Japanese Pop-Culture

Colors weave into a spire of flame Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed Bear this torch against the cold of the night Search your soul and re-awaken the undying light!

On that day, when the sky fell away Our world came to an end In our rise did a fading sunrise in the dark Glimmering shadows

Silence froze in the spaces between Stretching out beyond time Rising up as the chorus of souls finds a force Flickering through the void!

These little sparks cling onto life Everyone caught in the struggle And then the storms of change They fan the flames scattering ashes to the wind!

Every soul contains a whisper of light Flaming, fading as it dwindles from sight No escape, no greater fate to be made! In the end the chains of time will not break

Colors weave into a spire of flame Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed Bear this torch against the cold of the night Search your soul and re-awaken the undying light!

As fate spins a thread without end New life draws it’s first breath Blossoming in a soil reclaimed from the past Where destiny holds fast!

Here where we stand hand clenched in hand Everyone caught in the struggle This is the day we finally find A way stepping into our tomorrow!

Every soul contains a whisper of light Growing louder as it calls to unite From the distance sings a chorus of souls Rising slowly stirring heat from the coals

Colors weave into a spire of flame Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed Bear this torch against the cold of the night Light will guide you on your way to the Ultimate Fight!

Every soul contains a whisper of light Growing louder as it calls to unite From the distance sings a chorus of souls Rising Slowly stirring heat from the coals

Colors weave into a spire of flame Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed Bear this torch against the cold of the night Light will guide you on your way to the Ultimate Fight!

- - - 

Oh yeah, I totally just put all of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s “World Of Light” theme on here. 

Anyway, IT’S FINALLY HERE! 

SMASH 5 IS FINALLY HERE!!!

Now you may be wondering, why the heck is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on this Weeaboo’s Tumblr. 

Well, it’s a simple series of thoughts. 

1. Super Smash Bros. was created by Masahiro Sakurai and Satoru Iwata (Which both sound very Japanese, which, THEY ARE) 

2. These creators and the game are both affiliated with Nintendo

3. Nintendo originated in Japan

THEREFORE, THIS FITS IN TODAY’S BLOG. 

In my past, I have NEVER (yes, NEVER) played or owned a Smash game in my LIFE. As of now, I do have Smash 5, and it’s one of the greatest games I have ever played and experienced in my life. 

Back then, we had this thing at my school called “Nintendo Club”. Which, surprisingly, it was never a “Club” club. It was an interest group with the name of “Nintendo Club”. Anyway, this “Club” played one and only one game. And I’m sure you can guess what it is: Smash for Wii U. As of now we are transitioning to using Smash Ultimate. 

Now what is Smash anyway. It’s basically: 

“Top 10 Anime Crossovers”. 

In this case, ALL CHARACTERS from ALL SMASH GAMES join into ULTIMATE. Hence the name being “Ultimate”. 

I’m sure you’ve seen all of those competitive matches. Yeah, all those Smash Competitive battles. To me they always had interested me, and how they could maneuver throughout the entire map. 

You may have also wondered, why the Gamecube controllers? To put it simply, the way it’s designed is amazing for games like Smash. The positioning of all the buttons make it perfect for Smash, such as having the “A” button in the middle of the right side has the controller screaming: “PRESS THIS! IT MEANS ATTACK!”. 

Heck, Nintendo is on this craze as well selling us $30 gamecube controllers to Smash players. 

Anyway, back to my review on Smash 5. Smash overall is a great experience. Although it’s $60, like every other first-party Switch game, it’s well worth the price. Heck, it’s beyond the price tag. Keep this in mind, Smash 5 is designed to have at least 2 players (one Joy-con per player) which means you can basically play Smash on the go. Not only this, but Smash 5 now includes a campaign mode, otherwise known as “World of Light”. This is basically a storyline for Smash. Which, in my experience, is something I do not dislike, but something I do enjoy from time to time. 

I hope this helps anyone thinking about joining the hype train in Smash, and their decision in buying Smash. 

Yes, I’d be back! And yes, I don’t know how to start off this blog. 

Anyway, I’ve recently watched (and abandoned, basically) an anime called “Cells at Work”. 

“Cells at Work” tells the story of a red blood cell in a health human body. Notice how I said “healthy”, this is due to the fact that there is a manga of the same story, but in an unhealthy body. 

The story begins with a red blood cell, who is literally just called “Red blood Cell”. 

Also, from the title of this blog, you notice it says “so far”. This is due to the fact that I have over 10 Animes to finish, including this one. 

Back to the story, the main protagonist is the Red Blood Cell. We follow her adventures with other cells such as “White Blood Cell”, Platelets, T-Cells, and much more. 

As the story portrays, this is about the life of a Red Blood Cell, fulfilling its duties in the human body. In most episodes she is either accompanied, saved, or meets up with one of her long childhood friends: “White Blood Cell”. 

They both face many dangers such as viruses, bacteria, and even cancer. Yes, cancer: a mutated cell. 

I have not mentioned yet, however the way cells are portrayed in the show are just like regular human beings in the real world. 

The way they face these dangers are mostly from the body itself. Imagine that one time when you fell down and scraped your knee. That is an opening to the body that invites bacteria into the body, hence all these situations with bacteria and viruses. 

In my opinion, I love how the show portrays these cells, thanks to how accurate they are. The design put into the bacterium themselves are very accurate to their real life parts. 

The anime, being a Shonen Anime, does a very good job for attracting boys to the show. This is due to all the fight scenes between the White Blood Cells (Yes, there are more than one) against the bacteria. This happens quite frequently, but isn’t too repetitive. 

In the community’s case, I’ve seen them ship Red and White Blood Cell. Which is great and all (I ship it too), but I’m not so sure about it because they are are the personification of a cell. The cells in the body. 

There are also Platelets. Yes, the Platelets. The Cells that help heal the wounds. And that are most often referred to as the show’s lolis. If you do not know what a “loli” is, and you have been watching Anime, you my good friend lives under a rock. 

A loli is a woman who is over 18 years old, but is short enough to look like either a middle schooler, or a child. 

One example I can think of in this moment is Maho from “Steins;Gate: 0″. 

Anyway, I hope you go over and watch the show. Please support the official release! 

I am back again! and now with another Anime Review. 

Honestly, I wouldn’t call this a Review. This is due to the fact that I only watched the first episode. In this blog, I will be sharing what I think in the very first episode of “Baka and Test”. 

I will try to continue watching this, however it’s a pain to be adding on to my “Anime Watchlist” because I have more than 12 Animes to finish watching. 

In the beginning of the Anime, we are presented with your usual Japanese School. This didn’t really appeal to me at first, however what the School’s system is what caught my attention. 

Apparently, the way the students are assigned to their classes is determined by the first test they take in the year. 

This is where we meet our protagonist: “Akihisa Yoshii”, who is later revealed in the episode to be the “baka” or “idiot” (I’m sure you figured that out). 

As I have mentioned, the class a student is assigned is determined by the test they take in the beginning of the year. If it is an excellent score, they go to class A. If they fail, they go to class F.

So for example: 

100/100 (100%) = Class A 

90/100 (90%) = Class B

80/100 (80%) = Class C

70/100 (70%) = Class D

60/100 (60%) = Class E

And, 50/100 and below (>51%) = Class F

In the case of Akihisa, he basically failed, making him the main idiot of this story. 

Back to the beginning, we see that another student beside him takes the same test in the same room as him. until she suddenly collapses due to a cold she had before, and during, the test. 

A teacher comes by and warns that if they move anymore or leave the classroom, they will be marked as “failed”. 

Akihisa catches the student and helps bring her to the infirmary. Which then marks both of them as “failed”. The student’s name is “Mizuki Himeji”, who was men’t to be a Class A student, but was put into Class F due to this incident. 

The next day, Akihisa is given an envelope showing which class he was put into. 

Now, I find this surprising because the teacher says that he is surprised on the score Akihisa got. This is not because of one of those, “You helped one of your students, so here’s a passing grade”, cliche moments. Nope, the teacher says that he knew Akihisa was an idiot, but the newly given test score shows that he is a “COMPLETE” idiot. 

You might think, “Oh, so what if you are put into Class F or whatever? the classrooms are all the same, but just have different names!”

Okay, now that’s where you’re wrong. Class A gets the highest treatment, them having a bigger classroom and more privileges than the Classes COMBINED. However looking at Class F (Akihisa’s class), it’s old, destroyed, wreaked-up, dusty, and barely surviving. 

Now you can see where this is going. In class F, it is shown that they challenge the next class to put their rank up, which is possible. 

The tests themselves are the powers each student has available to them. 

And this is how “Baka and Test” starts off. Overall, I find it interesting how this is like your normal average everyday anime as it starts off, but changes to a more different perspective as soon as we see how the school is structured. 

Anyway, I will be back (hopefully) with a full Review on the first few episodes of “Baka and Test”. 

Alrighty, I just started off watching this anime yesterday, so don’t expect this review to be too good. 

As of now, I am on Season 1 Episode 7 (Yes, I know, not very far at all). 

Here is the main basis of the story, which is very helpful to see and read first before watching, so it gives you the general idea of what the show’s about. 

Assassination Classroom is about a(n) (octopus-looking) creature that will destroy the Earth in one year. It’s name is “Korosensei ( 殺せんせー)”. Which is a play off of the word “Korosenai ( 殺せない)”, which means “unkillable”, and “Sensei”, which is (you guessed it) “teacher”. 

In short, it’s responsible for destroying 70% of the moon and leaving it as a permanent crescent.

Why does this strange looking, yellow, octopus-  *ahem* Why does -Korosensei- want to teach students?

You see, uhh... I haven’t actually gone that far yet... HOWEVER! In one of the 7 Episodes I just watched yesterday, there was a small flashback showing why he teaches. 

To agree in terms with the government, they decided that it would be best for Korosensei to teach an entire year (yes a year) to Junior High Students. But, he is unable to hurt them, and the students are able to hurt him. The students are given specialized equipment, from the government, to “Assassinate” Korosensei. Hence the name “Assassination Classroom”. 

Oh and also, Korosensei is NOT the main protagonist of this show. It’s actually one of the students by the name of “Shiota Nagisa ( 潮田 渚)”. It’s the one with blue hair. 

Throughout the series (so far) you can see him (yes it’s a “him”) taking notes and trying to find a way to kill Korosensei. At the same time though, he and the class take a liking toward Korosensei. 

The students in all belong to a school by the name of “Kunugigaoka Junior High School (椚ヶ丘中学校)”. I know, it’s a long name to pronounce. But here’s the thing, Nagisa's class is Class 3-E. In here, classes A to D are able to get higher privileges than class E. So most of the time you see all the other classes looking down upon class E.

Now you may be wondering, “Why can’t Class E just show off their assassination skills?”  Well, you see... The assassination plan is classified information that only the Principle, Administration, and Government know about. The students are not allowed to touch onto the subject or talk about it with friends nor family. 

Sadly, that is all I have for now. I’ll be watching Assassination Classroom for a little while, and type down what I think from further episodes. 

So, you read the title. 

As a weeb (yes you), what is the first thing that pops up in your head?

Hatsune Miku, right? Or maybe Rin and Len Kagamine. 

Those names are well known from the Vocal Synth: Vocaloid.

Currently, there are 2 different versions people use: Vocaloid 4 and 5. As for me, I am a Vocaloid 4 user. However, I stopped using it, because I realized that I could not remix songs properly.  Just look at my SoundCloud, or YouTube, to rate and see how horrible my remixes on anime songs were. 

https://www.soundcloud.com/tg_001

YouTube: [ tG_001 ] (Blue, Neko Miku Profile Picture)

Vocaloid, as the name suggests, is a Vocal Synth. Now to break it down what are vocals? 

You should really know this if you listen to modern pop songs. Otherwise, vocals are basically the words, lyrics that you hear when listening to a song. 

Now a synth is much easier to explain. You must of heard of EDM artists such as Alan Walker, Avicii (rip), Marshmello, Nicky Romero, and such. And other artists such as Tobu, F-7777, InspirAspir, and Dj_Nate. They all have one thing in common. Using synthesizers. 

I’m sure you remember listening to a drop or a certain section (Pop, EDM artist, or whatever) where it either:

1. Gave you a headache (Most Non-EDMists)

2. Wondered how they made the sound. 

So based on the given basic knowledge of both a Synthesizer and what Vocals are, you can probably guess what “Vocaloid” is now. 

If you still have not realized it yet, it’s a Vocal Synth. Yes, I know I’ve been repeating those two words for a while now. 

Basically put it, its an instrument that some artists use when they can’t either: 

1. Sing (me)

2. Find vocals

3. Find singers

In doing so, creates vocals without the need to record someone singing in your home/studio. 

For example, Dj-Jo (an Anime song Remixer) uses Vocaloid for his remixed covers of most popular anime songs. 

Here’s one that most weebs know about: Dj-Jo’s unravel Remix

and guess what?

feat. Hatsune Miku 

(Link Below)

Now, Vocaloid is not only limited to Japanese, automated singers. The creators behind Vocaloid also make custom Vocal Synths for English, automated singers as well. 

In my perspective, Vocaloid 4 (the one I use) is relatively hard to get used to. Especially, as a music producer, you get used to your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Vocaloid is very weird, because instead of taking the form of a Plug-In (such as Helm, Nexus1 or Nexus2, Serum, or VocalSynth2), it takes the form of another DAW. Strangely, only for drawing in MIDI notes for the singer. 

It’s a very weird process, because you would need to export the file you have in Vocaloid, and then import the audio file into your DAW. 

Now enough about all this Producer stuff, what makes Vocaloids like Hatsune Miku so popular? Easy, Japan. 

Japan’s biggest Music Company, Yamaha, actually owns the software and distributes the software (not free) to their consumers. 

Thanks to Vocaloids like Hatsune Miku being Japanese and the first to be used in the world, songs made by ordinary people (and eventually fans) used the “Hatsune Miku Preset” as vocals in their songs. This eventually led to the songs gaining popularity, and the Vocaloid to gain popularity. 

This also led to the people, who knew the “Hatsune Miku Preset”, to personify the Vocaloid. Eventually, art was made for the well-known, popular Vocaloid. 

Now making Vocaloids such as Hatsune Miku was not easy. Per Vocaloid Preset on Vocaloid 4 and 5, and the official Vocaloid website takes over 2,000 recordings. Because Yamaha continues to upgrade the Preset, more and more recordings must be taken to make the vocals sound just like a normal human. 

Anyway, I hope you learned something from this blog post. From a Producer and a Weeb. 

Ah yes, Traps. And no, I am not talking about Bear Traps and such. I’m sure you know what kinds of “Traps” I’m talking about. 

Yes, THOSE “TRAPS”. 

Traps, otherwise known as Cross-Dressers are known in the “Japanese-Pop Culture” community. 

Usually, there are people out there who argue that “Traps are gay”. In my position, I would say it depends. If that Trap likes another dude, then yes. If not, and just Cross-Dressing for the sake of Cross-Dressing, then no. 

So for those of you probably wondering, “How does one Cross-Dress, or trap”. 

It’s very easy. you wear a Dress, and your done. 

I’m joking, it’s really not really THAT easy. 

For people who look biologically feminine, you’ve got an advantage. For those of us, who do know have those advantages, this is how you look like a trap:

Work on your masculine details. 

Like your eyebrow shape, body shape, and Adam's apple.

Currently, these are what I am worried about.

Why am I worrying about this you ask?

Well, I’m preparing for next year’s Halloween. As you know, Halloween is an opportunity for weebs like me to cosplay freely. 

This year’s Trap cosplay was pathetic to me. So this time, I decided to take 11 months to prepare in advance. 

If you also want to get a specific cosplay correct, you should look at all the little details of certain characters. 

For Example (going back to) Hideri Hanzaki  (神崎 ひでり)

Judging by the eyebrows, they are thin. 

Eyes are big, due to mascara.

And the way his body looks definitely fits women’s clothing. 

Usually, cosplayers will be able to pull this off. But Crossplayers take it a step further to make themselves look more of a girl to match the story of the character.

In this case, Hideri joins Cafe Stile’s staff to become a popular idol by gathering fans in the cafe first. 

Throughout the series, we can see Hideri being very picky when it comes to clothes. This is because of the fact that he wants to be an idol, he only chooses cute clothes. 

Looking at another Trap: Luka Urushibara (漆原るか)

This is a different case, however. Luka is indeed a guy, but is born with *ahem* “Very Sexy” Body *ahem* (It’s just weird for me to type that. I’m sorry). 

Anyway, this is a perfect example for us indoor, shut-in, otakus to go out and exercise more if we want to be able to pull off cosplays such as this. 

Again, the Eyebrows, Eyelashes... blah blah blah...

In this case, it’s more of the face, which can be easily fixed with makeup!

I, myself, have no idea how to use makeup or how to apply, however, I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out in time. 

To get to that face, you might need to wash your face and take care of it. 

I personally never did that until now, which really helps. If you already do those things, good job! You’re one step closer than I am! 

There are still many factors in affecting the outcome of how you look, but I tried to keep it simple for now (this is also just most of the stuff I’m trying to deal with right now). :p

This is also why Google exists, so you can literally search up “How to become a Trap”, and have over 1 million results. 

I hope this somewhat gave an idea on how to crossdress as a Trap and explained a bit on what Traps are. 

Yep! It’s that time of year again!

It’s Halloween. 

Yes, it is. 

It’s October 31, 2018. 

So what is “Cosplay” exactly?

It’s essentially the same as dressing up being someone else. In this case it’s specifically for the community who like Anime and Manga. 

Cosplaying usually occurs on 3 occasions:

1. AnimeExpo

2. Hallow’s Eve (Halloween)

3. Just because. 

===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===   ===

1. AnimeExpo is (as the name implies) an Expo dedicated for Anime. 

2. Halloween (because it’s really self-explanatory). 

“But, tG_001! If you’re talking about cosplay, does that mean you are doing it as well?”

Why, yes indeed my faithful reader. 

I am currently cosplaying as “Sagiri Izumi” from “Eromanga Sensei”. 

Specifically I’m cross-dressing. 

To explain, Cross-Dressing is when one cosplays or dresses up as someone from the other sex. 

Literally:

Male ==> Female

Female ==> Male

Mine consists of the following:

1. Sagiri’s Jacket

2. The Wig

3. Leggings

4. Blue Eye-Contacts 

5. The “Eromanga Sensei” T-Shirt

6. Makeup

Although it doesn’t seem like a whole lot, this actually cost me a good $100. 

The eye-contacts were also hard to put on, due to me having no experience what-so-ever, it took me a full 3 hours to figure out how to put them on. 

The Makeup, I could not even do myself. I simply asked her to do my makeup for me. Which ended pretty okay... (I guess). 

When I came to school today (Because, yes, I am a student. Who goes to school), there was another person cosplaying as “Red Blood Cell” from “Cells at Work!”. It was pretty accurate if I do say so myself. 

As for me, for some reason, I could not get around the fact how people would give me complements saying “How pretty I am”, which is really weird for me being a guy. And not possessing any feminine traits. 

And if I were to be honest, getting this far to crossdress took a while. This men’t actually exercising and dieting. Dieting from meats, such as beef, pork, and “huge game” meats. Exercising men’t running almost everyday to work on my legs (Because as a gaming and shut-in I am, I needed to fix that). 

Based on my experience, I would just say that cosplaying is fun, and that you should definitely do it if you have an Anime you really like. But for crossdressing, it’ll take some work, but be worth (based on how long you’ve done it for). 

Yes, I did it!  After finishing Season 2 of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders”, I decided to make a Remix on Jotaro’s Battle Theme. Otherwise known as “Stardust Crusaders”. 

This Remix actually didn’t take me very long. About 6 hours probably (if you think it’s a lot, it’s not). To compare to give you an idea:

Making a song takes: 1 to 6 months

Making a remix: 1 to 4 months

This song: 6 hours

Throughout the making of this remix, I wanted it to sound just as catchy as the original. From experience, remixing the original tracks of a song is hard, due to the fact that most people only know the shortened version of a song. 

The process of creating this track just consisted of:

1. Finding and downloading the MIDI file for the song

2. Having inspiration and imagination

3. Making it into a reality 

“But tG_001! What is a MIDI file???” 

A MIDI file is basically a music sheet, but for a computer. Just like how one reads a music sheet to play the music, the computer does the same. 

As shown above, the MIDI files look exactly like it does in the computer above.

The arrangement of the remix was just very repetitive. The main melody just repeating for about 80% of the song. 

To make things different, I added two different drops: 

One normal drop, and another drop with Jotaro saying his most famous line: “Yare yare, daze.” Which translated, means “good grief.” 

To add some “Omph”, I changed the drums, hi-hats, and kicks. I changed them to the following: 

Future Bass Kick

Dubstep Snare

Hi-Hat (I don’t remember what kind)

From this, you can already see how “omph-y” the remix is. 

Now to make things even more different than the original: 

The SYNTHS. 

I wanted to go for a Synth that made the remix feel badass, like Jotaro himself. 

To get the synth I wanted, I “stacked the layers”. This basically means I layered a synth on top of a synth, on top of a synth, on top of another synth. 

I added synths like Leads, Synths, Sawtooths, and Plucks. 

Now, pro tip for myself and other remixers/producers. 

DO NOT layer the remix on top of the original! 

If that happens, then the remix will sound way too similar in: 

Sound

Beat

and Format

From my past remixes, they either sounded: 

1. Oddly weird. 

2. Too echo-y

Now, I did have a reason to do this: it was to get the vocals. 

Most of the time you would need to do this if: 

1. You cannot sing

2. You don’t have a vocal synth

Lastly, I wanted to create the transition between the original and my version.

All I did was this: put guitars at first, and then add the synths soon after. And by soon, I mean SOON. 

Anyway, here’s the actual Remix if you got this far: 

https://www.soundcloud.com/tg_001/jjbap3r

It’s Tokyo Ghoul time! And yes, Tokyo Ghoul does come up every Tuesday of the Week... at least where I am from. 

The name of the opening is “katharsis” by TK from Ling Toshite Shigure. And to be honest, this is still following the fact how “unravel” (Tokyo Ghoul OP 1) has a lowercase letter at the beginning of the title. 

Usually, it would take me a good while to get used to an anime opening. However, this one really caught my attention just like unravel. 

Because I haven’t even read the manga, there won’t really be spoilers. I’ll only be talking about the music and song itself (being the music nerd I am). 

So what caught my attention as soon as I heard it? Easy, the first chords in the beginning. 

“But how do these chords get your attention so quickly?” Simply put it, the synths. The synths sound close to a combination of piano to pads and a pluck. 

If you listen to the first 6 seconds (right before the lyrics) they really catch your attention. 

Throughout the rest of the song, there’s that signature guitar used from “unravel”. I haven’t listened to a lot of the songs produced by TK, but I recognize that guitar specifically from unravel’s break when the lyrics, “unraveling the world!”, are sung. 

From here, the rest of the song sounds like a bit of progressive house. 

“What is progressive house?” It’s when you continuously add instruments and drums. In this case, it goes from a synth of 7 chords to lyrics to drums to guitar, etc. It’s basically continuously adding sounds to the next buildup, bridge, or drop. 

Next up, at about 2 minutes, 9 seconds, there’s only violin, signifying a break. 

“What is a break?” It’s really self-explanatory. It’s when the producer creates a “break” from the loud and great drop to transition near the end. Usually the end, some producers just keep going until the next drop. 

“But tG_001! I thought this was Japanese Pop-Culture! Not Music Production!”

Yeah, yeah, I know. Which is why I’m going to talk about the lyrics: 

(First few being)

例えば目が覚めて「すべては幻だ」って

tatoeba me ga samete “subete wa maboroshi da” tte 

奇跡めいた妄想を叶えて欲しいんだ

kisekimeita mousou wo kanaete hoshiin da 

僕が描いた罪で結末を満たさないで

boku ga egaita tsumi de ketsumatsu wo mitasanaide 

- - - 

English Translation: 

If I were to open my eyes and hear, “It was all an illusion”,

I’d want you to make this miraculous delusion come true.

Please don’t complete this conclusion with the sins I created.

- - - 

Just though these lyrics, we can clearly see that Kaneki has a goal in mind. That he wants to do something (I cannot say much because I am not much of a Tokyo Ghoul fan). However, in the past, he does not want to be known for all the things he has done and the people he has met, seen, killed, and died. 

As for the next few: 

いつか君と見ていたこの景色は

itsuka kimi to miteita kono keshiki wa 

誰にも渡さないと誓ったのに

dare ni mo watasanai to chikatta no ni 

壊し続けた僕は何かを救えた？

kowashi tsuzuketa boku wa nanika wo sukueta? 

変わり果てた今に革命のナイフ

kawarihateta ima ni kakumei no naifu 

- - - 

English Translation: 

Although I swore that I’d never let anyone else have The scenery I once saw with you… I’ve spent all this time destroying things. Could I have saved anything? Now that I’ve changed completely, I hold a knife of revolution.

- - -

To be honest “you” could be anyone he was with or met... so...

Anyway, Kaneki throughout Seasons 1-3, he’s been working on goals that he wants to do. Which usually end up in destruction, death, or a change. Mostly personal things. Going back to the statement from Yoshimura (芳村), that Kaneki was the one to make a path with the perspectives of both humans and ghouls. This is what he had been straying away from. That he had been battling himself this whole time, but now needs to create the path for both ghouls and humans. 

At this point, I could just keep going, but there are a lot of lyrics. Just put it this way: the way unravel shows so much about the show, is the same way how  katharsis shows how Season 4 and future seasons will play out. 

Anyway, this has been tG_001 with another anime

*cough* *cough*

Japanese-Pop Culture 

*cough* *cough*

blog!

Wassup guys! Its tG_001 with another random Anime Review. Then again, there is no specific topic this week, so here I am reviewing “Himouto Umaru-chan! (干物妹!うまるちゃん)”!

As of today, I had Anime Club where we did watch “UMR” and her strange life. 

Although some of the people have not seen the actual anime, here I will be reviewing it. 

The plot, music, characters, etc. 

I’m not sure if I should warn you guys about spoilers, because there isn’t really a story or progressive plot here. 

So...

SpOiLeRs? I gUeSs?

Within this anime, we follow a *cough* “PERFECT” *cough* girl. In the first episode within the first few seconds, we see a beautiful, cute (かわいい) high school girl by the name of “Umaru”. As soon as she gets home, we see her as a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Or in this case, we can just call her a NET, because she is (as mentioned before) a high school student. 

Throughout the anime, we constantly see Umaru whine, and beg for her brother to do what she wants. Examples include, eating steak for dinner, getting a new video game, or getting the new “jumpu” (or in the real world “Shounen jump!”). 

In this case we can see her with two sides: one where everyone sees her as the perfect girl she appears to be, and how she really is in the apartment she shares with her brother. 

As for her “perfect” side, she does not want anyone to see her as who she really is. Confusing right? It’s because she wants to keep her reputation as a “perfect” girl, while maintaining her life as a lazy human being. 

What about the other characters?

Okay, so we have her Big Brother (お兄さん) “Taihei Doma (土間 大平)” who is, well it’s pretty self explanatory, Umaru’s older brother. He’s the guy she bugs all the time to get and buy her things. Despite his looks, he has a full-time job. Even with his exhausting job, he still cooks and provides things to his younger sister (いもうと). 

What about the plot???

Well, umm... this isn’t one really. The only plot here is the progression of friendship with her classmates and her older brother. To explain, she enjoys the time with her friends more than the time she spends alone, watching movies and playing video games. 

Then who are her friends??? Classmates?????

Easy: In Episode 2, we encounter another girl by the name of “Nana Ebina (海老名 菜々)”. Her backstory is that she is from another place in Japan, which is like a village. She comes with a background of a different culture. 

Ebina lacks confidence, due to how she was treated in Tokyo. At the time, people were staring. Not because she was different, and from another location in Japan, but because she had big breasts. Yep, that’s right. Eventually, Taihei is the only one that looks her in the eyes rather toward her breasts, which reassures her and creates a love toward Taihei. 

We also encounter “Sylphynford Tachibana (橘・シルフィンフォード)”, who claims to be and become the rival against Umaru. Near the end of “Himouto! Umaru-chan (干物妹!うまるちゃん)”, it is revealed that she actually comes from German origin, and decides to move to Japan, because her brother had decided to take on a job there. 

Eventually, we meet “Kirie Motoba (本場 切絵)” who is the girl that swims against (and with) Umaru in Episode 2. Near the beginning as we meet her, she only takes interest in “Indoors” Umaru. She does not yet realize that that Umaru and the “School” or “Outside” Umaru are the same. 

Come to think of it, all the main characters that have connections to Umaru are introduced or shown at least once within Episode 2.

Anyway, I should end this review from Episode 2 for now. If you’d like, search up the anime above to watch the anime! And yes, there is a “Season 2″. Literally the same title, just with an “R” added to the end. 

This time, I won’t be focusing on a single anime. Besides this one only has one season. 

*cough* NO SEASON 2, NO LIFE *cough*

Anyway, this anime originates from being a light novel! 

Shocking, I know right?!

What is No Game No Life, though? 

It’s genres consist of “Science Fiction”, and “Isekai (異世界)”. To explain, Isekai is a genre meaning “another world”.

To keep things spoiler free for now, the anime is about two NEETS (not in education, employment, or training) by the names of “Sora (昊)” and “Shiro (白)”. They are shut-in siblings who are very good at games. An email sent to them by the god of another world is used to transport them into a world of games. 

THERE WILL NOW BE SPOILERS!!

The two siblings together are known as 『   』. That’s right, blank. They are known to be an unbeatable pair of siblings on 200+ games. The email, as mentioned earlier, was sent by a god by the name of “Tet”. The contents of the email was essentially questioning Sora and Shiro’s purpose and being in their world. 

So why am I talking about this anime now? Well, we are watching it in my school’s club: “The Anime Circle”. 

Back on topic, the pair seem to be unstoppable within the new world of “Disboard”. In my opinion, episodes 1-6 only show minor plot development where games that effect the future are played and explained. 

To give an example, the game of “Rock-Paper-Scissors” in episode 2. This occurred between Sora and Steph. 

Who is “Steph (ステフ)”? Her full name is “Stephanie Dola (ステファニー・ドーラ)”. She is part of the royal family of Elkia (the last remaining city of imanity. Yes, “imanity” not “humanity”). In episode 1, we first see her in a gambling tournament against another girl to decide Elkia’s newest ruler. From request of the King (Steph’s grandfather) to have the greatest gambler to be the next ruler. 

In the tournament, she loses. And in the next scene in the “Rock-Paper-Scissors” game, she loses. Now as the audience, we get the impression that she will lose alot of her games. Especially against『   』. 

Now you may be wondering, “what happens when you lose? what about when you win?”. Well, there are 10 rules created by Tet that are followed by these games. 

The rules (and I quote):

All murder, war, and robbery is forbidden in this world.

All conflict in this world will be resolved through games.

In games, each player will bet something that they agree is of equal value.

As long as it doesn't violate pledge three, anything may be bet, and any game may be played.

The challenged party has the right to decide the rules of the game.

Any bets made in accordance with the pledges must be upheld.

Conflicts between groups will be conducted by designated representatives with absolute authority.

Being caught cheating during a game is grounds for an instant loss.

In the name of god, the previous rules may never be changed.

Let's all have fun and play together!

The conditions of Sora’s win men’t he could do anything to Steph, and being the 17 year old virgin he is, he forces Steph to fall in love with him by the name of the pledges. 

Because of this, Shiro realizes what Sora has done. Surprisingly she supports him, and a small tint of an R-18 scene is shown. However, this show being for aimed to people like teenagers, not adults. 

Yes, yes. I did say that this month’s Anime will be Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険). However, today marks the day of the final episode of  Steins;Gate Zero (シュタインズ・ゲートゼロ). 

Just so you know, beyond this: THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF SPOILERS! 

Anyway to explain, “Steins;Gate Zero” is another anime (another season if you will) of “Steins:Gate” and is apart of the “Steins;Gate” franchise. The story follows a man by the name of “Okarin (オカリン)” who has an ability named “Reading Steiner”, which is an ability that lets him retain memories from previous world-lines. If you haven’t realized it yet, this is indeed a “Time-Travel”, “Sci-Fi” anime. In the original Steins;Gate, we follow Okabe as he jumps through the world lines over and over again. The cause? D-mail. Although it may sound weird, it’s basically mail sent back in time. Because of this change in the past, this changes the future. 

In the original Steins;Gate, a girl with the “Time-Machine Theory” lives with the name “Kurisu (紅莉栖)”. She is the main love interest in the entirety of Steins;Gate. Anyway, there are two main world lines within the world of Steins;Gate: the beta and alpha world lines. The Beta world line is basically the original, while the Alpha world line is where Okabe jumps to. 

SPOILER: 

Kurisu dies in the Beta World Line

Mayuri dies in the Alpha World Line 

Did I mention Mayuri? I guess I didn’t. Anyway, Mayuri is one of the friends of Okabe, accompanied by “Itaru (至)”: one of Okabe’s longtime friends. 

Why does it matter? So what does it mean that they die? It’s not like I met them yet. 

Keep in mind, these two characters are the two that Okabe holds very dear to his heart. 

Eventually, Okabe jumps back to the Beta Timeline to save Mayuri from death. However, there was a chance to save them both. This is where Steins;Gate Zero takes place. Here, Okabe doesn’t know that this is a choice he could have made and soon lives an entire year without Kurisu by his side. 

At this point in time, he lives a normal life. Until the situation comes where Mayuri realizes that she, herself, can help change the future and aim it towards that world line: where both Mayuri and Kurisu lives. Hence the name “Steins;Gate”. 

Over and over again, Okabe sees Mayuri die in the Beta timeline. 

How? This is the Beta timeline! Not the Alpha timeline! 

There are two big factors that play in this part and explanation: the world’s first existing time machine, and an AI by the name of “Amadeus”. 

In order for Mayuri to change the future, she decides to time travel back to exactly one year ago. However, there is not enough time for take-off, so a missile is shot and destroys the time machine every single time. In order to buy more time, Amadeus is deleted. 

Who is Amadeus? It’s an AI as said before. It’s an AI that withholds the memories of Kurisu. 

In the new world line (where Amadeus no longer exists), this buys just enough time for Mayuri and Suzuha to “lift-off” to exactly one year ago. 

This is where history is made:

- Mayuri tells herself to slap some sense into Okabe, even when he’s feeling hopeless

- Okabe lives 13 more years, and creates the message that encourages him to try again to reach the Steins;Gate

This is where the timeline for Steins;Gate is finally established. Thanks to the events from Steins;Gate Zero, events can now be established in Steins;Gate. 

Very confusing right? It’s okay, watch both animes and you’ll fully understand. 

Here’s the correct way to watch Steins;Gate!

Steins;Gate - Episodes 1-23 ==> Steins;Gate Zero - All Episodes ==> Steins;Gate - Episode 24 ==> Steins;Gate - The Movie

You thought that Jojo’s was over didn’t you? Well it’s not! Currently, there are 4 seasons of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure（ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 ）. The one I will talk about specifically is “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders（ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 スターダストクルセイダース）”. This would be season 3 in the entire Jojo series. 

In the beginning of Stardust Crusaders, we are introduced to a new member of the Joestar bloodline: Jotaro Kujo （空条 承太郎）. This time, there is a new ability introduced called “Stands”. To explain, “Stands” are created from the life-energy of the user, and their name is determined by a fortune teller as the user picks a card out of a deck of cards. 

Originally, Joseph needed to go to Japan（日本）to meet with his daughter (mother of Jotaro). At this point in time, Jotaro is in jail and refuses to leave, which poses as a problem toward to his mother. Jotaro then explains that he has an “evil spirit” possessing him. This “evil spirit” is a Stand, as explained before. 

Throughout the series, Jotaro’s stand serves to be a powerful stand. The name of Jotaro’s stand is “Star Platinum”, determined by Joseph’s friend. Who happened to be a fortune teller. 

Star Platinum’s abilities consist of having very high speed, precision, power, and strength. Throughout this season, these abilities help save Jotaro time and time again. 

So, why exactly is going on? Well within the first 3 episodes, Jotaro’s mother falls ill due to damage by here own stand, and the only way to cure it is to kill Dio. Yes, Dio from season 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure（ジョジョの奇妙な冒険）. From this situation, Jotaro and Joeseph need to venture to Egypt and kill Dio. In their journeys, Mohammed Avdol, Noriaki Kakyoin, and Jean Pierre Polnareff join Jotaro and Joseph on their travels to Egypt. 

Dio does indeed know this, so he sends people who also posses stands. Throughout the anime, there are many close moments, however as mentioned before, Jotaro’s Stand helps save him and their group several times. This is what is repeated for most of the time. The anime ends as they finally arrive on the shore of Egypt. 

After all this time, Season 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure （ジョジョの奇妙な冒険）has been finished! 

Beyond this point, there are spoilers, as warned previously in last week’s post. 

At the beginning of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure （ジョジョの奇妙な冒険）, it begins near the 1900s. In my case, it seemed to me that that’s how the entire world of Jojo’s will always be in the 1900s. I had thought that it would be in the 1900s progressing up to the 2000s, due to the number of episodes and seasons there were. Regardless, this was basically a backstory. How the world of Jojo, became to be. 

About 1/4th of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure （ジョジョの奇妙な冒険）Season 1, takes place in the 1900s, with two boys named Jonathan Joestar (hence the nickname “Jojo”) and Dio. Now some may question near the beginning, what does Dio have to do in any of this? I get Jojo, but what is Dio’s case? Dio’s case dates back to when his father first met Jojo’s father. However, this soon led to the Bizarre Adventure of Jojo, Dio, and a mysterious mask. 

Throughout the first few episodes, we are exposed to what Jojo really wants to be, his goals and such. While on Dio’s side, we are shown his true personality. Jojo strives to be a gentleman for the Joestar family name. Dio, on the other hand, wants to become wealthy. Dio’s goal may be harmless at first, however, it is said that he will do anything to get out of the current situation he was in. What was the situation you ask? Poverty and abuse. He was born and raised in a poor family, while when he was a child, he had witnessed the beating and death of his mother by his father. As he is soon taken in by the Joestars (which only consisted of Jojo and his father), he had decided to destroy all the hope and dreams of Jonathan Joestar. Eventually, the situation gets worse as the Joestar mansion is burned down along with the corpse of Jojo’s father. 

Why did I say corpse, instead of just removing the word in the last sentence? Easy, Jojo’s father died in the hands of Dio. If you may recall the mysterious mask I had mentioned earlier, that mask was an object that could grant immortality. 

In the last post, I said that this anime was a shounen （しょねん）anime. This one, in particular, had many genres in the “supernatural” section. This is the reason why this is no possible way on this earth that you can be granted immortality. 

This then marks the beginning of Jojo’s challenges. Main goal: Defeating Dio. Throughout the last few episodes of this part in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure （ジョジョの奇妙な冒険）, Jojo is constantly given enemies, or zombies, to fight and deal with Jojo while he figures out what he can do with his newfound powers. 

One episode felt like the climax of all of this, as if Jojo had finally gotten his revenge on Dio, and avenged his father’s death. However, the episode ends with a scene that basically tells you: “But wait! There’s more!” The last episode is when the characters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, think that it was all over. That Dio was dead, and that they can all move on with their lives. At one point, Jojo is engaged and married to a woman, which happened to be his first love. They have decided to go to America （アメリカ）, but then Jojo and Dio’s paths cross once more. Dio had planned to get a new body, due to the damage that was done to his old one by Jojo. Throughout this scene, the two constantly fight. Sadly this section of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure （ジョジョの奇妙な冒険） ends with both of their deaths. 

Overall, I think that the way JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure hits you with the origins first gives the anime that atmosphere in which the watcher can enjoy. In this case, there was a lot of casual and supernatural things that happen, which really sets the scene. 

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is both an Anime and Manga. To clarify, most Manga are turned into Animes, and most Animes are from Mangas. Usually if a Manga or Light Novel becomes successful, it will be put into production to become animated. Back to the topic: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure! This is a Shonen （しょねん） Anime/Manga. Shonen （しょねん） means that an Anime/Manga is aimed toward Boys. The current genres that describes this Anime/Manga is “Adventure, fantasy, and supernatural”. 

From experience by watching the Anime, I would recommend it as a first. The world of JoJo is certainly aimed toward boys for its huge amount of action and fighting scenes. Personally, I have not even finished season one, but I find it a great Anime. It also being an easy one to get attatched to. 

To paint the picture before you watch, the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is similar to our world in 1865. A world without technology or much medical equipment. A world before World War 2. 

If you remember back then or in Halloween, where vampires and zombies “existed”, you can already see where this is going. As now presented, you can now see how the world of JoJo is aimed towed boys. 

You may also already know what JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is, rendering my quick Episode 1-6 setting summary useless. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is well known by it’s huge community and memes. One popular meme is the “To be continued” Meme, which does originate from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. In the Anime and Manga, the “To be continued” arrow is always shown at the end of a chapter in the Manga, or at the end of an episode. Usually at an upcoming climax, or shocking situation. 

Currently there are 4 seasons to the Anime, which is a lot, especially since I’ve only started watching it. Recently, there has been an announcement for a release of season 5. Because of the small amount of time I have put into watching the anime, that is the reason why I will be talking about the runthrough of episodes I watch each week. Otherwise, the topic will change. 

Currently, there are a bunch of different versions of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, due to the date it was released. The original was released in 1987, having a remake in 2012 of season 1. 

Why are Anime Openings only a minute and thirty seconds?!

If you have ever seen Anime (which I’m sure you do or have) then you would know as a fact that almost all Anime OPs are a minute and thirty seconds... why is that? 

The opening is always the main part of a series or show. The opening is pretty self-explanatory, it “opens” into the actual anime. 

Here I will be taking a look at some examples: 

Tokyo Ghoul 「 東京喰種トーキョーグール」- unravel 

The opening starts off with the main protagonist “Kaneki, Ken 「カネキ、ケン」” sitting on a chair. The world starts off as black and white. Why is it black and white you ask? Well, it’s to represent the lack of vision or color, dept, or creativity. In this case, it shows Kaneki’s lacking perspective in the world around him. As the color quickly changes from black and white to color, Kaneki’s perspective in the world around him changes. Becomes clearer. 

“Well, what about the music? The song is really catchy!” Yes, yes, I will get into that. Also yes I agree, the song is very catchy. In the first lines of the song it goes “教えて教えてよ、その仕組みを。” | “Oshiete o shiete yo, Sono shi kumi wo”. “Oshiete 「教えて」” means “tell me” or “teach me”. In this case it would be used as “tell me”. “Sono 「その」” meaning “that” and “Shi kumi 「仕組み）」” meaning “how it works”. 

Layering this over the graphics makes sense because we see Kaneki in a chair. To me, associating this with the lyrics makes me paint and image that Kaneki is in a chair thinking, questioning, asking someone: “How does it all work?” “It” being the world; “How does the world really work?”. 

Just about 10 seconds in, and you can already paint the world of Tokyo Ghoul. 

Let’s move on to another OP from a popular anime: 

Parasyte 「 寄生獣 セイの格率」 - LET ME HEAR

Thankfully the majority of this song is in English, however, the singer being Japanese, the pronunciation sounds a bit off. 

The opening starts off with a bunch of Virus cells. These cells are then zoomed out to see them fall into a city. This shows a new arrival of something mysterious; a strange new lifeform. 

The first few lyrics of the song go as follows: 

You guys do not notice that we are gifted just by being humans We are absolute predators We do not even have any enemies Maybe there are other animals watching us And thinking that "someday we will beat them down”

If you think of the person singing/saying the lyrics as a human, you are right. In this case, someone talks about the human race being gifted, capable of infinite possibilities. But there is another lifeform watching from another angle not seeing the bigger picture of the human mind, brain, and will. 

 To stop myself from spoiling these two animes (which I really recommend you watch) I will stop typing my interpretations. Sometimes, the animators will hide little clues on what will happen in the anime.