplayer got an eyeliner and grabbed my face. I looked at the mirror, and shouted,”it’s not me.” I don’t know what to say, but may I say I got improved as a cosplayer? Now I have my own camera, Nikon D90 with a short focus lense so I can help other cosplayers. Before, I just relied on photographers, but I want to help my friends and make good works together. That’s my resolution this year.
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 