JamieJakov Blog

Eiga Dorobou Cosplay

October 7th, 2015

I’d say this was one of my most successful cosplays, if not THE. I have cosplayed a number of different characters in the past, as outlines in this post about cosplay. But our joint NO MORE Eiga Dorobou (NO MORE映画泥棒) with Amy definitely tops the list.

SMASH! 2015 was held on the 8th and 9th of August 2015 (yes its been 2 months, but they just posted up the photos) and so we decided that I would go as the camera guy for both days, and Amy as Madoka during the first day, and the policeman for the second. I can say for a fact, that the people loved us. We had probably over 100 photos of us taken in those 2 days. People were excited to see us, even though a lot of them had no idea what we were, or where we are from. Thanks to the Gintama Movie some people knew the cameraman from that, but only a handful actually recognised us as the characters from the stop movie piracy ad, played in Japan before every movie. It was a very fun experience, now lets think of what we can cosplay as next!

Here are some more photos: 1, 2, 3.

Anime Day 19

October 4th, 2015

Day 19 – Best anime villain

Who is the best villain? Well to answer this question, we must first identify who is a villain? Does he have to be human? How bad are his deeds supposed to be for us to decide wether he is a “bad guy” or a “good guy”? These questions are rather hard to answer on the spot, but I can definitely say that for me a villain is a character that acts against social norms, but not just for the sake of it, but because they have a good reason behind it. For example Lelouch is a great villain, because he has seen the world, wanted to change in, and accomplished his mission, even though he kinda screwed everyone over in the process. I like characters like that, as they have a good motive for their actions, and ultimately want change. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

Anime Day 18

October 3rd, 2015

Day 18 – Favorite shone anime

Shounen eh… Thats a genre of anime that I rarely watch. I haven’t seen any of the big 3 (Naruto, Bleach, One Piece) and have ignored most of the shounen stuff that would come out in every season (with the exception of Haikyuu of course). Thats is why picking a favourite would be most challenging, if it were not for Shaman King. This was one of my first anime, actually before my first first anime, because I watched it in Russian/English dub.

Why is it great? Well simply because it has loveable characters, none of that fan service stuff, none of that filler episode crap, a clear set plot, and a lot of funny scenes. That is what makes a shounen anime great, it shows us that even a teenage boy can become the Shaman King, but as long as what he believes is right, has a clear goal, and he has fun along the way. Even though the anime is old, I would still recommend people watch it, alongside with Law of Ueki, as they are very similar (Shaman King still better though).

Anime Day 17

October 2nd, 2015

tsundere

Day 17 – Favorite tsundere

Ah “tsunderes” (or as autocorrect always tries to correct me: thunders), this personality trope exists in pretty much every anime out there. And my 19 year old self was completely in love with them. Why? Because they abused the main character all the time, but deep down they actually loved them. I found that sweet (or maybe I am just an M, who knows).

My pick for this day though is Kurisu from Steins;Gate. Kurisu is a scientist, so she is smart and she is also very curious to the concepts and theories that science has yet to prove, and a tsundere. I think to my now 22 year old, Kurisu is the only tsundere that is actually loveable. She is mature and actually accepts her feelings, while still someone acting tsun to the MC. Also she is very strong as a character, which makes me very fond of her, but more importantly, the tsundere trait isn’t the defining thing about her. I guess this just goes to show that tastes change over time, and maybe in a few years, I won’t like tsuneres at all, and only look at mature and relatable characters… who knows.

Anime Day 16

October 1st, 2015

Day 16 – Favorite anime ending theme song

This is tough one! Ending themes are usually not as flashy and in your face, so they might not be as memorable. The most memorable for me would be the first FMA 2003 ED, I loved it so much when I was just getting into anime. But Clara already talked about it, in her post, so thats out of the question. Then I thought about looking at my iTunes play count, and see what ED I have listened to the most: that would be ED 4 from S2 of Nyaruko. I just like the melody and beat, plus Kuuko is just sah kawaii. Not far behind is LOVE & ROLL by YanagiNagi, the ED for Cencorol, but that doesn’t have any animation, just the music. So in the end I decided to go with the ED for one of the most underrated anime of the past generation: Shinsekai Yori (From a New World).

The song Wareta Ringo (Split Apple) was played throughout the first part of the series as the OP and ED of the show. It doesn’t have an OP, so when we first heard the ED it took the place of both. The music is actually takes a rather unique approach to the lyrics as half way through, it splits into 2 vocals and they go consecutively, but the meaning behind the lyrics only makes sense if you listen to them separately. You’ll see what I mean if you listen to the song with subs (if you don’t know Japanese).

After this I feel like doing a Music Monday again… I should ask the anime@UTS webmaster about that.