Ocean Motion

Nakiri Ayame – Stream Ends When? Time for the first video of the blog

にんじゃりばんばん / きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ (covered by 本間ひまわり)

NinJari Bang Bang as covered by Himawari Honna, who is a Vtuber affiliated with Nijisanji. do look at these links below

Cooking with Himawari (Nijisanji) [ENG SUB]

Layers of Honma Himawari (Nijisanji) [ENG SUB]

Though she isn’t the main focus of this post, I can’t help but endorse her after seeing these videos. Absolutely adorable and dense at times that only serve to enhance her traits. Anyways, Ninjari Bang Bang sure has fluctuated over the times with the recent wave coming from the 2019 John Wick film.

To start off, let me talk about the film The Farewell first. The summary of the story would be a family that goes back to visit their grandmother one last time before she passes. What the entire family wants is for her to pass away happy and they use dubious means to achieve this. At the center of these means is the single truth that is withheld: she has cancer and she will die soon.  From that point, they start to organize a fake weeding in order to cheer her up, cover up any sign of her cancer, and feign happiness. In that family, we are thrust into the perspective of Billi, the granddaughter of this family. She was born in China and raised until she was 6  and had to move to America. From there, she has pursued her life as an independent woman who aims to be a writer, struggling to get by as seen in the beginning. It is from this life that she is thrust into this situation, one that she willfully joins as her parents don’t believe she is suited for this. At every turn, she doubts the decision of her parents and family, oftern butting heads with them at times. One scene had them debating about China vs America where they highlight just how different it is and if their hearts lie with China. Another had her mom expressing her frustrations on the whole situation, reminding her of her own partings that were made difficult by customs. In one scene, Her father justifies this as carrying the emotional burden for her. Throughout all of this, they lie all the way through and ultimately she still lives on after 6 years.

Video time

[Eng Sub] Miku - ONLINE GAME ADDICTS SPRECHCHOR (ネトゲ廃人シュプレヒコール)

Man. am i feeling lazy right now. Also Nachumocha is having her Bithday celebration? well its a celebration of some sort right now. 

おめでと！ (Omedeto) Congrats 

Nachumocha.

Putting that aside, If you look deeper into the film, you will find that at every turn,there seems to be a prevalent message that questions whether it is right to withhold something from someone, and it may be implicitly saying yes to this. I don’t believe that it is simply because of customs or because they wish for the other’s happiness. I believe that the main reason is that they are afraid to ruin the status quo. Before, The dad reasoned that they should carry the emotional burden by saying that telling her would be the same as absolving yourself of the responsibility. I argue that not telling her can also be a way of absolving yourself of responsibility by maintaining the status quo. In these circumstances, I believe that the actions that people fall into abstaining from can be though of as resignation of the fact that people want to avoid taking the blame if something goes wrong. Is this right? I dunno and the movie also seems to put doubt into this as well by questioning us throughout the film if this is right? Ultimately, she lives on through all this and moves on with it. They did talk about having an open mind in the end and whatnot, but it seems to become so muddled when I try to apply this here.  Perhaps the story is not really about these moral issues and more of a idea that we live with our decisions, whether they turn out to be good or bad. 

Now then, let me introduce our Vtuber today, 

茶越きよか

She is a relatively new Vtuber who has only started posting content about a month ago. The aspects of her that I enjoy are her voice which is nice to listen to as she drones on through topics, her simple design which is easy on the eyes, and her chat which is slow and nice, a characteristic that most small Vtubers share. She plays games such as Apex Legends, Mobile puzzle games, and even TRPG sessions with other people. Her streaming times, well... i’m not really sure but I guess it can vary from around 7PM  or maybe around 2 AM i’d say?  

anyways, I would like to add in a few sources that contain subbed videos of prominet Vtubers

Nakiri Ayame – Stream Ends When?

Yashiro gets teased by everyone [Nijisanji]

List of Translator Channel - Reddit

the first two are videos part of  different subbed playlists and the third is a reddit page containing some translation channels out there.

Getting that out of the way, I would like to discuss my feelings about the subject at hand. In that situation, I would probably not tell her because I caved into everyone else, but I would tell her if I was by myself. I believe that is because by having everyone there, there is someone to blame for when things go wrong and I can deflect blame by saying I was just following the rest. On the other hand, my morals feel that holding lies surely will come to bite people in the back in ways that you might not imagine. If it falls through, then I will become someone who is irresponsible, if it succeeds and is later found out, then i’m untrustworthy, and even if they never find out, it becomes a source of anxiety and stress hat slowly eats away at you , perhaps everyday, perhaps at certain times. Regardless, this stress piles up and needs an outlet to be relieved from, in which some people may never find an outlet for and possibly self- destruct from it. Of course, when I say this, I talk about the few extreme cases and most people may fall in the middle of this path or even not suffer from anything at all. All I’m really doing at this point is talking about my experiences keeping stuff hidden and how it doesn’t always work out. As for their talk about Americans and Chinese identities, I believe that also plays into this theme of hiding  things. I believe that the mom and dad expressing their American allegiances vs the others falling along with the grandmother would be a sign of hidden agendas Not only is this family hiding stuff from the grandmother, they are putting on an act for everyone around them in an argument that shows that not only do they not get along, they are stressed out of their mind as they cannot let it all out with the grandmother there keeping them all together. Funny how they should say this because my grandmother and grandfather passed away recently within these 2 years and it is this year that we have had a Thanksgiving that wasn’t with the rest of the family nor was it even set in the old house. It sure does feel weird when you realize that the old house may never have any people who party/celebrate there. I can’t help but wonder if she kept the whole family together because I believe that is the only reason my dad would even bother to show his face. Anyways, I believe that their talk about their identities are something that will naturally fracture the family, and perhaps that is for the best because, as my father put it “The interest of your own family should come before the interest of someone else’s family. It it because our family was too big that we suffered and I believe that breaking off was a inevitability that should have happened sooner. Our mom work hard for us by providing for our family and my uncle’s family as well, and I am deeply grateful for her. It is because of this that everyone in the family must pay their due respect to her and that everyone is so willing to spend so much for her funeral, or at least, me your aunt and uncle are willing to contribute so much. If i was older when everyone, the uncle’s family, my dad, and my grandmother were goading my mom, then I would’ve defended her and beat anyone who dared to hurt my mom.” (At least, that is how I roughly image how he would say it while going on many tangents afterwards) My dad surely wasn’t the brightest tool in the box at the time, but I believe he held traits that sure were straightforward at times and those times where he tried to hide the amount of money he spent from my mom, I wonder if he was even trying to. All I wanted to say from that is some things are better left to rot while there are others that must be protected. In other words, get your priorities straight. I believe that protecting the grandmother is all fine and all but does this elaborate farce really make the grandmother happy?  Wouldn’t it be better to perhaps come clean and come fast because even if this were to speed up her death? I believe the quality time spent is worth more than a sham that creates lies and deception. And it is from their that identities and loyalties become less of a problem and people can possible open their minds and reflect as they know that these labels stop people from entering the true issues that lie beneath, which lay within ourselves.

Now then, as a parting gift

[Guilty Crown OST] Euterpe - Romaji + Eng Lyrics | 【Original】

The P.O.P event was on Dec 11th at 6 p.m. at Balboa high school. It was very hard to find the right place because all three schools are together, it took us 20mins to find the right place. But we made it!

Watching other peoples’ project was very impressive! They all spent lots of time and effort to it, and the show was amazing!

Watching our film was very fun, my team and I were laughing so hard because we knew all the tricks and how we film it.

We miss you! Sara

The live music team is people I already knew, we all from Ocean Motion group. It was very easy to work with them because we did Iron Chef project together.

The story we pick is that the immigrant girl who from a traditional Chinese family comes out from the closet. Her family did not accept who she is, so she decided to move from Hong Kong to San Francisco. She follows her music passion and find her love in San Francisco.

We were planning to perform live music but because Sara have perform in a concert on the same day of the P.O.P, we have to make a music video.

We went to Lands End to film the part that after the girl arrived the San Francisco, it was a beautiful day and the film was successful.

The rest of the film we were film in Sara’s house, it went well. The house is Sara’s girlfriend parents house, so it is traditional Chinese family house and it help us to film the short video.

H-1B is a visa for foreign professionals with a university degree and professional skills. This visa is open to the world but is generally considered the only way for international students who have graduated from a U.S. university to stay in the United States.

H-1B was seen as a ferry ticket to fulfill the American Dream.

Each year the U.S. government issues 85,000 H-1B work visas to foreigners, of which 20,000 are for foreigners with a master ’s degree or higher from a U.S. university.

But in recent years, this ticket is hard to find. Due to the surge in visa requirements, H-1B has been selected by lottery every year since 2013. This year, the U.S. government has received more than 85,000 applications over the quota for five consecutive days.

Almost half of the applications rejected in 2014 due to the quota being full; in 2015, the government received 233,000 applications within 7 days, two-thirds of which were rejected because the quota was full; the number of visa applications received by the government in 2016 Almost three times the number of visas issued. Until today, the government has stopped accepting any applications after it has received 199,000 applications.

Recent data shows that 69% of the 85,000 visas were issued to Indians, 12% to Chinese, and the rest were distributed to citizens of Germany, Japan, Spain, the Philippines and other countries.

As an international student, you will have a one-year OPT (internship period after graduation from a student visa), but once it expires and the lottery is not obtained, there is no chance. You might get it, or you must go home. Because the company applying H1B for an international student needs to hire a lawyer, submit a lot of materials, and a series of complicated procedures. It has not been determined that a visa can be obtained, it depends on luck.

Before I came to the United States, I also attended university in China. I feel that there are many differences between Chinese and American universities. The Chinese curriculum is ordered by universities. Only elective courses can be selected by yourself. The rest are already scheduled. In the United States, however, you can choose when and what classes to take.

I want to share some tips to succeed in the U.S. university.

Don't forget to attend Freshman Orientation

The registration for freshmen is important for all students who have just entered the university, including international students. Therefore, for international students, it is necessary to plan ahead for the time to the United States and allow enough time to attend the registration meeting. This freshman registration will give you the opportunity to meet future classmates, learn more about the school's activities, and help you slowly adapt to the US campus before the official semester begins.

Class discussions also count towards course grades

In American university courses, both discussions with professors and classmates are very important, and usually class participation will also determine your final grade in this course. This is very different from universities in China, where American universities place great emphasis on teamwork rather than just having good exam results.

Practice your English

American universities attach great importance to socializing. International students can improve their spoken English level by reading English books and watching American TV programs. This will help international students to communicate better with American students, also you can learn some slang to fit in better.

Be clear about transfer rules before attending a community college

Many international students are unwilling to spend too much tuition and spend 4 years at a 4-year university in the United States, so they will choose community colleges to experience American university study and life. But for most international students, they choose a community college to enter a better school in the future, so you must know the transfer requirements and which academic credits can be transferred to a 4-year university.

Familiar with the International Student Office

Chinese restaurants are blooming all over the United States, but except for a few in Chinatown, most of them have become "Americanize Chinese" in order to adapt to Western tastes. The so-called "alternative" Chinese food in the United States is Chinese food that you can see no matter which Chinese restaurant you visit, but Chinese people never order. These dishes are the most authentic "American-style Chinese food". Even the dish looks good, the restaurant can make it only meet the taste of Westerners. For us, it seems that it can be described as not tasty.

Crab Rangoon

Americans like to eat this kind of crispy fried ravioli with crab meat and cream cheese inside, but the Chinese do not eat cheese so Chinese would not order this in the Chinese restaurant. Also, this dish is not available in China. 

Orange Chicken

The fried chicken wrapped in flour, then fried with orange-flavored sauce, a plate of hot orange peel chicken comes out of the pan, and one or two slices of orange will be garnished on the plate when serving. Nine out of ten Americans I know love this dish, but in fact you cannot order this dish in China because it does not exist in China.

These dishes can be called "American Chinese food", American Chinese food.

In addition to the above-mentioned dishes, there are sirloin fried beef / chicken / shrimp Beef / Chicken / Shrimp with Broccoli, fried noodles Chow Main, and the famous Fortune Cookie fortune cookies, which are also "representative works" of American Chinese food.

Don’t mind if I do...

[ENG SUB] Secret Base - 10 Years After Ver.

Let the feels sink in. From the Anime Anohana ( Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai) which has childhood friends reunite after the death of one of their own. 

I Must say, that was a wild experience to be had, especially with surprising entries such as the shadow puppets. The skits at the beginning were done in an amusing way, especially that bit with the ipod nano. I always wonder why that was even made  when smartphones were just around the corner. The live performances were also great in singing and the person on the piano seemed to know her stuff as well. All in All, this was a successful Pop performance that went off without a problem. Our class sure did have a lot of videos to show though huh.

let it sink in

〔れをる〕 エンヴィキャットウォーク 〔歌ってみた〕

 kinda ruined the sad mood, but it is intense and it comes from a great utaite, REOL. 

My analysis on POP would be that while the production quality isn’t very high, it does have a certain charm to it. It is quite like an amateur film that has some unprofessional takes that you can’t help but smile to. Basically, a dark history that everyone can laugh about after its over. Looking at it this way, though we may not be able to convince many people with our production, we surely gained a strong sense of Solidarity in return. compared to our actual performance, I believe that is more important. With that said, I believe we did succeed in that part looking at the end of it all on our class photo.

My Next Vtuber to discuss is 

神城くれあ/Kurea Channel【おとりざ】

Kurea does morning streams in Japan where she eats breakfast, discuss horoscopes, and talks about the news. This all happens around 4PM around here so it isn’t hard to catch one of those streams. The ones that are hard to catch are those of gameplay, Which start around 4AM or so, which is nigh impossible to normally catch for West coast NA viewers. Do check out her morning news streams and see if she is any good.

My feelings now that this is all over is both relief that our group managed to pull it off and a bit melancholic that its over because it was a bit fun iI must admit. While it may have been a short while, thank you very much for teaching this class Teaching team. I do hope that you guys a happy holidays as I finish writing this up. And to end it off I want to say, Thank you for reading till then end of this blog, I hope you enjoyed my crazy ramblings and song recommendations.

Tomorrow will be Special, Yesterday was Not

First

Alice Mare OST - Arukas Load (Extended Version)

sounds like something that would be played after going back from work or arriving back home.

Preparring for POP sure was a great experience, in some ways. Though we may have had time schedule differences, we all managed to pull off a final product that came out better than we thought. I certainly did learn a lot about the type of people in my group, at least some background information about them . I learned that Andrew spoke Indonesian, Francesca knew Tagalog, Tagalog raps can spit hot rhymes if you try, sometimes you don’t grow up with your culture and end up with what’s around you. Don’t trip out alone  first time else you might be in for a bad trip. Some people are better off not tripping together with. Those are some of the things that I’ve learned in this experience.

two

【Hatsune Miku】Patchwork Staccato "ツギハギスタッカート"【Eng sub】

【UTAUカバー】ツギハギスタッカート(Patchwork Staccato)【闇音レンリ】

Yamine Renri Cover really sold this song, in contrast to the soft original singer Hatsune Miku

Thinking about it, I see that I’ve made a somewhat great choice taking this class. There has been many a times I’ve been to class but none were as free as this with group projects taking the lead and TA’s being so easy to contact. Truly, I find myself flabbergasted by the difference in attitude from other classes. With this calss, I can;t help but wonder if other classes can be like that, which would be a bit ambitous, but deviates from the topic. What I want to say is that POP has certainly done its job by broadening my horizons by forcing me to work with others to create a statemnt about society.

The Vtuber I wish to discuss is 

笹木咲 / Sasaki Saku

Sasaki Saku is a VTuber affiliated with Nijisanji, a Vtuber producing company that has over 70 vtubers currently, so they say, haven’t counted them yet. What stands out to me about Sasaki Saku is her voice. She speaks in a dialect, mayke Kansai, which makes her stand out from most Vtubers. Then there are her videos of her and her antics

Lize & Sasaki Make No Progress in Unusual SkyBlock (Nijisanji) [ENG SUB]

Sasaki Saku's Mario Maker 2 (Nijisanji) [ENG SUB]

Nijisanji Clips #4: Dynamite Cute [ENG SUB]

She surely is a prankster with a interesting voice that makes her all the more interesting to watch. I’m not sure about her streaming schedule as she doesn’t stream daily, but i believe that helps to limit the amount of backlog and dedication required.Do check her out.

My feelings on POP is that I felt more involved with my classmates, which makes me happy as well as all the things they have taught me, whether it be about tripping balls, SF free food alets, and music production in general. All of these really make me happy that I took this class and met these people. So for POP and this class, I really do encourage taking this and widening your horizons.

Last

【東方French Vocals／Piano Ballad】 Petit Chat Clandestin 「Raven’s Jig」 【ENG Subs】

First video 

Lazy Afternoons Kingdom Hearts II Music Extended [Music OST][Original Soundtrack]

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix -Lazy Afternoons- Extended

Perfect song to listen to as background music. Also do consider playing Kingdom Hearts the game on Playstation.

Y’know, I’ve always marveled at the internet stars on Youtube that managed to climb up to such heights. Some of these Had similar looks to me such as Kevjumba and Nigahiga, two of whom were big youtubers at some point in time. They certainly were funny to watch such as shocking your dad with a prank phone or videos on how to be a ninja and big green inflatable balls. I’ve kinda realized that Youtube and other social media are now replacing the types of media we think of such as books or movies. It is now more than ever that voices can be heard across the globe or not and that has it’s pros and cons to it.

Time for the secong song of the blog!

  Hatsune Miku - Rolling Girl PV (English Subs)

  【Mawarine Shuu】Rolling Girl【UTAU Cover】

 While the classic is good, Mawarine shu version sure does make it powerful.

My analysis of this would be that the internet is a great platform for Asian American to popularize themselves in pop media and gain a voice independent from existing media outlets. If we are to upend the current social hierarchy, I believe it should be done in ways that don’t blatantly alienate other viewers such as the Asian American view of Yappie/Yuppie but should have a story that incorporates Asian American elements that help form the character of a story into someting familiar. In a way, it is a familiar narrative that comes from an unfamiliar background rather than an unfamiliar narrative with a possibly unfamiliar face and background as well. It is through empathizing with others through these narratives that we may not only represent ourselves, we may connect with others and shed light to our voices.

The Vtuber for this blog is

Rei Channel / 紡音れい

Rei chan seems to know a littl;e english and can maybe respond back. What is admirable is her energy that seems to flow out from her talks and her viewers semm to help as well. Rei tends to stream ar around 4AM or possibly around 8AM and doesn’t archive a majority of her streams. Maybe look out for an morning stream if you do wake up at that time. So far, I’ve seen her talk mostly and play games such as puyo puyo tetris and APEX Legends. Do check her out.

My feelings about this topic is that the internet sure is a magical place to be in. It is so easy to lose yourself in it with there being no end in sight with the amount of topics and people there are to meet. Certainly, I believe that without the internet, I wouldn’t be able to know about some asian americans as well as their lives beyond the screen. Rather than the streets, surely the websites would be a better outlet to exp[ress your opinions at this point.

The last song I want to present is

【東方ボーカル】 「サイケデリック鬼桜同盟」 【SOUND HOLIC】

To start this 

Buta-Otome - Sharekoube

Those rolling Rs are strong in this song. Just how does she do it?

The topic for today is a common one for this class, which is Asian American representation. I want to talk about that while trying to tie this in with anime. So to start pff,I must ask where does this Asian American representation come from? Honestly I believe that Media isn’t the only place where this occurs. Without getting into it for now, I believe that anime and animation in general can help somewhat with this issue at hand. Truly, Anime with it’s base outside of reality can help inspire ideas that need to be taught.

On a slight tangent, here is the second song

[English sub] Heart a la Mode - 96neko & vipTenchou

A vocaloid song sung by one of the utaites that I like.

What I see in this is that Asian American representation can also be found in interpersonal relationships as well. These relations with other of similar backgrounds and their conditions will affect how those people may perceive Asian American representation to an extent. Using Anime as a medium to further this goal can be great with how compelling it can be. A few examples of this would be the messages spread in anime such as the idea of connecting in Kiznaiver and reasoning before attacking in Maoyuu Maou Yuusha - "Kono Watashi no Mono Tonare, Yuusha yo" "Kotowaru!". KIznaiver gave the idea that we may be fully unable to connect toneach other, but we surely can try to connect despite our misunderstandings. Maoyuu taught that surely there can be a different outcome if ideas and knowledge were to be spread around because sometimes people are ignorant of ideas not intentionally.  Ideas such as these combined into an Anime about Asian Americans can surely bolster Asian American representation. 

The Vtuber I want to promote today is

賽ノ目さいく

She/he is a vtuber that primarily does talking livestreams where she talks with the viewers. Like Nachumocha, she/he also has a chatroom which is easy to follow because chat isn’t very occupied. Unfortunately, she/he streams at random times so I can’t tell what time to expect it. I say he/she because I’m not sure of the gender and voice changers are used frequently at times, some subtle and other blatant in order to hide personal information from viewers. Besides, I believe that people in these chatrooms refer to people by name rather than say he/she. Dunno if i can recommend archives because it is all in Japanese, but if you can somewhat listen and understand, then go ahead and try it out as a podcast of sorts.

Back on topic, I feel that this matter is a great idea that will never be realized. Anime is predominantly in Japan and those shows reflect the ideas and culture in Japan predominantly. Rather than feel representation, it might make others feel alienated and curse the fact they weren’t Japanese citizens. Believe me, I have had some of those thoughts as well. More realistically, I believe that animators on youtube such as emirichu that may have similar backgrounds could possibly have the same effect while giving an appreciation to anime. Anime Banzai! Yeah, this was basically an excuse to talk about anime somewhat but it sure did turn out well thanks to Youtube animators. Why not watch Dominics and learn more about animators as they fill up your recommended bar.

The last song I want to show is

Touhou PV - Danzai Yamaxanadu! [IOSYS](eng subs)

To start off, the first song I want to show off is

[MINAMOTRANCE] 花紅柳緑エリュシオン #02 - 華陽炎 -Hana Kagerou- (Original Extend)

 Really catch and it reminds me of old songs.

What I want to discuss is the issue of not being able to speak your language as perceived by other people. In my case, I can’t speak Mandarin/Cantonese. Well, I can somewhat speak Cantonese, but I definitely cannot hold a conversation in Mandarin nor can I understand it. I can’t help as though it feels wrong to not be able to understand chinese well. This sounds like a continuation of my last blog post, but this is also a big issue in my life. Though I may not want to associate myself with being chinese as I am not well versed in it, it cannot help but haunt me and it is simply something I must accept as part of life and I would have it no other way. I surely would misunderstand others in the same way I would and though I may want to, I cannot fault them for it as I share the same feelings. 

The second song that I would like to present is 

【鏡音リン】炉心融解 Kagamine Rin Meltdown English Sub

【Kagamine Rin V4x】Meltdown【VOCALOID4カバー】

personally, I prefer the V4X version of this, but the original is great as well.

For my Analysis on this issue, it would be that this thing always happens and that getting attuned with your culture doesn’t always happen. An example I talked about before is how Cantonese is declining in usage in China. I believe it may be similar to that as in some things starts to fade away. As for whether they disappear or not is left to be seen, I can say for sure that it is up to the people and its communities. A prime example of this would be the strong Cantonese community rooted here in San Francisco. Whether we know it or not, it is because of our fellow citizens that chinatown has this cultural dialect preserved and still in common use.

A Vtuber I would like to recommend here is

  雪姫りんご/Ringo Channel【おとりざ】

She is a small vtuber that plays games such as minecraft and Monster Hunter World along with the occasional Karaoke stream. I primarily go to her channel in order to see her Karaoke streams because I believe she can sing well. If anything, she is a prime Vtuber that I would like to become like if I do start a channel. She also has a cute personality shown that makes some adorable faces and noises. She is closely tied to two other vtubers who she colloabs with sometimes whether it be livestreams or songs, one of which is 

【歌ってみた】桃源恋歌 - GARNiDELiA - Covered by おとりざ【1周年】

Do Check her out  and know that she streams at around 2AM, so consider watching archives.

As for my feelings on the matter, I feel resigned to my fate like I said before. It’s a bit sad, but I ave to accept that its an unavoidable situation. Fortunately, I can somewhat hold a conversation in Cantonese, so I can possibly get away with that. Anyways, In the end,I guess I don’t feel as bitter as i suppose I should now that I think about it. Ah well, already wrote it anyways and it is a valid point to be made. We should consider if this is an appropriate way to handle it because I may be wrong after all. Anyways, all I can say is that maybe we should all be open minded and get to know others more. And if we do get it wrong, don’t be afraid of getting it wrong because that helps us know rather than not knowing at all. Easier said than done though...

For my last song, i present to thee

【東方ボーカル】 「色は匂へど 散りぬるを」 【幽閉サテライト】【Subbed】

The first song I would like to present is 

"Beneath the Mask" (Cover // Persona 5) (Adriana Figueroa & insaneintherain)

This is a very relaxed song from Persona 5 which is given a different take that is also chill, yet may be cooler version by Adriana and Insaneintherain.

What I would like to adress is the growing worldwide audience vs the individual sections and niches. The reason I would like to make this arguement is because there are different regions that have different standards. A few examples of such regulating agencies in the gaming industry would be the ESRB rating in America and CERO in Japan. Both of these have different rating methods for games that might ot make sense in the opposition. One of the big ones is the different attitudes to sexual tones and violence. In Japan, Sexual scens are not rated and treated as harshly as they are in Japan and the inserve can be said of violence as well. It is because of that incident that I can’t help but wonder if a international version would be a good idea. One such example I can remember right now is that PUBG, a MOBA shooter, was changed in China by not depicting death and also censoring blood by changing it to green. Though it may seem weird, I won’t stop it from being initialized as other versions aren’t affected. What I want to touch upon is who decides what games are rated and what is allowed if international games are released? 

For the second song of thid blog, I want to present

Kagamine Rin - The Lost One's Weeping (ロストワンの号哭)

“it doesn’t matter anymore” Sure does resonate with me. It is basically me when I give up after procrastinating for so long.

For the analysis of this question, I believe it might lead to conflicting interest in other countries that may become political if these matters are not handled properly. One recent controversy that recently happened would be Blizzard banning the Hearthstone Tournament winner because he spoke words of support for the Hong Kong Protests. This was latter tuned down with a half a year ban from the 1 year ban and the cash prize wasn’t withhold from him. An apology was issued and this was swept under the carput, but I see there are some that protest this apology, labeling it as a empty apology that does not even apologize for the incident specifically.  The point I would like to take is that while there may be issues that may be sensitive such as political issues that we may be able to deal with in games, can the same go for thet places that have stricter ideas regulating violence or sexuality that may not be forgiving in other countries hat may not justify a international version. On That point, I want to ask if he same can be said for groups and individuals in general? One hypothetical I would like to talk about is he show Yuppie that has a trailer or first episode that has someone being questioned about being a Yuppie/Yappie hat does not challenge he status quo. What I would like to know is what if there was someone from the group that honestly didn’t care and only wanted to help themselves? Selfish as this may sound, but can anyone deny that person for not ralying up to the cause? For that matter, Does your race/identity force you to support that ethnicity’s best interests? THinking of this, I can’t help but think of my dad, who, when I asked who he voted for, proclaims that he votes for his own people, meaning chinese candidates that have the interests of chinese americans at heart.  Is that the right thing to do? if not, then would it be a betrayal if I don’t vote for my own kind? Ultimately this goes to the point: Who decides what we should act or what is allowed in our lives?

The Vtuber I want to recommend for this blog is

Suisei Channel

As of now, I’m writing this while listening to her Tetris 99 Stream at the moment. Don’t do this if you want a prper sleeping cycle or aren’t in the weekends. She is a Hololive affiliated Ctuber whose extremely good at Tetris. There are some funny clips about her that can be found from translated clips.

Hoshimachi Suisei x Shiranui Flare – Psychos and Slimes

Hoshimachi Suisei – Tetris Philosophy

Suisei Dark Past

The rest of the videos are linked in the titles and well, she sure does have a way with words as well as a personality that workds well with it. Certainly, the translators are to thank for digging up the lovable parts of Suisei.

Moving hat aside, my feelings about this topic are complicated as can be seen by the length of my analysis and questions. I truly am not compelled to go on a crusade to fight for Asian American rights nor am I completely against some of it due to how PC culture seems very suffocating to me that I have to specifically know all these identities for individuals. Identities are something that have to be right or else a violent outburst will be coming your way. I can’t help but think that these talks about identities are something that people must get to know at a personal level and that for strangers and acquaintances, that may never happen and will always get mixed up. Truly, I believe that rather than being Politically Correct, perhaps advertising individuals with gray identities and showing how many there are from those hat are diverse to those that may not be is the key to getting people to care about out identities because it is people as individuals that make up the culture that is constantly changing from place to place. And I beleive it is for individual people to decide what their life and story must be as getting identities right isn’t the priority, but getting more intimate with others regardless of perceived race and culture. 

As for games, I dunno if you want to do that, but I believe that localized version in each place is better. I’m talking about dang Sony which would even hold it’s Japanese games in the same standard as the North American releases. Them Anime games there like Senran Kagura and Omega Labryinth sure has taken a hit.  

My last song for this blog is 

Touhou "The Youkai Mountain" 東方「妖怪の山」 for solo-guitar

Death Parade OP / Opening デス・パレード"Flyers" by BRADIO [HD 720p] For the first video of the day I would like to introduce:

BRADIO-Flyers【TVアニメ「デス・パレード」OP曲】(OFFICIAL VIDEO)

This is the opening for the anime Death Parade, which was a neat opening to watch

Death Parade OP / Opening デス・パレード"Flyers" by BRADIO [HD 720p]

I don’t mind watching this as it does fit the song as well.

So, to begin, I would like to ask what happened to Chop Suey. Why I am asking this is because I don’t seem to hear anything about Chop Suey apart from what I’ve seen on one documentary. From what i’ve heard from it as well as from my dad, it seems to have originated from stir frying leftovers for people to eat. It seems to have originated from the cantonese word lahp jahp? (Not sure how to phonetically write nor if this information is even right) which means stuff, so it gives the impression of whatever is there. Anyways, This has been a stapke in American foods since the 50s or so until Richard Nixon went to China and had the food there on public television. It was from there that Authentic Chinese cuisine became popular in America and restaurants such as the Mandarin, which is now closed, became popular, according to the documentary. 

So, for the second song of the blog  I present

PinocchioP - Nobody Makes Sense / ピノキオピー- ぼくらはみんな意味不明

indeed, nothing makes sense if you dig deep enough, but who cares.

As for my analysis on what has happened to Chop Suey, and  this is all speculation, I assume that there may be items that may be chop suey in chinese restaurants like he brocolli in chinese restaurants or other fods that may be Chop Suey , but aren’t labeled as such. Another theory would be that only certain places where the Chinese influence is thin may still have chop suey in demend, though this is a slim possibility. Ultimately, I must admit that perhaps it may not be alive at all unless you dive into past menus and documentaries for it.

For my Vtuber recommendation for this blog, it is 

手ノ平くるり/KURURI.T

a small Vtuber which I enjoy sometimes. For the most part, I enjoy her streams where she sings songs that may or may not be requested by the viewers. It ranges from japanese songs to a few english songs such as Country Roads and  Michael JAckson’s Billie Jean and the Beatles Hey Jude. She also does gameplay streams as seen by her recent portal streams as well. The demerit to all this is hat she streams around 2-4 AM in the morning, so it might be better to just watch the archives and comment there rather than catch a livestream, though perhaps it won’t be that bad once in a while?

So, for my feeling on the matter, I feel that Chop Suey would be something that I would like to try. I can’t help but wonder if there were ay that taste good and if there are still any places where I can still taste it. I am speaking of this from a culinary perspective of wanting to try different food, cuisine, and their background. I must say that the Youtube Channel  Great Big Story and their videos on foods such as Dragon’s breath sure have influenced me a lot in this blog. All I can say is that I just want to document or have documentation of this as a seeker/pirate searching for knowledge and entertainment.

For my last song of the day, it is,

IOSYS - Third Eye ya!

The final Blog

This blog is super important to me so sorry if it's too much!

Our final project this semester was P.O.P. basically we were allowed to present whatever we wanted that we learned but in a creative innovative way. So my group decided to do music! We picked live music at first but due to me having to perform in a concert the day of P.O.P we made a video last minute which turned out great! 

This music represented me coming out to my traditional family and them not accepting me for who I am, which happened the week before. This was a super rough time for me and did not know what to do. Doing this music video with Wilson, Christine, and Uyen helped me so much... I don't think they realize. Thank you guys for being there during such a rough time for me. 

The video has the music by Danny chan singing about immigration and how people will never accept him for who he really was. With people throwing racial slurs and phrases that hurt him. This song really spoke to me and my group. we decided to record it with my girlfriend's dad, Tim Hall who sang and played the guitar with us. Big thanks to him!

The video shows how a girl comes out to her traditional Chinese family just to be shunned and shamed. She finds her way by moving from Hong Kong to San Francisco to pursue her passion for music and to find her new love. She ends up meeting her love overlooking the golden gate (my actual girlfriend). 

My group and I had such a great time filming and recording music we got really close and bonded into what I would say to be great friends :) 

During this semester we had the opportunity to go to many aspire events. The aspire event I chose was a talk on how to be better with public presentations. 

When I first walked in I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I sat down and got a little more comfortable. It was like a being study circle! With friendly faces :) The started the presentation by asking what were some good and bad presentations we saw. 

here is the list

This then went off with us discussing and the room got a little less tense and more talkative. I engaged with telling them that I have actually seen a person cry and run off stage before!

The speaker presented and gave us some pointers about what we could do to have a great presentation. Little did we know that in the end, we would be doing presentations ourselves. She gave us 15 minutes to make a speech about anything! so naturally I wanted to talk about my favorite Disney movie! 

Ratatouille!

I made up a presentation and went first! 

I'm a music major who plays the cello. In the music department, I've noticed an odd dichotomy within the Asian musicians in the department. I've talked to a lot of them since the department is not very big, and the Asian females that were sent here as foreign exchange students are strongly driven to practice a lot in order to make their families proud and not waste their money. They are really well off, and don't have to worry about the expense of being abroad. They are completely supported but their families. Surprisingly, other Asian American students who are in the department are actually not supported by their families. In fact, a lot of them struggle with self-confidence in the path that they chose. 

In my time in San Francisco, I've realized that there's a huge difference in Asian people from SoCal and Asian people from NorCal.

 There's a lot of NorCal Asians, and I feel like, in SoCal, they're not as present. Aside from that, NorCal Asians are very rooted in tradition. They're old fashioned in the way they think and their mannerisms are very different. Back home, Asians are very Americanized and laid back. I feel like around here, Asian people are very unapproachable and afraid of me. I remember asking someone for help one time, and you would've thought that I was going to attack the Asian woman I talked to. Asians in NorCal seem to be more conservative than any other ethnicity I have had close proximity to. I kind of wish that they were more open to having a conversation. I'm a friendly person, but I feel like I can't always talk as openly as I would to someone in SoCal.

However, In southern California, there are people that you cannot approach. and you rarely see people from Asian communities out in about. So when I got to San Francisco I was shocked! The Asian community is thriving here and its awesome! I am learning so much about the culture of all different backgrounds. That is one of the main reasons I took this class to learn more about my environment. I am excited to learn more :)