Anime Epiphany (2): Digimon style

nice long gap we got here...
Well, this is out of my own leisure this time; and no imaginative pressure this time


SO, I've been watching Digimon Adventure in Japanese which is pretty awesome. A few things that are rather annoying of course like the repetitive digi-volving or should i say the "shinka" haha.  *shrugs* It is an anime aimed at kids...Everyone remembered Digimon?  Good times in my childhood.  I'm currently watching it in Japanese. In the end, the difference between the original jap and the dub US version isn't terrible compare to say Cardcaptors? Hah. Still, I fully recommend you watching it in its original Japanese voices :]  There's a lot of fun jokes in there that U.S. translation wouldn't pick up hehe.

Anyway, being the anime nerd that I am, I picked up Hikari's voice which sounded pretty familiar which gave me a bad feeling... it's that bad feeling of an annoying anime character. What popped up? Chibiusa...  Looked it up and I was right.  It's somewhat a shame since I adore Hikari, but at times when she speaks up... That cursed pink-haired chibi thing pops up.  (Sorry Chibiusa fans, but she just rubs me the wrong way). I looked it up and well I was right heh.  Araki, Kae...Not sure if she's done anything recent lately... Hard to tell unless I want to go through that list... and I don't haha.
Another one popped up. Our lil Pinocchimon (aka Puppetmon) sounded very familiar.  So, seriously, I think this seiyuu is starting to become my favorite. Afterall, she is the voice of the kawaii Chi-chan! It just works for someone psychotic; in yet, retains a cuteness that you can't just... shy away (TAMAMA-DESU!) First thought was indeed Private Tamama! And yes, I was right.  Kozakura, Etsuko is too awesome-DESU.
I think i'll start uploading the episodes...

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Anime Review (1): Aria the Animation

Picture this: Italy on Mars paved with endless blue, blue sea. Then you have gondoliers as your tour guides around this Neo Italian city. A smile on this young female tour guide showing the lovely sites. Everyone seems content and relaxed. This is what this anime provides. It shows you the wonderful world of Neo Venezia through the eyes of Akari Mizunashi as she trains her way to be a professional gondolier meeting new people and experiences.
Oh Aria... Such a wonderful Anime. The ultimate slice-of-life anime out there with a fantastical edge. :]
My top favourite anime out there. I full-out recommend it. Like most slice of life, not a lot is progressed in the series. But after you watch season 1 and 2, a lot of changes happen in the last season (there's 3 seasons in total) in the most epic way. It's one of those series where it gets better in each season. Each character is likeable, relateable and has a story.

You can purchase it on DVD here :]

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Japanese Lesson (7): Pronouns

Very different from English, the Japanese language has various, variations (haha) on how to describe "I" and "you"
It mostly just depends on how you see yourself as in terms of femininity and masculinity.
Here's the mostly used-terms for "I":

• 私 watashi (unisex, standard); sounds like WA-ta-SHEE
• 私 atashi (female use); sounds like AH-ta-SHEE 
• 私 watakushi (selfish); sounds like WA-ta-koo-SHEE
• 僕 boku (male); sounds like BOU-koo
• 俺 ore ("manly" male); sounds like Oh-leh

In Japanese culture, it's really not polite to use "I" every so often. But when prompted, these are the terms you would use. Japanese people are usually seen as indirect and unselfish being that's their culture and they value of being discreet. Which is why they probably view the U.S. as stereotypically obnoxious whenever we use our pronouns.

Here's the mostly-used terms for "you" (which are all not usually polite to use, unless there's no choice in the matter)

• あなた anata (general); sounds like Ah-nah-tah
  note: wives usually refer to their husbands as that term though I'm unsure if the kanji is different, but the sound is the same.
• あんた anta; sounds like Ahn-tah (more informal and sometimes rude)
• 君　kimi; sounds like KEE-me (used for friends and probably little kids)

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Anime/Manga & Japanese Lessons (3&6): Kansai and ラブ★コン

何でよね！

Like any country, there are various dialects that is somewhat different from its standard language. One dialect in Japan I'll be talking about is Kansai dialect. It's a pretty funny dialect that is often used in Japanese comedic groups. It's most prevalent in the city of Osaka in the Kansai region.

In the anime world, characters from Osaka are often seen as side characters. You can say they're like the 'hick' part of Japan. Often teased about by the way they talk and their different customs. It's nothing to be offended about since we do it ourselves when you think about it.

A great anime to watch with prevalent Kansai dialect would be Lovely Complex (usually seen written as ラブ★コン　in Japanese media). When you watch plenty of anime and then watch Lovely Complex, you start to hear differences. Honestly, rarely you would find the main character with a Kansai accent/dialect in various anime. This is a great recommendation to notice standard Japanese and not-so standard haha.

Don't forget kids, that the U.S. has various dialects as well. We can understand each other (most of the time), we just sound different and sometimes funny.

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A short Anime/Manga lesson (3): Seiyuu

For those wondering, the term seiyuu (pronounced as SAY-you) just means voice acter/actress usually for anime.

It's seen written like this 声優. A nifty thing to note is that the kanji for  声 means voice.

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Anime/Manga Lesson (2): About the term "Anime"

the term "anime" (as seen written as "アニメ" and pronounced as AH-nee-meh) is pretty much the Japanese term for a Japanese animation, Japanese animated cartoon, Japanese animated film.
Therefore, there's no need at all to say something like "Japanese anime." It's already implied that it's Japanese. (It's annoying when people say it like that... and it's almost redundant)
This is not to be confused with the term "manga" (pronounced as 'mahn-gAH' NOT pronounced similiar to 'mango'). Manga contains still images out of Japanese orgin (think of a comic book only that bookstores like to call it "graphic novels" being that they tend to be real thick). Again, there's no need to say something weird like "Japanese manga." It's implied to be Japanese.
Got it? Good.

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Japanese Lesson (5) Addressing Strangers

Of course, there are times when you meet someone without introducing each other. Usually, we would just call them "miss", "madame", "mister", and the like. Japanese has titles for strangers as well.
When addressing... (far left as formal to far right as informal tense)

• a woman much older than you = obasama, obasan, obachan
• a man much older than you = ojisama, ojisan, ojichan
  
  Careful when you use them; otherwise, you may offend someone. Unless that person has some gray/white hairs, it may be better to use titles addressed to an older sister/brother which again are...
  
• older sister/stranger = (O)neesan and/or (O)neechan
• older brother/stranger = (O)niisan and/or (O)niichan
  using the '-sama' prefix is rather rare. You wouldn't call a stranger in such a highly received way would you?  Older cousins are titled in this way as well.
  A person getting offended (especially females) might be because those titles ("oba" and "oji") sound closely to addressing a granparenst which are...
  
• female grandparent = (O)baasama, (O)baasan, (O)baachan
• male grandparent = (O)jiisama, (O)jiisan, (O)jiichan
  notice it's only one letter/syllable away from the stranger title to a grandparent title (someone who's of senior citizen age) 

and as always, younger people don't have a special title to them. They're just not really addressed; if anything, say something like "that girl", "that boy", etc.

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Japanese Lesson (4) Family

Now that you know about prefixes, it'll be easier to talk about family.

Far left as the more formal to far right as informal form... When you're addressing...

• Mother, Mom, Mommy = (O)kaasama, (O)kaasan, (O)kaachan; Hahaue (this term was used in samurai families prior to the Meiji period)
  Notice that we use prefixes when addressing 'mom.' It's the same idea throughtout. The '(O)' part is optional, but it is often used. Reason probably being is that putting an 'O' in everything is probably tiresome, though probably is the most proper way of speaking.
• Father, Dad, Daddy = (O)tousama, (O)tousan, (O)touchan; Chichiue (used in samurai families as well)
  
• Older/elder Sister = (O)neesama, (O)neesan, (O)neechan; Aneki is another but rarely used
  
  you can insert the person's name before mentioning the"nee"+prefix part which is the same for elder brother and sometimes but rarely to mother/father
• Older/elder Brother = (O)niisama, (O)niisan, (O)niichan; Aniki is another but is rarely used as well

Similar to the "sempai" idea (as seen here), younger brothers and sisters don't have a title. To the older brother and sister, they would just call their younger siblings by their names. And being they are in a close relationship, they would use the -chan prefix or without a prefix at all.

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Japanese Lesson (3) Prefixes

For those that are familiar, when you're watching an anime series, you almost always cannot miss prefixes such as "san," "chan," "kun," etc. at the end of someone's name
For this reason, these will be explained.
To start, calling a person's name plainly is considered very rude unless you are close to this person. Of course this is somewhat true when you are in the U.S., but this goes a bit more deeper. This can even go beyond courtesy, but part of the culture.
Next, prefixes in the Japanese culture is always used at the end of the noun. This includes people, animals, objects, and the like. That aside, let us now define the prefixes.

• -san is the unisex prefix. Using "-san" (sounds like 'SAHn') is pretty standard and is often used. It's pretty much equivalent to calling someone Mr. or Miss or Mrs. I'd like to call it the safe prefix that can be used on anyone.
• -chan is the more feminine prefix. "-chan" (sounds like 'CHAHn") is used on children mostly. It's also ok to use it on girls and people who you are close to. Not a good idea to use on males being that it sounds more condescending though I have heard it used between guy-guy friends.
• "-kun" is more used on males though I have heard it used on females just more rare.
• "-sama" is the royalty type of prefix. This prefix is something that is used on royalty or like a servant to a master/mistress. I have heard it by females using it on their crushes as well.
• plainly saying their name is reserved for usually lovers or someone you are just real close to.

Conclusions: using prefixes indicates what sort of relationship you're in with someone so use them well.

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Japanese lesson (2): Japanese and American School Comparisons

It may be obvious that, naturally, schools in Japan and schools in the U.S. are different; but here are some qualities that you may have not noticed; whereas some stuff that you ought to know that remains the norm in Japanese schools.

• Before students attend high school, they are to apply and take tests to which high school they desire. So, in a sense, it's similar to students applying for college in the U.S. If they are really determined (or if parents force them to), students would go to cram schools which occur after normal school hours in a separate sort of facility.

• Once they enter high school, they only stay there for 3 years. It's funny since junior high for them goes from 6th-9th grade. So, in comparison to the U.S... Their "freshman year" is still in junior high.

• In grade school, the kids are to keep a dairy as a homework report for the summer. That's not-so bad if you compare to the junior high school kids and up that just have summer homework. Yep, it doesn't matter if you're going to school or not, Japanese kids WILL get homework haha.

• In high school, students are often given questionnaires as to what sort of career they want to shoot for. For some people, that may enforce an individual to really consider the future...

• Every student rotates for cleaning duty after school in which they clean their classroom and the like. (i doubt this was done in college). This not only teaches kids how to clean, but it may (or may not) enforce discipline in which seems to be only forced in bootcamps (at least in the US).

• Not sure if it's in grade school, but I know both in Junior High and High School they have student representatives both male and female which are pretty much the person that is considered a role model to the class as well as the "student pet" to the teacher. The student rep also runs student meetings within the classroom to discuss regulations, concerns, and who does what in the sports festival and the like.

• Contrary to U.S. schools of junior and senior high, Japanese students pretty much stay in one classroom all throughout the day. The teachers are the ones that transition to different classroom locations after each class time. I figure that builds up strong friendships/teamwork/pride within the classroom. Though by next year students change classrooms and may not see the same people again, but still stay within that classroom until next year again.

• Students don't really have lockers but cubbies where they keep their shoes. They would (usaually) have 2 pairs of shoes: one pair they wear for everyday use and the other pair that is worn within the school building; thus, they rotate shoes before the school hours after hours.

• girls and boys are taught separately during P.E. and yes, girls wore those bikini-looking bottoms for PE. They even had swimsuit uniforms o.O They don't wear them anymore, but they are still seen in recent anime for laughs & giggles.

• "senpai" and "sensei" is often heard during school hours. Senpai (sounds like 'sehn-PIE') is a title-prefix given to someone who is upperclassman to you. Whether this person is 1 year ahead of you or 3, you would still address that person as "name-senpai" or just simply "senpai." That sort of formality is used the same way for "Sensei" (sounds like 'sehn-SAY") only it's used for teachers/instructors. Underclassmen (known as "kouhai") don't really have a title used among the upperclassman, they're just called by their names.

• school trips seem to often occur after the school year (guessing at the end of elementary, junior high, but definitely high school). It's like a field trip, but they get to stay over night or two. So jealous over that.

• there aren't any school buses, students generally just walk and/or bike to school (considering the overpopulation and it's eco friendly ;p). The rich ones are usually seen transported by car.

• yes, students wear uniforms (even as far as kindergarten) and no, the girl's skirts actually aren't that short as they make it to be in some anime. (When you watch enough anime, you notice the type of genre you're watching by the girl's skirts sometimes.) As far as I can tell, high school students WILL have school uniforms. Junior high is seen often, grade/elementary is debatable.

• Also good to keep in mind that--Japanese students treat applying to high school as a U.S. student trying to apply for college. U.S. high schools are usually decided by taxes and location (unless your parents are really anal [or other circumstances...] and prefer you to be enrolled in a catholic school or home-schooled). 

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ドラゴンボール改: A Dragon Ball Kai Review

That is about my most favorite scene from Dragon Ball Kai. For those that don't know, Bandai has just recently re-released Dragon Ball Z calling it Dragon Ball Kai.
There's really no difference between the two 'sides a few things

• Bandai cut up the pointless powerups and those awe-faces that take up a good 5 min too long
• new openings and endings that of course weren't in the original DBZ
• it's in Japanese (original seiyuu) and subbed now to DL by decent subbers

It sure brings back memories. At the same time, it's fresh being that you get to hear 'em in Japanese. I doubt they'll be licensing Kai anytime soon.... hopefully.

Nov 2012: If you're curious, I did eventually dropped this series and it's been releasing on the Nickelodean channel last time I heard.

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Anime Epiphany (2): Etsuko Kozakura

As I was watching and editing Chi's Sweet Home for my Youtube channel, I've noticed the familar voice played by Youhei. After listening to him a while longer, I've noticed Youhei's "waaiii" and Tamama's (from Keroro Gunsou) "waaiii" are very similar. I confirmed it as true through animenewsnetwork. Both Tamama and Youhei is played by actress Etsuko Kozakura-san.

Ya, I'm good, hehe.

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anime/manga epiphany (1): Satomi Koorogi

SO, I was sure... for those people that have seen Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto... I was positive that Naruto's and Edward's seiyuu were the same person.  I was wrong of course... Sad day.  I guess what got me was both Edward's and Naruto's obnoxious attitudes that made me think they were similar in terms of seiyuu.

BUT there was one thing I knew I got right. Thus, the actual epiphany.
So, I finally started watching Fullmetal Alchemist a few days ago... Around episodes 5-7, I'm sure y'all were engaged with the cute Nina-chan. (Yes, very sad thing what happened with her...) Her voice was adorable as well. I thought to myself... "hey, I've heard a cute voice similar to hers as well."  I went through anime character's voices i've recently listened to in my head... that's when the epiphany appeared.
Nina and Chi (from Chi's Sweet Home) have the same seiyuu. I was sure of it. I looked it up and I was right!! Yay!
I'm always proudish when I find these stuff out on my own. My oldest sister has that little 'gift' as well with U.S. acters/actresses. So, the person behind Nina-chan and Chi-chan is Saomi Koorogi. Let us give her a big hand for doing a great job :]

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けいおん!: A Review on the anime K-on!

even my desktop likes K-on! :p

You like slice-of-life genre? Did you like Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star, or even Haruhi? Planing to re-live that experience again? You'll like K-on!
A great anime that came out just this year and I'm already on episode 10 out of 13.

a few reasons to watch けいおん!:

1. the Main character Yui is comparable to Osaka from Azumanga Daioh. She's a genius in her own way, but to the normal people, a weirdo XD 
2. another girl by the name of Mio is quite similar to Kagami from Lucky Star
3. Mio's childhood friend name is Ritsu. Tomo and Yomi's relationship is also comparable to Mio and Ritsu's
4. K-on!'s moe is comparable to Haruhi as well as the animation.
5. the ending song, "Don't Say  'Lazy' " is just kick-ass. It's Ranked #2, #4 on Oricon Weekly Chart--4/28). They made the main characters look like they're real Jpop artists which makes it quite special from any other anime I've seen.

other than those similarities  there are of course differences which makes it stand out from those other anime. Go go go watch it!!

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アイラミツキ: An Aira Mitsuki Review

http://www.thistimerecords.com/blog/2008/01/

I give you guys--Aira Mitsuki's "Copy"


Mediafire part 1....part 2

in a phrase, "if you like Perfume, you'll like Mitsuki Aira." They both carry this electro feel in their music afterall. Mitsuki Aira is less popish and is not "electropop," but "electronica"genre. She's no morning-musume-meets-techno-group, but she does get brownie points for being a songwriter and standing out. Aira-san is actually newer; she debuted in 2007. Try her out. I reccommend.
This one is her very first album; can't wait till her next one comes out :]

Please enjoy and as always... please comment when you snag!! ありがとう

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Anime/manga lesson (1): The Harem and Reverse Harem Genre

As all anime fanatics may have noticed, every anime has its own genre. The U.S. don't have such genre in their animated and comics world which is why i'm labeling this as a Japanese sort of lesson as well. Today shall be these most interesting genre: Harem and Reverse Harem

In general terms, "harem" involves many woman associating with one man. Usually the woman are meant as sexual partners and/or multiple spouses; in addition to daughters, female entertainers and servants of that one male. "Harem" usually is used in Muslim tradition as it is more geared to the dwelling place for such a particular group of woman.

"Harem" for animals (i.e. elephants, meerkats, lions, etc.), is more suited for a group of females that would will only allow one fertile male in the group. Meaning the animal use of harem is slightly different in the social hierarchy as the females are in control in contrast to the man in a human harem.

NOW,

If we were to put this in anime/manga terms, the Harem genre involves, of course, many females. The many woman are beautiful in their own way and all have their little attraction to the male protagonist. Throughout the manga/anime you'll see these females trying various ways to get the male protagonists' attention as to get closer to him in comparison to their female rivals. Sometimes, the females won't realize their feelings towards the male protagonist 'till much later into the anime/manga. A great example of a Harem genre would be Tenchi Muyo! and Ranma 1/2.

This is no surprise that the Harem genre is geared towards the male audiences/readers.

If a Harem genre was geared towards the female audiences, this would be called a "Reverse Harem." You guessed it--t involves many attractive men and one female protagonist. anime/manga examples can be Fushigi Yuugi and Ouran High School Host Club. Now, I could be wrong, but that sort of genre doesn't seem to be labeled as much. If anything, a Reverse-harem is just simply implied within a particular anime/manga.

Observations: From what I noticed, all the males within a reverse-harem are not necessarily attracted to the female protagonist. In fact, most of them are just there for eye-candy. However, there are things like fan-service to give teasing hints that may be a male is attracted to the female protagonist. In contrast to a harem genre, most of the females ARE attracted to the male protagonist whether it's subtle or outrageous.

Rule of thumb for both harem and reverse harem = fanservice and ecchi depending on the audience accordingly.

Nov 2012: As of now, the harem/reverse-harems genre seems to be evolving in a way that it hasn't become as obvious. So, this may be put to rest as something in the past--BUT still good to know when exploring older anime.

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Japanese lesson (1): "Arigatou" as the right way to express a "Thank you"

http://www.siuyee.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/arigatou2.jpg

For the total newbies, there is a Japanese word that is so often used to mean "thank you." You pronounce it something like "AH-ree-GAH-toe"  (you can hear its pronunciation often in anime of course :p)
It is often typed as "arigatou" amongst the many anime fanatics I've come across.

You will often see me type it as "ありがとう" as this is the, more or less, "spelling" way that any Japanese person would usually write/type down. It is also a great way to get away tricking people (that is the average-Joe-in-the-U.S.-with-next-to-no-Japanese-background) into thinking you know Japanese  :p

A rule of thumb: the longer you say "thank you" the more polite you are.
This can apply to any Japanese sentence. On the top of my head, there are 5 ways to say "thank you" (1 being informal to 5 being the most polite)

1. domo (not something you would use on a professor or a superior in the workplace; more-so to someone you're close to)
2. arigatou (more general)
3. doumo-arigatou (general)
4. arigatou-gozaimasu (more to a stranger)
5. doumo-arigatou-gozaimasu (to someone of high status than yourself or just want to be extra polite)

You can also use "sumimasen" as a sort of thank-you but it's more geared to an apology or "excuse me" sort of translation.

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Speaking of Kokia... KARMA

from the wonderful world of Gendou.com, I noticed that Kokia did (as in composed, sang, and arranged) "Karma" from an anime called Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ which has just released in April and is still ongoing in Japan.
It's a beautiful, angsty song and seems to be fitting for the anime (which I will be watching some time in the future)
click on that image at the start of this post to get "Karma"
OR you can get your hands on Kokia's Karma's single here
Enjoy!
Comment for feedback and/or if you took/tried out the song.
ありがとう

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コキア - A Kokia Review

http://www.ikikata.se/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/kokia1.jpg

So, out of my experience, Kokia is quite compareable to Akino Arai. It has a sort of "etheral" sort of genre in most of her songs
But more specifically, she's a Japanese songwriter from Tokyo. She's been lately found touring in Paris, France.
Kokia is a wonderful singer that can get away singing without some kind of background music if she wanted to. However, the music definitely enhances her voice.

So, what i'm giving is an opportunity to get your hands on her promotional video called 人間ってそんなものね aka "Ningen tte Sonna Mono Ne" and "Humans are Like That". It's overall my most favorite song by Kokia. If you look up the lyrics, it gives the vid even more meaning.
Anyway, please enjoy Kokia's Ningen tte Sonna Mono Ne

I encourage you all to please comment when you decided to download this for I uploaded this file and would like to hear your feedback. どうも
P.S. if you ever decide to support her work, I would suggest buying this and/or this as these have that very song in it. FYI, her actual, birth name is Akiko Yoshida "Her stage name "Ko" + "Ki" + "A" was inverted from her real name 亜紀子 ("A" + "Ki" +"Ko")"
It makes me wonder if she knew that Kokia was also a pretty flower :3

You can youtube here if you want.

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