http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/rss Makitys's latest journal entries Lang-8 Inc. Wed May 22 01:31:32 UTC 2013 Wed May 22 01:31:32 UTC 2013 Lang-8 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Lang-8


Visual Kei and comics for girls (Boys' Love)　
　

BL (Boys' Love = homosexual love appearing in comics for girls) has a long history, and it goes back to The Poem of the Wind and the Trees (風と木の詩) which was started in the 1970s.
　

People never called homosexual love Boys' Love nore Yaoi in those days. Although the manga had never hard-core pornography scenes like Yaoi, it was pretty shocking for young girls.
　　

Auguste Beau, who is a very beautiful young man and an adopted son of the house of Cocteau, raped by his elder step-brother, Peer in his own youth. Peer's wife, Anne Marie is so jealous of Auguste and she seduces him to separate the relationship between Peer and Auguste. She has an illicit child between Auguste and her, and the child is the main character of this manga, Gilbert Cocteau.
　

Anne Marie exposes Gilbert and Auguste nurses him with distorted love.
He abuses Gilbert - first physically and emotionally and later sexually.
Gilbert is starved of affection and after sent to a boarding school by Auguste, he lives like a male prostitute.
　

Gilbert meets Serge Battour who has straightforward character at the dormitory. Serge is not a gay but he manages to save Gilbert from his cursed life, and finally he loves Gilbert.
　

I have known this manga since I was an elementary schoolgirl.
Honestly, I don't like the story so much since it is a heavy love and hate drama. Anyway, it was a shocking story for young girls.

"You read this? How disgusting! It's embarrassing!"

My friends and I said so and we passed comics around and read them in turn.
　



　



Posted at Tue May 07 11:18:49 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/303416366194019816257006197115177639524 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/303416366194019816257006197115177639524 Makitys Tue May 07 11:18:49 UTC 2013
Get Wild (Anime City Hunter 1 Ending Song)
　

Since anime and manga are quite popular in Japan, releasing an anime tie-up song is a commonly used method to be a hit. My favorite music group, Tm Network also released some anime tie-up songs as follows:
　

Your Song - Vampire Hunter D
Get Wild - City Hunter
Beyond the Time - Mobile Suit Gundam, Gyakushuu no Char
　

Get Wild is the most popular among these songs.
(Have you ever heard it?)
　

Get Wild original version (1987)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0sMmy_-ZI
　

Since the song's popularity has continued on for a long time, many remix versions of the song were made. I still feel excited when I hear a new remix version of Get Wild.
　

Get wild '89 with Utsu's exciting dance (1989 version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zzO4qcQMQQ
　

Get wild '89 last groove remix (1994 last concert version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkvULT5OsPA
　

Get Wild 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUEBJhXB6GU
　

The singer and the keybord player (he is the composer of Get Wild) are the same persons through all the video clips. The long intro remix is always impressive and the singer's changing looks are interesting too. He had high-tone voice and his face looked like a girl in 1994.
　



Posted at Sat May 04 04:18:06 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/211350569936460691115156914823410720356 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/211350569936460691115156914823410720356 Makitys Sat May 04 04:18:06 UTC 2013


Recently, the world economic conditions (particularly in North America) has gotten better and an idol boom has broken out.
　

For example, although I'm not a fan of Justin Bieber, I have heard the following song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys7-6_t7OEQ
　

Do you like Justin Bieber?
He looks like a kid from every point of view.
He looks cute but never sexy for me. If I had a baby in my 10s, my son could be about his age =O
In my opinion, Justin Timberlake still has sex appeal and he looks better than Justin Bieber.
　

Another popular young idol group is One Direction who made their debut in England.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E
　

They also look quite childish, just like my kids.
However both Justin Bieber and One Direction are loved by young girls now.
It's a bit surprising for me. Do young girls around the world love a childish appeal more than an adult appeal? Is this the current trend? In my young days, it was not.
　

In Japan, childishness and pureness are the essential points for female idols. AKB48 is the most famous idol group in Japan now. They are short and look cute and childish. They are loved by not only young boys but also middle aged men. Many Japanese men love the young girls' sex apeal and pureness more than the mature adult girls' attraction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBuJ5R2KBKo
　



Posted at Fri May 03 05:14:33 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/116033667897668569023930460519353261668 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/116033667897668569023930460519353261668 Makitys Fri May 03 05:14:33 UTC 2013

Visual Kei and comics for girls part 3
　

I heard Lady Gaga gained weight extremely last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdmPsm5JBEE
　

I don't know if she could successfully lose weight or not.
Even if she could, she would gain weight again in the near future since she obviously has a tendency to be fat.
　

Maybe you think that Gaga has nothing to do with this entry's subject.
But it does. This time I'd like to write about girls' tastes in body shape of the opposite sex.
　

If you look at Japan's comics for girls, you will find guys who are tall and thin with long slender limbs. Their faces are pretty and sexy. Adult women know that such a guy never exist in the real world. It's an illusion.
　

However Visual Key somtimes fulfills the girls' desires. When I see some footages of Visual Kei, I find some pretty men just like the guys appearing in comics for girls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLZlDfjcr7Q


The footage was made more than 20 years ago.
The keybord player is Tetsuya Komuro who looks like a girl. The lead vocal is Utu who has long legs. Fangirls call him prince appearing in comics for girls. Both Komuro and Utu were over thirty when the footage was made.
　

Utu was plump in his 20s and he didn't look so sexy.
He was getting slender and slender after his music group came to fame.
He kept his slender body during he was popular among young girls.
Fangirls loved him so much but I thougt that his looks was illusion.
Sure enough, he gained weight in his 40s.
　

But I still love him :-)





Posted at Sun Apr 28 20:40:17 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/284891095572886093814431413052010792613 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/284891095572886093814431413052010792613 Makitys Sun Apr 28 20:40:17 UTC 2013


Japan's pop music and a big boom of music directors (1990s)
　

In the last entry, I introduced you TM NETWORK, Tetsuya Komuro (the first photo) leading music group. Relating to it, I'll write about a big boom of music directors produced by him in 1990s Japan. Everyone who lived in 1990s knows his great success and his scandalous life.
　　

Although he originally made his debut as a member of Visual Kei music group, TM NETWORK, he was not so much an idol as a talented musician.
He brought urban digital pop music with Japanese sensitivity into the old-fashioned Japanese pop music world, and he popularized his music.
　
　　
The following footage shows you his memorable performance with his digital musical instruments in 1987. The unmanned playing piano is impressive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS_TsCQKHVs
　

MIDI sequencers are pretty common nowadays. It's not so much difficult to create pop music by a musician with a sequencer. But it was still fresh in 1987. Young people found his urban music with characteristic sad melody cool and fresh. His music triggered a booming interest in his produced idols, and they monopolized the hit charts in late 1990s. He and his produced musicians were calld Komuro family at that time.
　

He was an enthusiastic yong idol lover, so that almost all singers who were produced by him were female idols except TM NETWORK. Namie Amuro (the second photo) and Tomomi Kahara (the third photo) known as a Komuro's lover are especially famous. His habits sometimes caused scandals. Tomomi Kahara was deserted by Komuro in a few years, and she had a mental disorder later.
　

Tomomi Kahara with Komuro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZJ_b0rNEI8
　

Posted at Sun Apr 28 10:09:09 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/227305839795307786781506649969681630885 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/227305839795307786781506649969681630885 Makitys Sun Apr 28 10:09:09 UTC 2013


Visual Kei and comics for girls part 2

"I never saw such a good-looking guy in my life"
So-called Ikemen (good-looking guys) always appear in comics for girls.
They are usually tall, slenderly, having sexually attractive perfect faces.
And they have manly strength and kindness, just like they are imposed selfish ideal of girls.

But not only girls have such selfish desire. There always unbelievablly glamorous girls appear in comics for boys. There is no help for it.

Well, following the last time, I'll write about Visual Kei.
This time I'll introduce you a group of musicians, TM NETWORK, whch actively performed from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
The leader, keyboard player, and director was Tetsuya Komuro, who created a big boom of music director in 1990s in Japan.
They call themselves the originator of Visual Kei.
First let's watch their live video!
　　
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBhuLZ2Yzd4&list=PLtXNnZJrnkDOMKb508_C-7qRl5xav58xw
　
Please don't say that they are bad singers (:-<
just pay attention to the vocal dancer's personal attractions.
As Visual Kei, his beauty is more imprtant than his song.
His good looks reminds me beautiful men whose back are rose flowers in comics for girls. But his true character is probably not like that.
He is just playing a prince.

Although many girls love the guys like him, they usually marry men whose type is the direct opposite to him. That can't be helped. Both of wife and husband are to blame about it.
Girls find husbands who have warm hearts, work well, and make money, but on the other hand, they keep admiring good-looking guys.
　
　
　
　

Posted at Fri Apr 26 22:28:09 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/195503178725094927035721690482499100260 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/195503178725094927035721690482499100260 Makitys Fri Apr 26 22:28:09 UTC 2013


Visual Kei and comics for girls part 1

Do you know Visual Kei (ビジュアル系)?
Maybe people who know Japanese culture very well also know the word.
Honestly, Visual Kei means men musician who have fascinating-looking more than their musical talent. They say X-JAPAN and Luna Sea (the first photo) were representative Visual Kei. Gackt (the second photo) and Hakuei surpass them in beauty.

Japan's Visual Kei has been deeply influenced by new romantics, a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom. In 1980s, men rock musicians who were more beautiful than women were popular, most prominently in England.
They became very popular in Japan too. I remember that Duran Duran, Boy George, and Dead or Alive were pretty popular. David Sylvian (the third photo), who was brilliant and beautiful was personally popular.

Japan's comics for girls was strongly affected by new romantics and Visual Kei. Since then, the men of girls' dreams in comics have been mostly the type of such guys. This produced the brilliant YAOI culture and such girls' tastes (Fujoshi culture) remains unchanged today (or getting more popular)

Japan's comics have been very popular in the world without my noticing. Somehow, girls' YAOI culture also have been spread to the world. To be frank, it's a bit surprising. I feel embarrassed about it.

Next time, I'll write about the originators of Visual Kei in Japan.
　

Posted at Fri Apr 26 13:43:19 UTC 2013
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/86511485536824724522109531758746465162 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/86511485536824724522109531758746465162 Makitys Fri Apr 26 13:43:19 UTC 2013
Jul 20, 2012
Breaking News

Merkel partner CSU would back Greece euro exit, Rheinische says -
Gerda Hasselfeldt, floor leader of Christian Social Union, has told the Rheinische Post that the party would reject any effort by Greece to ease its’ bailout terms. The official said “What’s clear for us in the CSU is that we cannot support any move to renegotiate the substance or timeframe for those conditions” adding “If a country is not in a position to fulfill its’ obligations or is unwilling to, then it must leave the euro zone’

Oh! How dangerous words did you say!!
Euro can't stop falling.
Will Greece be driven out of Euro? Or German abandons Euro?

Euro's Collapse Is Not 'Unthinkable': Warren Buffett
(Warren Buffett's Warning)


To be continued.

Posted at Fri Jul 20 14:05:46 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1588784 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1588784 Makitys Fri Jul 20 14:05:46 UTC 2012

Does anyone know Ryuichi Sakamoto?
He is one of the pioneers of electric sound in Japan. He was a member of YMO, a popular music group in 1980s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV8TApaboRs&feature=related

I loved YMO when I was young. They were cool guys among young people at that time. Even after I grew up, I listened to their music again and again.

Time has past and young men have become old men.
Ryuichi Sakamoto is 60 year's old now. Although he loses his good looks, his musical talent never gives out.
The following music crip is the recent YMO's performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WfhOpnYLP8

Recently, he often attends the anti-nuclear demonstration. The other day, he came back to Japan from New York and attended the anti-nuclear demo in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fusrH7uyUkY

I respect his action. However, I didn't think that he was the type of man who attend such a demonstration. Almost all public entertainers keep silence about nuclear power plants in Japan.
Because they know that if they attend anti-nuclear demonstration, they will have their livelihood taken away. Sad to say, this is the bad side of Japanese society.

Posted at Mon Jul 16 12:18:05 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1582017 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1582017 Makitys Mon Jul 16 12:18:05 UTC 2012

No clue has yet been found to clear up the European financial crisis. There are so many financial problems to be solved in the Eurozone.
Greek sovereign debt crisis is just a small one. Perhaps, Spain, Italy and Portugal are getting in a line for bailout funds.

Maybe, everyone knows what the only one way is to save European financial crisis. German, the paymaster of the Eurozone redistributes its benefits to other European countries, otherwise it’ll cause the European financial collapse.

Helping people in your country is a matter of course. Sharing the one currency can be the same thing. They should share all benefits and debts among them.
(Of course they should share the same fiscal discipline. This is one of the problems in the Eurozone)
Even if Greece makes a breakaway from Euro eventually, you cannot drive all PIGS out of Euro. And German also cannot go back to Duetsche Mark and abandon Euro.

The decision is in German’s hands. The country should think carefully about what decision is the most beneficial for people in the long run.

Posted at Mon Jul 16 06:16:12 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1581611 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1581611 Makitys Mon Jul 16 06:16:12 UTC 2012

The other day, the Japanese government restarted one of the nuclear power plants, ignoring people’s voices. Therefore, every Friday, many people who knew the anti-nuclear power plant demo from twitter, gather in front of the prime minister's official residence and protest against his decision.

Japan is the land of earthquakes and we have more than 50 nuclear power plants across the small country. That means we just like live in a region in which explosives mines have been placed. That is terrible. Really terrible!

I remember the days when Fukushima nuclear power plants exploded one after another. We had nothing to do but pray to God. We imagined our future like the Chernobyl crisis that tormented Russian people with diseases and poverty, and finally brought the Soviet Union to collapse.

Some brave people fought the fire at Fukushima nuclear power plants' accident. However, the flame and smoke from a nuclear power plant were not just normal ones. They were radioactive materials that may kill the people immediately, and would spread radioactive contamination all over the world. Even if the radiation didn’t kill them immediately, it would affect their health eventually.

We no longer need nuclear power. I can bear sweltering hot days without an air-conditioner if we can abandon nuclear power. I actually spent last summer without an air-conditioner at home. Japanese young people who hardly said something to the government before, now set up a protest against nuclear power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CqHgd2SHsY




Posted at Sun Jul 08 20:27:37 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1570414 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1570414 Makitys Sun Jul 08 20:27:37 UTC 2012
The other day, a new department called the recicling center for human resources (人材リサイクルセンター) was inaugurated at my company. No executive expained the real mission of the department, but it was obviously something for restructuring.
The team readers chose about 10 percent of their subordinates to go to the new department. The subordinates had no choice but to follow the order.
People said that the chosen fellows would be forced to seek new jobs withen the company or resign. If the rumor was true, it would almost be a violation of human rights.

Fortunately, I was not chosen as a member of the department. However, no-one knows when anyone is chosen as a member of it. The department will work as a threat to all employees.

Posted at Sun Jun 24 01:17:40 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1545391 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1545391 Makitys Sun Jun 24 01:17:40 UTC 2012

There are host clubs in Japan, the places where rich women give money to young hosts instead of being entertained by them. The young men usually decide to be hosts because of their debts or the difficulty of getting good jobs, while the rich women, usually hostesses, rich men’s wives or daughters, or businesswomen, visit the clubs to soothe their lonely hearts. Perhaps those host clubs are peculiar to Japan. They are not so much commoner than hostess clubs, even in Japan.

'Yaoh' (夜王) is a Japanese comic which was serialized in Young Jump. The story is set in the host world in Kabukicho, Tokyo. ‘Yaoh’ means the king of the night which means becoming the No.1 host.

A young man, Ryosuke (遼介) who came from Hokkaido, the northern part of Japan, meets a successful businesswoman, Remi (麗美), who introduces him into the host world. At first Ryosuke seems to have no ambition. He is just a good young man and his performance is not good. However, Remi and the owner of the host club never allow him to be so. To live up to their hopes, Ryosuke makes every efforts to be the No.1 host and competes with the strongest rival host, Seiya (聖夜).
Seiya poses like a prince of his guests but he actually finds them just his financial supporters and he abandons them without regret if they have no money.
By contrast, Ryosuke behaves like a friend of his guests, he often helps them regardless of gain and he finds favors in their eyes in the end.
Which host will become the No.1 host in the end?

'Yaoh' was made into a TV drama in 2005. You can see it with English subs on Youtube now. The story shows the cunning tricks of hosts, loveless sexes, and the severe disciplines of the host world. If you are interested in the night world of Tokyo, you should take a look at it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpIE49aWB6k&feature=relmfu

Posted at Sun Jun 17 13:15:34 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1535179 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1535179 Makitys Sun Jun 17 13:15:34 UTC 2012


Today gay love in Japanese manga is known as ‘Yaoi’ around the world. I feel there’s something strange about the word, Yaoi. Originally, Yaoi means no climax or no highlight scenes. You can say this kind of story in Japanese,「山無し、落ち無し」 = ‘yama nashi, ochi nashi’ = 'Yaoi'. This is a kind of lesson to make well-organized manga, and it doesn’t mean gay-love-manga.

During 1970s-1980s, number of girls’ comic artists tried to write stories of homosexual love. It was a challenge to break stereotypes of girls’ manga. The leading characters of those comics were boys, and be loved ones were also boys. Those settings were unusual at that time. The comic artists wrote high quality works of those manga that attracted girls and even boys, and had boomed on a large scale.

Why the main characters can’t be girls in those comics? One reason I come up with that the homosexual love is a means of expression of platonic love. The loves are expressed not just as eroticism but as something essential to become an adult person. Those loves in the stories never end happily. In usual case, the boyfriend of the leading character finally finds a girl of fate, and leaves him. Or in another case, the leading character dies young leaving his boyfriend
.
The second reason of the gay-love-manga boom depends on the popularity of beautiful men who have androgynous charm, such as David Bowie, Boy George, Pete Burns (Do you know them?), etc. They were popular around that time in Japan.

In parallel with the gay-love manga boom, some enthusiastic fans made parodies of love stories of those comics. The stories were almost desires to gratify fans’ wishes and usually end happily, or they were just exciting sex scenes. Some people started calling those stories ‘Yaoi’ looking down on them. Now Yaoi is word in common use that means Boys-Love Manga.


Posted at Wed Jun 13 14:00:54 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1528962 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1528962 Makitys Wed Jun 13 14:00:54 UTC 2012
Hello everyone,

Thank you for your continued reading my entry. I was absent from Lang-8 for several days since I was busy for my job and trading.
I trade foreign currencies and stocks at home. It's my hobby as same as reading comics :)
I was waiting for risk-on-trade for these two months and finally it seems to be coming.
Maybe the risk-on-trade will continue for a month, at the longest. But I shouldn't miss the chance and make money anyway.

Well, it's time to go to work. See you this weekends!

Makitys


Posted at Thu Jun 07 01:04:00 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1516863 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1516863 Makitys Thu Jun 07 01:04:00 UTC 2012


Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun (日出処の天子) is a Japanese manga, written by Ryoko Yamagishi. It was a comic in the 1980s that dominated the comic world in Japan. Although it was published serially in a magazine for girls, it fascinated even young men and middle-aged men. What attracted them to the story?

It tells a fictionalised account of Prince Shotoku, a political figure of sixth-century Japan who spread Buddhism, and his unrequited love for Soga no Emishi, a statesman of the Yamato Imperial Court. Speaking my mind so directly, it was the forerunner of homosexual manga (Boys Love or 腐女子マンガ in Japanese) But it was more than that sort of one. The portrayal of the characters is realistic and artistic. The prince is simply an intelligent young politician who looks cold as ice, but he is actually vulnerably delicate person who attracts readers.
His life is full of tactics and plots so he uses his supernatural power to survive the political world. His enemies are not only politicians alive but also dead people and evil spirits (魑魅魍魎) that attack him. Those mysterious scenes and fantasy world also attract readers.

The charm of the story is beyond description. It is truly worth reading even today. However, it has not yet been adapted into an animation, nor translated into another language. There was an offer to make it into an animated TV special, but the author eventually rejected it. I imagine that she didn’t want anyone to remake her work into something different. Fortunately or unfortunately, the comic is not known in the world and unauthorized copies don’t circulate via the internet. The situation will remain unchanged at least until the end of the author’s life.


Posted at Sat Jun 02 17:10:48 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1509360 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1509360 Makitys Sat Jun 02 17:10:48 UTC 2012
It is difficult to write natural English phrases for non-native speakers like me. I always try to do so and end up with poor English due to lack of vocabulary.

If you first write a phrase in your own language and then make a word-for-word translation of it into another language, it usually becomes an awkward phrase.
Using a dictionary is not always good to write natural phrases. There are so many words in a dictionary and some of them are not in common, even native speakers don’t use them. However, a non-native speaker finds such a word in a dictionary and uses it in his writing. That often makes it an awkward writing.

If you write in another language with only words that you’ve already known, you will find that your vocabulary is poor. So you will notice that the importance of reading widely to enrich your vocabulary.

In conclusion, if you want to write good, clear sentences in another language, you should read more writings written by native speakers. And when you write in another language, you would be better off using common words to make your phrase sound good to native speakers.


Posted at Sat Jun 02 02:12:11 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1508211 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1508211 Makitys Sat Jun 02 02:12:11 UTC 2012

--- Japanese private traders' conversation ----

Bear trader: Sell in May and go away, this month was typical, wasn’t it?

Bull trader: Yeah, indeed. European sovereign-debt crisis is escalating the risk-off trade. We should wait a little longer and see when a stock has bottomed.

Bear trader: It’d be a wise idea. We should buy Japanese Yen and sell foreign currencies. But I wonder if anyone realizes that Japan’s total debt to GDP ranks No.1 among advanced countries!

Bull trader: That was the market theme in this early spring. But after that, U.S. financial conditions indexes went bad again, and stock prices fell. That made Japanese Yen strong again.

Bear trader: Finally, the result of Greek elections gave it the finishing blow!

Bull trader: It’s a long-lasting market theme. It's been over three years since the Greek debt problem was discovered. I’m so sick and tired of hearing it!

Bear trader: It’d be the never ending crisis. It’s not another county’s affairs for us. The next one may be Japan!

Bull trader: And the risk-on trade may come again after the Greek elections on June 17, mayn't it?


Posted at Wed May 30 13:58:05 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1503486 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1503486 Makitys Wed May 30 13:58:05 UTC 2012

No longer human (人間失格) is one of the masterpieces of Osamu Dazai, a Japanese novelist in the early 20th century. It’s a pretty dark story begins with the leading character’s suicide note.

“I’ve ever seen the man”, he says seeing the three photos of himself.
The first one is his childhood photo. The second one is his student days’ photo. And the last one is something horrible.
“I’ve lived a life full of shame.”
He was born rich and pretty smart. He was a good looking guy (イケメン) and many women loved him until they raped him. However, he never could reveal his heart to them. He felt he had a different sense from others. He couldn’t enjoy his life at all and often tried to commit suicide with his girlfriend. Whenever he tried, he escaped death while the girlfriend died
One day, he finally found an innocent girl who may save him from despair. He got married to her and was convinced to get true happiness. Another day, his wife was raped by a peddler. This incident eventually drove him mad.
He was addicted to drugs, and his relatives made him kept in a mental hospital.
He felt he was treated as being no longer human, and he wrote a suicide note to reveal himself.

Soon after Osamu Dazai finished writing it, he committed suicide. It was a novel based on his own life.

When I first read the novel, I felt what a creepy story it was! Anyone receives a shock from the dark story. However, it has been popular among young people.
Recently a manga was produced based on the novel and it was made into an animated TV series. It came again into the spotlight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEgAyFBdp-M


Posted at Sun May 27 15:22:34 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1498616 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1498616 Makitys Sun May 27 15:22:34 UTC 2012
The new season of a nostalgic anime is being aired now. The name is Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna (峰不二子という女) This is a kind of R-18 anime.

Lupin the 3rd has been aired for 40 years. It’s a very famous anime in Japan.
The leading character, Lupin is a grandson of Lupin the phantom thief, known as a character of a famous French novel. He is a person of mixed French and Japanese parentage in the story. He is smart and always funny, always dallying with his girlfriend, Fujiko. She is a sexy thief and the leading character of the new season.

Fujiko is a calculating girl who uses her sex appeal to cheat men.
She often shows her body off, just like she has nothing to do besides her beautiful body. Her showing off is so funny and it pleases audience.
I’m not sure if the anime is known in the world. I think the anime is making enough profit even if it’s aired in Japan only.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83V00ixNjm8


Posted at Sun May 27 01:55:09 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1497471 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1497471 Makitys Sun May 27 01:55:09 UTC 2012

The late 19th century, a Scottish man who was sailing around the world finally arrived in Nagasaki, Japan. He was Thomas Blake Glover, known as a merchant of death in Bakumatsu and Meiji period in Japan. He founded his own firm at Nagasaki and sold ships, guns and gunpowder to the rebellious Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa clans.

Westerners like Glover were scared by Japanese people in that era. People called westerners ‘Ijin’ (means non-human) because they had never seen a blond person who had fair skin and green or blue eyes. It must have been hard to master Japanese for him. There was no Japanese textbook for foreigners and almost no one spoke in English in Japan. Considering those, his immigration to Japan must have been a challenging attempt.
Glover succeeded in his business, got married to a Japanese woman, had children between them and died in Japan.

Glaver’s son, Tomisaburo Kuraba (his English name is Tomisaburo Awajiya Glover) was born in Nagasaki on 28 January 1871. He moved to Tokyo in his childhood, following to his father’s transfer. He didn’t get used to living there since a mixed-race child was quite rare in Tokyo and he felt everyone gave him an odd look.
There were more mixed-race children in Nagasaki than in Tokyo. He loved Nagasaki and got married to a mixed-race woman there.

He lived a happy life until the Second World War brought him unhappiness. The Japanese government suspected all of foreigners after the Second World War began, and he was no exception. He was driven out of his mansion in Nagasaki and finally, he saw his hometown Nagasaki collapsed in the atomic bumb. He willed all his property to Nagasaki city and committed suicide soon after the Second World War ended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kh89KSCWOY

Posted at Sat May 26 01:51:06 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1495998 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1495998 Makitys Sat May 26 01:51:06 UTC 2012

Do you know the word, fangirl? I knew it from a chat message of a manga. According to Urban dictionary, a fangirl is a rabid breed of human female who is obesessed with either a fictional character or an actor. Similar to the breed of fanboy.

I saw an anime, Black Butler season 2 yesterday. I enjoyed it but I thought it was made for fangirls. It was kind a love and hate drama of the handsome men and boys. I thought the first season was better as a story than the second one. The second one is completely original story made by the anime production. Maybe they made the story to answer fangirls’ requests.

There is a term, ‘fujoshi’ (腐女子 = rotten girls?) in Japan.
It means fangirls who like boys’ love. The term 'fujoshi' is a homophonous pun on fujoshi (婦女子), a term for respectable women, created by replacing the character 婦 (pronounced fu), meaning married woman or lady, with the character 腐 (also pronounced fu), meaning fermented or rotten.
One day, those fangirls said that they loved homosexual boys because they were rotten at heart. It was just a joke and since then, those kinds of fangirls have been called ‘fujoshi’. When I hear the term, somehow, I feel a little ashamed.

All scenes of Black Butler season 2 were beautiful and the leading character was cool as usual.
I'm sure that the second season is winning popularity mainly among fangirls in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYTZ-s1ZkOU

Posted at Thu May 24 01:05:37 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1492594 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1492594 Makitys Thu May 24 01:05:37 UTC 2012
I got a raise. It was a good day!
My boss told me that my weekly report was always useful to know on-site voices and I'm doing well at my job. Although it was just a bit raise, I felt happy. It may be his strategy to make me work more. Even if so, it’s true that he motivated me to work.



Posted at Tue May 22 14:03:56 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1490108 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1490108 Makitys Tue May 22 14:03:56 UTC 2012

If once you start reading a Japanese comic, you'll find many types of cartoon sound effects in it. Some of them are unique expressions of Japanese so it’s pretty hard to find a proper translation into another language.

A typical one is “gaan!” Σ(ﾟдﾟ；)ガーン!
Gaan means something shocking. The sound is not a real one but an emotional one. It is an expression of a character’s feellings like being hit over the head with some shocking news. A cartoon sound effect is usually embedded in a scene. If you want to translate it into another language, you have to redraw the scene. It's not easy, so most of them remain as they are.

Please take a look at the second frame of the first picture. This is a scene of Black Butler. You’ll see a sound effect “Pishi!” ピシッ(-_-メ)/ in it. It is the sound of his heart break. This is also an emotional sound.

You can see another one in the second frame of the second picture, “drone” どろーん．．．
This is an expression of the character’s gloomy feelings. I have no idea on how to translate it into English. If you have any ideas, please tell me.


Posted at Mon May 21 14:46:18 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1488363 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1488363 Makitys Mon May 21 14:46:18 UTC 2012

Since I knew that Japan’s anime is so popular in the world, I have read many chat messages of anime fans outside of Japan. There is no difference between what fans think in Japan and those in other countries. Boys and girls feelings for a particular anime are almost same in the world. That means we can understand each other, even though each cultural background is different.
That is what I learned from those messages.

A cultural difference is not bad thing. Finding a unique expression of a certain language is fun for me. So I’m really interested in translations of Japan’s anime into another language.

I wondered how to translate the following expressions into English. Black Butler, English dub anime gave me the answers:

Japanese: フォントムハイブ家の執事たる者、このくらいできなくてどうします？
English: If I couldn't do this much for my master, well than what kind of butler would I be?

Japanese: イエス、マイロード。／御意。
English:　Yes, my lord.

Japanese: 私はあくまで執事ですから。
English:　I am simply one hell of a butler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQJ2Re5xxwA
　　

Those are Black Butler’s signature phrases. The third phrase is especially important for the story.　私は あくま（demon）で 執事（butler）ですから。I’m a demon and a butler.
‘あくまで’ also means simply or just. So another translation of the phrase is "I am just a butler." He often says the phrase just like he intimates that he is a demon.


Posted at Mon May 21 01:15:30 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1487056 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1487056 Makitys Mon May 21 01:15:30 UTC 2012

In my Canadian friend's opinion, I'm a little childish to watch anime.
But I think recent anime have enough quality to entertain adults.
Besides, you can study Japanese/English through the anime.

I've finally found Black Butler ep1 that can be embedded in Lang-8.
There is a copyright issue for the anime so that it may be deleted soon.
Currently, it's available to watch.

Black Butler ep1 (English dub)
http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xqehav

English dub;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demon: Think carefully, should you reject the fate, even this once, the gates of paradise will forever be out of your reach.

Ciel: Do you think one who is among the faithful would ever go so far as to summon someone like you?

Demon: I'll ask but once more, do you wish to form a contract with me?

Ciel: I do! Now stop asking these tedious questions and let me know if we have a deal!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the above English is a little bit difficult for a nonnative English speaker like me.
I can’t come up with English expressions like the above.
The original Japanese of the same scene would also be difficult for a nonnative Japanese speaker.

Black Butler ep1 (Japanese original with English subtitles)
Sorry, this can’t be embedded in Lang-8 :-(
http://www.animeultima.tv/kuroshitsuji-episode-1/

Original Japanese;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
悪魔: ひとたび信仰を拒否すれば、神の門をくぐる事はもはやかなわぬ。

シエル：神を信ずる者が、おまえを召喚するものか。

悪魔: 今一度問う、汝、契約を欲するのか。

シエル: くどい！契約し、速やかに我が望みを聞きとどけよ。
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly, we usually don’t use such Japanese like the above.
They are kind of ritual expressions.
The demon contracted with Ciel, a little boy of noble family in England. And the story goes on.


Posted at Sun May 20 08:28:33 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1485739 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1485739 Makitys Sun May 20 08:28:33 UTC 2012

I was a manga otaku when I was a young girl. Although I’m old enough to have teenage children now, I still find it interesting.

Anyway, let’s restart talking about Black Butler!

Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) is a manga written and illustrated by Yana Toboso, a Japanese writer. The anime was aired or being aired in many countries. Do you know it? If you know it, you must be an anime fan.

The story is set in England in the 19th century. The teenage master, Ciel is a nobleman of England. Although his butler, Sebastian is a demon, he must look like an English man. In my opinion, he doesn’t look like a typical English man. He is a tall man who has straight black hair, fair skin and red eyes. He is beautiful but he doesn’t look a pure white man. He looks like half Asian and half white, just like Keanu Reeves.
And his red eyes prove that he is a beast.

I wonder if anyone finds the anime strange. This is an England story written by a Japanese woman. Most of the characters are English but they speak in Japanese and aired with English or other language subtitles in Western countries. After that, the anime was dubbed in English or other languages. It finally looks like an England story.

If I saw a Japanese historical anime made in a western country and aired with Japanese subtitles, I would find fault with the anime. Because I would think that westerners never knew more about Japanese history than us. So I really wonder what English people think of the anime.

You should be watching Black Butler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMfWyM1wVsI

Posted at Sat May 19 17:23:56 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1484976 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1484976 Makitys Sat May 19 17:23:56 UTC 2012
I wonder how many people outside of Japan know this anime. Even I didn't know it until recently.

The leading character is the black butler, an extremely good-looking man who also has demonic power. Actually, he is a demon who is bound by a supernatural contract to serve Ciel Phantomhive, the thirteen-year-old head of the Phantomhive noble family and the business-savvy owner of the Funtom company, a toy manufacturer. In return, when Sebastian has helped Ciel finish all of his tasks, including avenging his parents' deaths, Sebastian will be allowed to kill him and consume his soul.

The butler, Sebastian is seductive enough to attract otaku girls so that 70 % of fans of this anime are girls. The story is exciting with lots of mysteries and fighting scenes. So I think boys also can enjoy the anime.

The main motif of the story is not told clearly by anyone. But the audience gradually come to realize that the close relationship between Ciel and Sebastian and suspect that they might be gay. If Sebastian just wants Ciel’s soul, why does he not mind doing any jobs ordered by Ciel? Why does he protect Ciel at the risk of his life? Ciel usually orders Sebastian to do something coldly. But he sometimes reveals his vulnerability when they are alone, and obviously he relies on Sebastian who will eat his soul eventually.
Teenage girls are lost in abnormal wild fancies like that.

Anyway, that’s why I find it a truly otaku anime. :-D
I’ve found that otaku live not only in Japan. They spread worldwide. That's the most surprise I’ve learned from this international anime.

You should be watching Black Butler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15CWwBkTSZM&feature=BFa&list=PL3AC35033DAA18A12

Posted at Sat May 19 06:44:53 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1484105 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1484105 Makitys Sat May 19 06:44:53 UTC 2012

Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I wrote an entry last time. Maybe some of my friends in lang-8 forget me. I miss you.

I was busy for my engineering job. Besides, I had less chance to speak and write in English. That’s why I have left learning English for a long time.
However, I still watch dramas and anime in English very often. I have seen through almost all seasons of The X-files with Japanese subtitles.
I recently start watching English dubbed anime originally made in Japan, such as Black Butler. I’ve found many interesting things through watching those dramas and anime. I’d like to white my review about them from now on.

P.S. Help me with my English. Any suggestions will be very useful to me!


Posted at Sat May 19 04:19:06 UTC 2012
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1483970 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/1483970 Makitys Sat May 19 04:19:06 UTC 2012 The sea is rising!
Hurricanes are browing!
And it's all your fault!

Is it true?

Global warming has been told by people just like a man-made crime since 1980s.
People say that growing energy consumption increases CO2 emissions that cause greenhouse effects.

Recently, some scientists are raising objections to the theory of global warming.
They say that global warming is not a man-made crime but a natural phenomenon caoused by the sun. The earth gets warm and cold periodically since it was born.
In fact, the earth were getting cold during 1940-1975 when global carbon emissions were rising rapidly.

The Great Global Warming Swindle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P--pmZpwYEY

CO2 doesn't cause global warming (For Japanese readers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t5hn1kpK3E

If global warming is just a swindle, why do many authorities and politicians support it?
You may find a reason for it in the following story.

Japan is a world leader in reducing CO2 emissions.
In March 2010, the cabinet of Japan approved its new CO2 emission target, promising to reduce emissions by 25% by 2020 compared to the 1990 level.
Japanese government decided to build more nuclear power plants to reduce CO2 emissions. The global warming theory was used for promoting nuclear power.

Thanks for reading!

Posted at Sun Jun 26 22:29:07 UTC 2011
]]> http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/988712 http://www.lang-8.com/19649/journals/988712 Makitys Sun Jun 26 22:29:07 UTC 2011