Each week I will be answering one or more of the 12 questions posted from week four’s obsession blog.  I will do this by comparing and contrasting a Japanese zombie T.V. show/movie with an American zombie T.V. show/movie.  This week I am comparing and contrasting dialogue and relationships.

Zombie Loan Episode 2 “Want to Die” (Japanese anime T.V. series):

 (From left to right: Shito, Michiru, and Chika)

(Picture found from:  http://animahiro.blogspot.com/2013/06/zombie-loan.html)

The relationships in Zombie Loan are quite complicated. In a list I’ll give examples.

1. In episode two it is revealed that Shito and Chika are very competitive with each other.

“Materializing your weapon uses energy. Save it for now” Shito says to Chika.

“Don’t tell me what to do! A weak guy like you should conserve some energy!” Chika says.

“Have you ever heard of the term “strategy?” The quality and quantity of a weapon as complicated as my gun consumes more ectoplasm. Not like your simple little toy! ” Shito says.

“Toy! It’s on! You’re dependent on projectiles, you chicken! ” Chika says.

2. There is a foreshadowing of a caring/loving dynamic between the two boys and Michiru. On multiple occasions Chika threatens Michiru, telling her that she better do as she’s told or else he’ll “kill her.” Clearly Chika would not kill her though because near the end of the episode he decides to save her. After Michiru wakes up, the ferryman tells her the only reason he agreed to save her was because the boys told him to. Michiru also learns that both Chika and Shito took an additional debt in order to save her. Neither the Ferryman or Michiru knows exactly why the boys saved her but it can be implied it is because they care for her. This implication can be seen when Michiru leaves her aunt’s house and walks out onto the sidewalk. Both the boys are waiting there for her. In my opinion, Chika’s threats show his budding feelings for Michiru and also his progression of humanity (Yes, I know that sounds completely weird and crazy). Before episode 2, Chika would have killed Michiru easily with no remorse. But as the season continues Chika beings using the threat as a way of telling Michiru that he wants to see her again. At least that’s my interpretation of the threat.

The Walking Dead Episode 2 “Guts” (American horror drama T.V. series):

 (From left to right: Shane, Lori, and Rick)

(Picture found from: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-walking-dead/images/17444426/title/shane-lori-rick-photo)

The relationships in The Walking Dead are just as complicated as in Zombie Loan, but the show’s plotline has a heavier mood to it. In the 1st season, Lori is caught in a love triangle with Rick and Shane. Paying special close attention to episode 2, this is when the audience sees Lori’s romantic emotional turmoil begin to unfold. She believes that her husband Rick is dead, yet still wears her wedding ring. Walking into the woods Lori hears branches snapping. The snapping of the branches adds suspense, because it typically indicates an approaching zombie. However, it’s not a zombie; it’s Rick’s best friend Shane. Putting his hand over her mouth, he then pulls her to the ground. She lightly smacks his arm while smiling, saying; “you scared the hell out of me.” Within a few minutes Lori removes her wedding ring and they have sex.  Ultimately, Lori is torn between her past, present, and future life. The reason she continuously wears her wedding ring is because she is still in love with Rick and a part of herself is still loyal to him; she takes off her wedding ring during intimacy with Shane because she feels guilty for having sex with someone other than her husband and because he is Rick’s best friend; and she also wears the wedding ring because it symbolizes her hope that Rick is still alive, and because it keeps her attached to her old life.

Conclusion:

 (Michiru)

(Picture found from: http://www.chia-anime.com/zombie-loan/watch-zombie-loan-2.html)

Both Michiru and Lori feel vulnerable because they are scared of new life. Michiru is left vulnerable because of her parents death, she is scared of zombies, and she is scared of working for Zombie Loan (that is before dying and coming back to life). Lori is vulnerable because her husband is supposedly dead and she is scared of living in a world without her family.

In future episodes of both shows, the male characters mentioned above become competitive with each other for the same reason; their love for a woman (either Lori or Michiru).

“On the path of Zen Guitar, develop your sense of taste as you would your sense of hearing. Learn from those players whose taste you like. Then trust your taste like the cook who knows how hot he likes his chili. If rejection follows, so be it. At least you have satisfied yourself”.

Remember, too, that tastes can change. Some music we learn to appreciate with study. Some music grows on us with the passage of time. And some music we ignore for years until it catches us at exactly the right moment as we are driving down the highway. Play the truth and it will remain the truth for listeners to discover when they are ready” (p67) ~Philip Sudo, Zen Guitar

With music being one of the primary focuses of week-five, I decided to search for Asian musicians outside the genre of pop and hip-hop to see what influence they have had in guitar-centric rock.

I’ve assembled and present for your viewing & listening pleasure a short list of serious, established Asian/American players of the highest caliber who leave behind the mass of teenage marketed genres. These cats are true musicians who transcend stereotypes by being true to themselves and their music. I selected a video for each musician that showcases their craft, rather than posting their bands music videos; this way it is the musician talent being presented instead of a producers story.

John Myung bassist and founding member of Dream Theater (Wikipedia):

“Born in Chicago to Korean parents, Myung grew up in Kings Park, Long Island, New York. He played the violin from the age of five until he was asked to play electric bass in a local band when he was fifteen. He accepted. After graduating from high school he and his high school friend John Petrucci enrolled at the Berklee College of Music, where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy. The three of them formed the band Majesty with another friend from high school, keyboardist Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins. The band would later change its name to Dream Theater.

…he has appeared as a guest on numerous records. He also played keyboards in the spoof band Nightmare Cinema… Myung’s main influences include Chris Squire, Steve Harris, Geddy Lee and Cliff Burton, and their respective bands Yes, Iron Maiden, Rush, and Metallica.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kirk Hammet, the lead guitarist for Exodus (1980-83) followed by his current band, Metallica (Wiki):

“Hammett was born on November 18, 1962 in San Francisco to a Filipina mother Teofila “Chefela” Oyao from Cebu and an Irish Merchant Marine father.[3] He attended De Anza High School in Richmond, California.” 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Herman Li was born in Hong Kong in 1974, and is the lead guitarist for the band Dragon Force (Wiki):

Li is such an influential guitarist that Ibanez produced a signature model for him

Click here to view the embedded video.

Arnel Pineda replaced Steve Perry as the lead singer for the classic rock band, Journey (Wiki):

“Born in 1967 is a Filipino singer-songwriter. He came to prominence in the Philippines during the 1980s and internationally in 2007 as the lead singer of the American rock band Journey.”

“Videos… performing cover songs by Journey, Survivor, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Air Supply, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, Stryper and other popular acts from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, began appearing on YouTube in February 2007. On June 28, 2007, Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a longtime fan and friend of Pineda who uploaded many of these videos, to ask for Pineda’s contact information. Schon sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting him to audition for Journey. Pineda initially dismissed the e-mail as a hoax, but after being persuaded by Gomez, he finally replied to Schon’s e-mail. Ten minutes later, Pineda received a phone call from Schon. On August 12, Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for a two-day audition. The star-struck Pineda was welcomed warmly but he described the audition as “nerve-wracking, tense”. On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the lead singer of Journey.”

 A feature-length documentary of Pineda’s story titled, “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” was released in 2012. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

This list was just a sampling of the many Asian/American rock musicians who stand head & shoulders above the rest. There are a host of others in America– many of whom can be heard right here at Evergreen’s public radio station, KAOS 89.3 Olympia.

This artist I had no idea about and Asian American. Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. His name is Gowe. Good lyrics, check him out and tell me what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I believe my obsession is going to be Asian American rappers around the world or Pacific Northwest.

http://seerofsarcasm.com/post/51176465688/things-no-one-tells-you-about-getting-into-cosplay

I honestly wish this blog post existed when I first got into cosplay.

• There will be people who tell you that you’re too fat, or thin, or black, or white to cosplay a character. For every one of them, there are 10 who love your cosplay. Don’t listen to the hate.

I used to believe that I should only cosplay characters who were dark skinned because I was afraid of the opinions of others. But in anime, there aren’t many black characters, let alone female black characters that are my body type. So I just decided to cosplay whomever I wanted, and this of course was met with a lot of obstacles.

• There will always be someone that you feel is better than you. Always. Learn to accept that.
• When you go to a convention in the first costume you ever make yourself, there will be a 100% chance of a more experienced cosplayer in the same cosplay. And you will want to throw yours away. Don’t do it.
• There will always be someone who gets more attention than you for the same cosplay. Don’t let that make you bitter. Likewise, don’t let it make you power hungry.

I was inexperienced, looked down upon, people would not want to take pictures with me because I wasn’t cosplaying a character that was the right “fit” for me. It did get to me, and for awhile all I could hear was the opinions of all those who didn’t matter. I wasn’t happy. Cosplay was supposed to be my escape, a chance to not be myself for a little while, to be free from all of the judging looks I got on a regular basis. A chance to show my artistic skills and be surrounded by like-minded people. I got so lost in what people were saying that I forgot the main reason that I cosplayed, to have fun!

To enjoy myself, with my friends, that is why I got into cosplay in the first place. After that I decided to put the play back in cosplay. I stopped caring what people said, so long as I was comfortable and having fun with my friends. I was tired of listening to put downs, and even more tired of people not wanting to cosplay anymore because of them. So now I cosplay with the hope that one day the community will become an accepting place once again where anyone can dress up to be whoever or what ever they want to be. I want this to be a safe place for everyone to be their geeky selves again. So let’s do it right!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Korean pop music

In this post, I’d like to focus on male K-pop(Korean pop) groups and makeup. As I wrote about Big Bang the last blog, a lot of male K-pop groups are wearing makeup, especially eye-makes.

I know some musicians in Japan and America are also wearing makeup. However, the purposes might be different.

On the other hand, male K-pop groups look like impractical and fantasy people as if they come out from Manga or Amine.

They emphasis on their eyes and create individual looks.

I suppose that K-pop fans like them because of not only songs but also fantasy and impractical looks.

So for my interest, I was looking up different traditional Asian crafts to try out, and the first one that popped up was Origami. I started to research the history behind it, and I didn’t know how interesting it was!

So first of all, “ori” is Japanese for folding, and “kami” is Japanese for paper… so Origami means folding paper. The goal is to fold a single square of paper with out making any cuts or using any glue.

Origami originally started in China where paper was invented in 105 A.D. Paper was then  brought to Japan by Monks during the 6th century. There wasn’t always much paper available, so in the beginning, it was only for the rich. Origami was also only used for ceremonial purposes in the beginning.

There weren’t written directions for Origami for many centuries, instead the directions were just passed down from one generation to the next.

The crane (“orizuru”)  is the most popular origami symbol, and the meaning behind it is actually really sweet! It is said that if you fold 1000 paper cranes, you will get one wish; or you will have your heart’s desire come true. Well Sadako Sasaki was an atomic bomb survivor, but by the time she turned 12, she got leukemia. She was in the hospital, and she started folding her cranes…and she got to 644 cranes and then she died. Her classmates ended up folding the rest of the 1000 for her, and she was buried with a wreath of 1000 cranes. So now the crane has became a global peace symbol. There s a statue of Sadako at the Hiroshima Peace Park. It is a statue of a little girl holding a crane, and often people will fold 1000 paper cranes and hang them from her hands.

My goal is to try to learn how to fold a paper crane within the next week, and I will post a picture of how it turns out for me… wish me luck:)

These days, American restaurants and cafes such as McDonalds, Denny’s, Wendy’s, Starbucks, and so on have came to Japan. Even though their names are the same in America and Japan, the menus are totally different because of different tastes between Americans and Japaneses. They are changed as American Japanese restaurants. I wonder if there are some Japanese chain restaurants in America. Today, I’ll talk about Yoshinoya which is one of Japanese chain restaurants coming to America, and I’ll compare with the menus between Japan and America.

Yoshinoya is one of Japanese beef bowl restaurants. Beef bowls are made of a bowl of rice topped with beef and simmered onion. In Japan, this beef bowl chain operates 1,190 outlets in Japan. And they are really famous especially among young people, because it is easy and cheap to have. Since 1979, Yoshinoya came and expanded in America. Now we have 102 restaurants in America. In their American website, they said “Welcome to the Yoshinoya Companies website, where the authentic Japanese restaurant meets the American culture.”

I think this expression is really interesting, because they say “authentic” and also “American culture.” Let’s check their menu of bowls and compare them between Japanese and American.

American bowls menus: Beef Bowl, Teriyaki Chicken Bowl, Combo Bowl, Vegetable Bowl, Yaki Udon Bowl (Chicken and Beef)

Japanese bowls menus: Beef Bowl, Beef Bowl with green onion and raw egg, Pork Bowl, Kalbi Bowl

-Yoshinoya in American

-Yoshinoya in Japanese

As we know through menus, even the menus with only bowls, they are totally different. I doubt that in Japan they have Teriyaki on the menu as Japanese restaurants in America do. This would make people in America think that Japanese people have Teriyaki every day. Is this Japanese American food culture?