終わコン [owakon]
Hi everyone, how are you doing? I am doing okay. It’s still humid, though. I wish fall could come soon. Well then, this blog is supposed to introduce new otakish terms, but I think I have posted too many cosplaying entries. So, I shall make an entry, quickly!
You know, we never know what is coming in the future. Never know what will happen. No one knows what is sure. The same goes to fashion or trend. Apparently, it looks very odd, but once it gets in the trend everybody else goes for it. However, nothing is everlasting. Once we get cool down, it will be a history. So we go for something else. That is about it. Fashion or trend never last so long.
Yes, we anime fans would be following current shows, I mean, the series being on the air now. Once it is finished, new season comes, meaning new series would start. How many of you are still following past series which were popular years ago? How many of you still remember some old series and all of a sudden feel like watching them again? Even if everyone else makes fun of me, I would keep loving what I loved. This is why I gotta introduce this term, 終わコン[owakon].
終わコン[owakon] is an abbreviation of 終わったコンテンツ[owatta contents] which means out-of-fashion. 終わった[owatta] is a past tense of 終わる[owaru] meaning to end. In this context, contents mean video, music, novel or whatever for entertainment. 終わコン is actually used to deny such trendy stuff or simply joke such out-of-fashion stuff. Okay, we know Tiger&Bunny is very trendy. Since the first season was really nice, Sunrise announced they made season 2. Of course, T&B fans were happy, but meanwhile anti-T&B fans would be saying T&Bは終わコン[T&B wa owakon]. I don’t think so if you ask me. There are still lot of T&B fans around me. If you insist T&B is not 終わコン, you could say 終わコン（笑）. Please refer to スイーツ（笑）.
So what does 終わコン origin from? The anwer is The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi[涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱]. When you hear of this anime, what would you say? “Ah it brings back memories,” or “it’s 終わコン.” That’s all. Five years ago, Haruhi was the core of the trend. When I started to be a cosplayer, at least more than 10 Haruhi cosplayers were at the event. A lot of Haruhi dancers uploaded the video on Youtube. However, the fame didn’t last so long. I must say Kyo Ani goofed up. If they had done much better, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. I am sure you know what I mean if you used to follow Haruhi series.
The Haruhi fans died to see Season 2, but it took much time from Season 1 to 2. Some of them got bored to wait. To much worse, remember Endless 8? Yes, the first 8 episodes on Season 2 are almost the same story. It was kind of tricky. In this episode, Kyon has to re-do the same loop again and again because of a certain reason. He got in the endless loop. Of course, the cinematography was not exactly a carbon copy, but it tired the fans because they had to watch the same episode for 8 times. Meanwhile, in the anime Lucky☆Star, Konata cosplays Haruhi’school uniform or even some of the characters from Haruhi show in the episode. The female saiyu who voiced Haruhi turned out to be a bitch. In this way, Kyo Ani went too far. As a result, the fans are left and said ハルヒは終わったコンテンツ[Haruhi wa owatta contents].
Well, in my opinion not I don’t like 終わコン. Because I loved it, there is no reason I hate. As you may know, my cosplays are 終わコン because I am not following current series. People ask me, why don’t you cosplay someone from Kuroko no Basuke or Uta no Prince-sama? I am not that interested. Midorima is cool, though. If I cosplay a basketball guy, I will do Rukawa Kaede from Slam Dunk. Yes, it’s 終わコン. In fact, I used to be a big fan of Suzumiya Haruhi, and have cosplayed before. Now, almost no one cosplays this series. The current series you might be watching will be 終わコン someday. For sure. Even if everyone else is left, I would keep loving it. What is wrong with 終わコン? No need to be so shy. Just follow what you want to follow. No matter how many years past, great things are great, that’s why.
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 