シャフ度 [Shafudo]
I have lost my password to log in here. How long have I left my blog? Well, what shall I say first…okay, hi I am bangin, Japanese cosplayer, and the owner of this blog, Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans. I shall introduce you those words which stem from anime or Japan’s subculture. I mean, they are otakish words, you know.
Anyway, I almost forgot to write in English. No no, my English is sucks in the first place. Takes much time to make a post. Well, days ago I got an e-mail from someone who asked me to make a post here. Oh no, thank you. Somone is still following my blog! Then I do, for sure.
If you are following any anime series from the anime production, Shaft[シャフト], you might have found one thing. It always happens, frequently happens. She looks down…he looks down…and they have an exultant look or that kind of look. Yes, that is シャフ度[shafudo], or shaft angle. シャフ[shafu] is from Shaft, and 度[do] means angle. In this case, 度 is technically 角度[kakudo] or angle. Whenever you are aware of this angle, you are watching anime by Shaft.
Speaking of Shaft anime, I can think of Bakemonogatari[化物語], Arakawa Under the Bridge[荒川アンダーザブリッジ], Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei[さよなら絶望先生], or Dempa Onna and Seishun Otoko[電波女と青春男]…but wait, Revolutionary Shoujo Utena[少女革命ウテナ] is also made by Shaft. 懐かしいね！
シャフ度 can be frequently seen in the anime series by Director Teruyuki Shimbou[新房照之] who has been working for Shaft. Especially, it seems like this started from Bakemonogatari.
It’s always so hard, isn’t it? Shadow and light are so hard. This is important when we talk about シャフ度. Not only looking down, but you have to bend down backwards like an arc. This is easy to say, but hard to do!
Come to think of it, there’s one more Shaft’s technique. That’s 黒板ネタ[kokuban neta]. 黒板[kokuban] is a blackboard and ネタ[neta] is a topic or just a troll. You see this on the blackboard in the classroom. The board is full of off-topic words or nonsense. This is the idea Shaft often uses. Well, I feel we always need to fill in the blank on the blackboard, no?
Japanese words of anime fans, by anime fans, for anime fans 