I had a good reason?（ちゃんとした理由があった？)

Okay, okay, so skipping an entire month is a fundamental "no-no" in the unwritten rules of blogging, I admit. I could argue that, hey, of all the months to skip, at least I picked the short one, but of course I had to do so in a leap year... And then there's the fact that I didn't start up again until March was well underway, and...

Well. Suffice it to say that excuses won't get me far.

But! I did have a good reason.

Now, I didn't say anything before I had official papers in my hand, but waaay back in December, I was upgraded from "alternate" to "provisionally passed" on the MEXT research scholarship.

Unexpected? Yes, but please, you're not focusing on the right part here.

The right part is: WA-HEY! I GOT THE MEXT SCHOLARSHIP!

That's better.

While my consulate has never had a student be "provisionally passed" and then turned down due to a "rare circumstance," I am nothing if not excessively paranoid and thus I felt that celebrating too early would ensure my being the first to fall into that category. Thus, I did not inform you, my adoring public, promptly after being upgraded.

... now, admittedly, that doesn't explain why I didn't blog immediately after getting official confirmation in February... but this time, I can argue that I was busy. With stuff. I do stuff, you know.

And really, with my going back to Japan in a few weeks for two years minimum, I should wind up being a much more interesting blogger, in the long run, so really, this temporary lapse was really for the best for all parties concerned.

...don't think about it too hard, and that explanation solves everything. No, really, just move on, and it'll be fine.

Now, as I am still doing stuff (mainly reading voraciously and attempting to finish a warm and fuzzy scarf to keep me toasty in the non-desert), the step-by-step "Get the MEXT Research Scholarship" guide I was planning on writing will just have to wait. (I also have yet to be struck by inspiration for such a post--trust me, you don't want to force these things. My creative voice doesn't like being rushed, you know.) However, in the interim, I can direct any and all interested parties here, which is, I think, quite a good place to start if you're looking for such information. A good deal of my advice--all that can be done from outside of Japan at least--would essentially be a re-hash of what is stated within that series.

If you are applying for the 2013 scholarship, good luck. If you haven't started working on your application yet, I would recommend doing so--even just a rough draft of your proposal. Mine went through (approximately) 47,000 edits before I was finally satisfied enough to send it in, after all. Best to get a jump on these things.

This is Edo, signing off with her head full of various carry-on options.

One Paragraph Reviews: Waters (一段落レビュー：ウォーターズ)

And thus begins a new saga (which sounds much better than a series, really) in which Edo covers any number of films and dramas in the span of one paragraph (or two, I have to give myself some leeway here, lest the whole plan collapse in upon itself before its even begun). Think of it not as exchanging depth for breadth, but rather as an intriguing art form particularly suited to the blogging medium and our modern fast-paced culture, so focused on the here-and-now and all that instant gratuity nonsense.

Oh ho, I hear you cry, art form my hiney. What is this, but a simple ruse by which Edo may exert as little effort as possible in order to produce a wide and theoretically reader-enticing array of what will inevitably turn out to be nothing more than pure and utter drivel best crammed into some lost corner of cyberspace, or, indeed, never written at all, instead of brazenly placed upon this blog in front of the unwitting and entirely unsuspecting eye of the casual reader? Oh ho, a clever ruse sir, but I will not be taken in!

... I hear you cry. You should probably speak with someone about that nasty habit of run-on sentences you appear to be developing. Left unchecked, I hear such conditions can escalate quite rapidly.

In any case, you are, needlessly verbose or no, quite wrong. While this project is being undertaken in an attempt to cover a wider array of media than I have been able to up to the present time, it is also meant to be an exercise in succinct writing. After all, as brevity is the soul of wit, and tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes...

Come to think of it, grandiloquence does sort of get out on a loophole, doesn't it? Provided it isn't tedious, of course, and that's really all dependent on who you ask... or who you don't, in fact, and considering the fact that I, as a rule, don't ever ask anyone when t comes to the contents of this blog, it stands to reason that...

(Yes, yes, Edo, you've taken this joke far enough. Get on with it already.)


(...there's a reason I used one of Polonius's speeches to audition for Hamlet, you know.)


All cheap and over-extended jokes aside, this is, in actuality, a sort of exercise for myself. As many of you may (or may not have) noticed, I am often a bit too... verbose for my own good, and while I can produce works limited by quite short page or word counts, such productions require a great deal of editing on my part. Detailed length has always come easier to me than succinct fact.

Ergo, a challenge. Review things in a paragraph (or two, if I just can't help myself, plus a nice line of conclusion drawing it all together), combating my deeply ingrained tendency towards loquaciousness and yet at the same time covering all the most basic and fundamental points of that which is being discussed. From my perspective, anyway.

Look, it's a personal blog. If you want objective, pick up your geometry text book.

(... I'm not sure, and I pointedly avoided most topics which tend to be assumed objective by the unassuming public such as history and literature textbooks, but are any groundbreaking yet controversial advances being made in the field of radii and hypotenuses...?)


Thus, without further ado, here is today's review. (Except for this rhyme, for which we make time.)

ウォーターズ (Waters)

A movie that is, on the surface, nothing more than a comedy that forays into the life of a ragtag bunch of men (ranging from young to... well, less young) who wind up forced into the hosting business, for one reason or another. Oh, if only. Our leading men are all led to one particular host club, which requires a start-up investment from its employees due to its current state of dilapidation. While all the characters theoretically have their own convoluted back-stories, the only ones the movie really cares about are those of Oguri Shun and his (potential) love interest because, well, they're the pretty ones. Twists in the story (confusing as it may be) are inevitable, and the movie rounds itself off with some casual misogyny involving the unfortunate implications underlying the characterization of women with money and power (because men in those same positions are absolute paragons of virtue).


In Conclusion: Don't bother, unless you really like Oguri Shun and aren't too hip with that whole "satisfying ending" idea.

This is Edo, signing off whilst realizing that she may have to ignore some textbook rules about paragraph construction in order to give this series any chance at success.

(Yes, yes, I know this is rather late... The funny thing is, I had it almost completely written on Monday, and it was just the actual posting that kept slipping my mind... Oh, well. Consider it a rather mildly cautionary tale against procrastination.)

I guess we did it. (勝ったかもな。)

http://sopastrike.com/numbers/

Let no one say that protest does nothing.

A big "kudos" to Wikipedia and Google especially. When the easy information network goes down, people finally pay attention.

But there's always more to do.

Let's make sure it stays down.

This is Edo, signing off and promising a return to actual content in the coming week. No, really. I mean it.

Then and now. (当時と現在。)

I thought this would be a particularly apt topic for a New Year's Eve post. (Well, Eve still where I am, anyway. You'll have to bear with me on that one.)

Sometimes I, unbeknownst to the common observer, have mild periods of prolonged philosophical pondering whilst engaging in the everyday humdrum of cleanliness upkeep. (The lengths I go to for alliteration.) Today I found myself thinking of a common problem I've noticed cropping up in my life more and more recently, sometimes with alarming frequency.

It seems to me that I am in a constant state of flux between the utterly uneducated, unevolved, and really simply naive "then" and the supremely sophisticated, adult, remarkably mature "now." Sometimes the "then" will be in the (somewhat) distant past, and sometimes it will be disturbingly nearby... say, in the past year or so. The period of transition is either instantaneous and undetectable or, conversely, so gradual and unassuming that by the time I reach the tipping point, the build-up has been such that I am thoroughly acclimated to my "now"ness once I am able to define myself within its parameters.

My pondering, therefore, leads me to wonder whether this state of flux will eventually lead to a permanent state of "now" where I am thoroughly and completely "grown-up" and developed, or whether I will continue progressing through these stages, each of varying length, until my dotage, constantly looking back and lamenting how very foolish I was in only the past decade.

If, of course, I will reach a "now" at some point that will last me until the end, the question becomes "when" is "now"? It hardly seems fair if that "now" is much beyond, say, the 3/4 mark of my life, as it seems that I won't have much time to spend basking in my understanding and true appreciation of the world. Yet, if the "now" comes to early, say before the half-way point, how can I truly say that I am at my peak? Would such a "now" be worth striving for, if it would only lead to stagnation and developmental decay?

However, if my life (and, extending this bit of rationale, that of everyone else) is meant to be and indeed forced into being in a constant state of flux, how can we truly say that we are the same person from month to month, year to year? For example, I would, if possible, completely disassociate myself from the me at, say, 19, for no other reason than sheer embarrassment at my emotional immaturity, undeveloped thought processes and the resulting actions taken. I would not trust an individual who knew me only at that time period to, say, give a character reference. Even so, being who I was at 19 is somehow integral to who I am now--without experiencing that period of blatant "stupidity," I would not have developed into the person who sits here writing somewhat pointless and yet hopefully thought-provoking blog posts close on the midnight hour.

And when it comes right down to it, there's really nothing that I, as a person, can do about the situation either way, aside from talking to you lot about it. Nevertheless, these are the places that my mind wanders. Just something I think about, of an evening, as it were.

I'm no Descartes over here, people.

Regardless, a Happy New Year and a 良い年を to all my lovely readers. My resolution, as it has been for a few years now, is to not be so easily embarrassed, and to maintain a level of self-confidence such that the passing thoughts of strangers observing my actions no longer preoccupy me.

This is Edo, signing off whilst welcoming everyone into the year of the dragon.

Welcome to America. (アメリカへようこそ。)

I can't ███████ we've ███████ it to get ████ far. Are you █████ to be an ████████ yet?

████ is Edo, ███████ off ██████████ █████████ and ███████████ ██████ to ███████ ████ ██████.

Fa la la la la.... (ファ ラ ラ ラ ラ。。。)

Ok, so, technically that's nothing more than a shoddy transliteration at best, but come on now. Christmas carols are a distinctly non-Japanese phenomenon, and when you start getting picky over that sort of thing, there's really no helping you at all.

As those of my readers in the Western hemisphere, Japan, Australia... and, oh, any number of other places may have already gathered (despite, perhaps, some serious effort to the contrary), it is Christmas time once again. Yes, a time when the essences of holly and jolly and a good many other things ending in "olly" (thank you Terry Pratchett) are veritably afloat in the breeze, waiting to assault unsuspecting passerby with unbridled feelings of peace and goodwill towards mankind.

Oh, and humbug to all the Christians that insist on claiming this holiday for their own and keeping it away from all of us heathen types--you stole it first, now we're simply assimilating it back. Besides, the Doctor celebrates Christmas (to an extent), and I've yet to see him at church of a Sunday morning.

What I mean to say, in my odd and rambling way, is of course...

Let's make some gingerbread!

Look, I found a recipe, it's delicious, and I feel like sharing. All right? It's Christmas-time. I think I can be forgiven a little deviance from my Japan-theme at Christmas-time.

If not? ... well, a very merry Bah humbug to you too, sir.

(I may be hinting at my favorite Christmas movie here... but that's for next time.)

Gingerbread! (Credit for the original to Epicurious, of course.)

Yes, so I used the website's picture... I ate all mine, back off.

Hardware
1 9x9 Baking Pan
1 Electric Mixer + Large Mixing Bowl (Or not, if you're feeling particularly ripped today.)
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Spatula (Or, if you're like anything like me, two spatulas, because the first one just didn't live up to your expectations.)

Software
2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter, Softened
2/3 cup Molasses (NOT Blackstrap)
2/3 cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
3 tablespoons Finely Grated Peeled Fresh Ginger (Or you can, like I did, use the stuff from a tube. It tastes just dandy, and t's a hell of a lot easier to deal with... though I'm sure Alton Brown wouldn't approve. Let's not tell him, all right?)

2/3 cup Hot Water (Or, um... not. Read on.)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Yes, fahrenheit. I don't speak your strange centigrade language, at least not willingly. Butter up your baking pan, and no cheating by using cooking spray either. I mean it, butter that bad boy like there's no mañana. Try using the wrapper your butter came in--it might have enough residue to get you by. If not, crack open a new stick (unsalted, of course) and go to town. 

Combine your dry ingredients in the mixing bowl that is not connected to your electric mixer. Not. Quit being difficult. Your dry ingredients, again, are your flour, your baking soda, your spices (cinnamon and allspice) and salt. I usually just mix 'em up with one of the measuring spoons. Yes, I know the cooking show guys don't, but they also don't do their own dishes. This is one point where I'm going to help you more than Alton Brown will, kiddos, trust me. That man's dishwasher must weep nightly...

Slap the rest of your ingredients minus the water into your electric mixer's bowl, then beat on medium until they're combined. I'd go for a paddle attachment if you have one, as the whisk is going to be difficult (but delicious) to clean off. 

Seriously, I told you to use the mixer, don't whine to me now because you didn't want to bother hauling it out on such short notice. That ginger's taking a while to mix in, isn't it? Don't say I didn't warn you, punk. (You'll also notice how quick and easy this step was if you took my advice and used the ginger-in-a-tube method. If you didn't... well... just think of that sore arm as the precursor to rippling biceps. Or Popeye forearms, but hey.)

Reduce the speed on your mixer (or hey, turn it off all together, no rush) and add in your "dry" mix slowly. By this I mean, of course, in batches. You can do the Alton Brown thing and put it all on some sort of easily manipulated platform like a cheapo paper plate for slow and steady loading, or you can improvise in your easily-manipulated-platform-free kitchen and use that cup measure you had out for the flour anyway. In this case, you might want to stop the mixer every time you add in a bit more of the dry stuff, otherwise you run the risk of losing a cup measure to the mixer gods and generally causing a riot in your previously calm and serene kitchen. Not good times. Try and get one dose of dry stuff fairly well blended before adding the next. 

Once all of your dry is mixed in and your mixer is chugging along smoothly, things start to get a little... interesting. See, the recipe says to now add the hot water and mix until combined. I... completely forgot this step, and spent the next ten minutes licking the beater clean. Not to mention it turned out excellently anyway.

So, you know, use your own judgement here.

Pour/scoop/spackle the batter into your buttered pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. If your oven is anything like mine, you will be amazed, amazed, when it's done t 35 minutes on the nose. This recipe is magical. ...or taking out the water did something magical. Ah HA, who's laughing now, oh recipe author?

This should make about nine squares, and that's how I divided mine up, more or less. Delicious warm from the oven (let it cool for about fifteen minutes first) or microwaved for about 30 seconds in the future. My grandma probably toasts it, and that's all well and good... I just like my gingerbread soft is all. 

I know it doesn't sound like much, but trust me. This stuff is delicious. It will change your mind about gingerbread, believe you me. I am currently plotting my next adventure into the realm of gingerbread as we speak, and technically I screwed up the recipe.

Try it. Your house will smell like Christmas and your family and friends will have the pleasure of a rare, first-hand encounter with prime baked goods. Everyone wins.

This is Edo, signing off and wondering if you can "plot" cookery.

(For those who like their recipes without my exciting color commentary, the original I used is here.)

Stop Censorship. (検閲やめよう。)

This is Edo, signing off and hoping she made a bit of a difference.

Men on trains. (電車に乗る男。)

I really shouldn't start series like I did in that last post, because I know that I'll inevitably get bored with the idea long before its completion.

There's also the fact that this is not, contrary to popular belief, a BUCK-TICK fan blog, and I should try to remember that every now and again for the sake of my adoring audience.

Thus, we return, once again, to that old stand-by...

Movie Review!

... or, well, movie-summary-and-stream-of-consciousness-discussion, but that's about as close as you're ever going to get on this blog, quite frankly.

So what, I hear you cry, is the movie today?

電車男 (でんしゃおとこ, Train Man)


Let me preface this by saying that I really like this movie. I am thus biased, and therefore this will not, by any means, be a fair critique. If you want fancy-pants movie analysis where the thing is picked apart in a cinematic sense by an unbiased judge, you're reading the wrong blog.

If you want someone to briefly summarize and then discuss the possible (and probably idealistic) social ramifications, however, then Google has steered you right at last!

(This blog is not implying in any way shape or form that Google is an inferior search engine--quite the opposite, in fact--but merely trying for a cheap laugh. Please, oh hosting corporation of my blog, forgive me.)

電車男 was a manga, then a television drama, and finally, a movie. While I have not read the manga, I have seen a portion the drama, but my opinion was unfortunately colored by having seen the movie first--it's hard to sit through eleven episodes of something when you've just seen it all condensed into two hours.

Which is not to say that I will not, again, attempt to finish each and every episode. Someday.

BUT, that's not what we're here to discuss.

This movie is cute, makes you feel good, and generally leaves viewers with a positive outlook on life. Being the shallow cheerful type that I am, I tend to prefer movies that don't make me miserable all day, or indeed leave me sobbing uncontrollably through the last twenty minutes (I'm looking at you, Finding Neverland.) This is why I have yet to watch おくりびと (Okuribito, Departures) despite it apparently being an absolutely fantastic movie.

But I digress. Again. Hey, it's what I do.

We begin by meeting our protagonist. He is an otaku in Tokyo who works as some sort of tech support, spends a great deal of time on internet message boards, and crawls Akihabara on a regular basis for anime, manga and video game memorabilia, like you do. Keep that middle bit in mind, it's the entire plot of this movie, kids.

But again, I must digress, because this. Is. Important.


There is currently a rash (yes, a rash) of young people in the US proudly calling themselves "otaku" because of their love for anime and manga and/or what they presume to be the entirety of Japanese pop culture.

Stop. It. Right now.

I don't care what Wikipedia tells you about loan words and all the other nonsense. Being an otaku is not a good thing, nor is it a way of life you should aspire towards. Being an otaku is not the back-bone of Heisei Japan. Being an otaku is CERTAINLY not something that'll score you a ton of points in Heisei Japanese society.

Being an otaku is a bad thing. At least in most social circles. Otaku is thrown around as an insult, as it generally means that the person in question is obsessed to the point of exclusion. Obsessed, and not in the middle-school "oh, I am OBSESSED with the Backstreet Boys!*" obsessed either. Normal, everyday activities are sacrificed for the sake of the obsession. Social relationships suffer. Hygiene tends to suffer, as does proper nutrition. The obsession very nearly takes over their lives. It is not a good thing.

*I refuse to move with the times. 

Admittedly, I partially blame questionable tourism promotion tactics for helping this idea along, but Japan is not the land of otaku. Yes, it's where the word and, arguably, one form of the lifestyle originated, but that's like saying that everyone in the US is a redneck due to the existence of a certain population that, frankly, we'd rather hide from the international sphere in the metaphorical national broom closet. You are taking a small, actually quite unpopular population and generalizing it to an entire country. Worse, you're appropriating its terminology without fully understanding the connotations or consequences therein.

Simply liking anime and/or manga does not make you an otaku. It just means that you like anime and/or manga, and that's fine. I cannot emphasize these things enough.

Simply put: 99 times out of 100, you, kid, are not an otaku. If you were, you wouldn't want to brag about it. You're quite possibly a weeaboo, but that's not something to be proud of. Take a Japanese culture class, punk.

...anger issues much, Edo?

Back to the topic at hand.

Now. Our protagonist is seemingly content with his run-of-the-mill otaku life. One day, he goes shopping in Akihabara, like you do, and has a good time of it. Of course, he is embarrassed to be seen as or thought of as an otaku (hint hint, weeaboos) once outside of his safe and contained social sphere (welcome to Akiba, kids), but such is life. He hides his purchases in a backpack, and generally tries to be inconspicuous. He gets some flack on the train from a randomly rude Tokyo couple when his merchandise falls out of his bag (seriously, do these people just hide until the foreigner leaves? Who says stuff like that? Bet it never happens in Osaka, guys), but is generally unscathed and puts on his handy dandy mp3 player for the ride home.

Until... Belligerent Drunken Salary Man (tm) Attacks!

(I never saw this either, though I find it much easier to believe as I have smelled it.)

As being drunk and disorderly in Japan is commonplace and generally excusable because "well, he had been drinking, he couldn't help it" (no, seriously), it is not surprising when a belligerent drunken salary man (now BDSM... ha, ha, what would Freud say) gets on the train. Oh, bother, thinks our hero, an turns up the volume on his music. BDSM hassles a few chatty middle aged ladies for being (of all things) too loud, then basically continues around the train car, looking for a fight. Up with the music, down with the gaze, oh brave hero.

Don't worry, it gets better.

Unfortunately, BDSM makes his way down to this attractive young lady that our hero has been forlornly eyeing since she boarded the train at his stop. She's trying to read her book, but we know that BDSM won't be having any of that, no siree bob.

Before things can get too hairy with the attractive young lady (AYL), our hero stands valiantly, stuttering in defiance at the belligerent and actually quite intimidating BDSM. BDSM, as you may have guessed, is not a fan of such a ballsy attack on his belligerent and drunken actions, and proceeds to get right in our hero's face. This does, however, succeed in saving AYL from his very, very dubious intentions. We proudly cheer our hero on and hope to Buddha he doesn't get his teeth knocked in and his glasses snapped in half.

Luckily, the train pulls up to the next stop before things get horribly ugly, and policemen race on board to apprehend our BDSM, having been phoned earlier by the poor middle aged ladies. The train is saved, and our hero actually is a hero! Huzzah!

After making their report to the police, both middle aged ladies promptly ask for our hero's contact information, as they want to send him thank-you gifts. (Though I have never seen the custom applied in quite this situation, this would be a very reasonable action in Japan--gift-giving is quite commonplace, whether visiting a person's house for the first time or coming back from vacation. Gifts to the hero of the train? Sounds good.) As he awkwardly stumbles through writing down the information (and who doesn't love an awkward protagonist?) he is shocked and amazed when AYL also asks for his information. In movie-land, we all know: something good is going to happen here.

The story then follows our protagonist's misadventures as he attempts to woo the attractive young lady from the train after he obtains her contact information from the label on the thank-you gift she sends via post. What makes it a good movie, however, is the fact that he bases his approach and actions almost entirely upon the advice of the people on the internet message board he created upon having the confrontation with the belligerent Drunken Salary Man.

(Just so you know, I'm not being that horrible a blogger here by repeatedly not using the hero's name--it's actually pointedly not made a big deal of in the movie, and he is mostly referred to as "電車男." AYL herself is referred to as Hermes after she gives our hero the gift of some fine Hermes-brand crockery, which our hero amusingly has no clue about before his internet friends tell him.)

The interactions online are, of course, in my opinion, the best part of the film, and what make it truly remarkable. We are introduced to a whole slice of society that finds refuge in social interaction online, all for their own reasons and all with their own (in some cases, quite considerable) baggage. We have a broken-hearted and possibly abused nurse, a hikkikomori (or shut-in, a young person who refuses to leave his room even to attend school or even interact with his family...which is a disturbingly common problem in Japan at present), three societal rejects who spend their time in internet cafes, a business man, and a housewife. This is, I admit, where the drama is stronger, as it is able to showcase a much larger variety of "internet people" (being a longer medium, time-wise), but the selection in the movie is still pretty damn good.

While the movie does tend to gloss over some societal problems by having their solutions come a bit too quickly (again, I can be a little forgiving due to time constraints and the general saccharine nature of this sort of movie), it does an excellent job of illustrating a number of reasons why people would find themselves retreating into someone else's life, and through an online message board at that. The movie touches on depression, loveless marriages, (possibly) the recent trend of poor young people basically living in internet cafes (the things you learn in depressing higher level Japanese courses, I tell ya), and of course the shut-in problem, and that's just all I can think of off the top of my head. It humanizes people and problems that tend to be marginalized or even ignored by the larger society, and thus brings the real people in these situations into positions where maybe, just maybe they feel comfortable confiding in someone, anyone, about their situation and what they can possibly do to adjust towards a better life.

... you know, sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have gone into anthropology after all.

...but then I remember the forms you have to fill out to support these kinds of hypotheses with interviews, and how often my personal philosophy tends more towards the misanthropic...

....and I snap out of it again.

Anyway.

I recommend this movie for just about everyone, especially those who want to know a bit more about the underbelly of Japanese society yet stay out of the realm of crime. It's also good for those who mistakenly believe that Japan is populated entirely by anime and manga nuts--while it shows that side of the culture, it also demonstrates just how on the fringe it is to be that deeply focused on... well, anything, really, but that's another post.

Also good for those of you interested in Japanese-language internet speak/common typos and abbreviations--I thought that those little bits of detail were incredibly interesting, linguistic geek that I am. That, of course, is also the reason why I sometimes need to turn on the subtitles--quick-fire chat-room style speak/text is a bit difficult to keep up with. All in the name of a good challenge!

And hey, this one's actually on Netflix, so you really have no excuse.

...I know that by now that some of you must be insisting that I prefer the movie to the drama because in the movie, our hero is actually quite attractive once he cleans himself up a bit whereas in the drama... not so much. Well sir, I say to you...

You have a point. But still, the fact that I saw the movie first is still probably the biggest reason--I'm usually the most heavily influenced by the medium I first come into contact with.

Watch the movie, kids; it's good, amusing, touching, and surprisingly socially conscious.

This is Edo, signing off with the strangest urge to attack the drama once again... and the realization that she should probably be a bit nicer. But then again, there was that whole disclaimer about misanthropy, so...

How about a little democracy? (民主主義ためしてみない？)

I promise that, eventually, I will stop making posts about BUCK-TICK. Exclusively, that is. Asking me to stop entirely would be like asking Haruo Shirane to give up pre and early modern Japanese literature.

... it's not going to happen.

Ahem.

Anyway, in celebration of ditching their old label (or being ditched, and making the best of it... take what news and interpretation you will), BUCK-TICK is releasing a compilation set--two albums, one for 87-99, and the other for 00-10. Considering they've been putting out music since at a rate of roughly one album per year (... ok, give or take), they have a lot of material to choose from.

HOWEVER. Being the trend-setting, hip and groovy band that they are, they've decided that they are not fit to decide on the final line up.

No, they leave that...

To us, the dear, beloved slathering fans.

Oh, democracy.

http://buck-tick.com/25th/special/ranking.html

Go, vote, be merry. One song per album per 24-hour period, mind you, but the sentiment holds.

I do feel like somebody's been abusing the vote, though... rigging IP addresses, hiring friends, hacking websites... I'm not sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to have to work hard to get some of my choices on the list.

... What better way than to recruit a blog audience?

... Ok, you're right, it would help if I had a blog audience. Every little bit helps.

So, unless you have some choices of your own (which I would by no means try to talk you out of... unless you're one of those people voting for both versions of ICONOCLASM... I mean, come on, the TABOO version is clearly superior, and, quite frankly, all the ICONOCLASM we need on one compilation album), why not click a few in my corner? I'll even link every title to the song itself, so you can judge for yourself! What a responsible campaign manager I am.

To vote, click on the big button with 投票ページへ (To the Voting Page) written on it, then click the 楽曲をみる (View the Songs) button below the album you want to vote on. Select your song, click 投票する (Vote), then enter your nickname, gender (男性 is guy, 女性 is girl), age (SHOULD be self explanatory) and prefecture. I use 京都府 (Kyoto), of course, but feel free to choose wherever you prefer. Then just click 送信する (Transmit) and you're done! Be sure to click the bottom button (ランキングページへ戻る, Return to the Ranking Page) if you want to vote for another song.

... and I just realized what a massively long undertaking this will be, and thus have deigned to split this post up, following BUCK-TICK's example. But, uh, maybe into more than two sections. Because... wow.

Anyway, starting from the beginning...

SEXUAL XXXX!, 1987 (The Hair Spring!)

You know, since they're using the 1990 version of HURRY UP MODE.

I'm all for either HYPER LOVE or DO THE "I LOVE YOU." Both have good versions on NOT GREATEST HITS, true, but none of them seem to be making the list so far... so.... yea. SISSY BOY is a close third, and ILLUSION squeezes in at fourth.

Next!

SEVENTH HEAVEN, 1988 (Ego, Atsushi, ego.)

I'm going either CAPSULE TEARS -PLASTIC SYNDROME III- or Oriental Love Story on this one. "But Edo!" I hear you cry, "what about VICTIMS OF LOVE?" Yes, well. I adore the song, but not this version. Number one is the live version from RAZZLE DAZZLE, number two is the NOT GREATEST HITS version, and this one is only third by default. I'd rather encourage their progress, thank you.

Continuing on.

TABOO, 1989 (It's definitely an 80's album.)

ICONOCLASM. Full stop. Is there any other choice, really? I admit, it's difficult to see if you haven't been involved in a live performance, but... just trust me on this one.
(And yes, I know, SEX FOR YOU does make me giggle... but... ICONOCLASM. Come on.)

Moving right along.

悪の華 (Evil Blossom), 1990 (The accordion is not actually integral to the plot.)


Originally, I was all for LOVE ME... but, well, NATIONAL MEDIA BOYS is a classic, albeit heavily hyped. I do prefer the live version of LOVE ME from the memento mori tour... but then again this version is superior to the NOT GREATEST HITS version... urgh, decisions.
Well, NATIONAL MEDIA BOYS is already at the top for this half of the compilation, so it doesn't really need our support.

I think one more ought to do it for this post...

HURRY UP MODE (1990 MIX), 1990 (...meh.)


I... have no strong feelings about any song on this album. Probably my least favorite of all their stuff, honestly. What can you do.

... I can't end on that note.

狂った太陽 (Mad Sun), 1991 (B-T's first dabblings in cyberpunk. Also: The Woman Phase continues strong!)


Aaah, there we go. That's some good stuff. Now, since we can't vote for MAD (for good reason, I suppose, given all the hype and air time it gets... but still), I'm all for 太陽ニ殺サレタ (Killed by the Sun). Don't ask me about the gratuitous katakana, I couldn't tell you.

And that's all for today's edition of Gratuitous BUCK-TICK Promotion with Edo, be sure to tune in next time when we discuss passion, betrayal and hopelessness!

This is Edo, signing off with more votes to cast.

Just a little somethin'. (ちっちゃいもんだけなんや。)

I know, I know, I'm a horrible blogger. My only excuse is grad school apps, and really, that's not a great excuse when you think about it. I am, after all, half-way done as of about twenty minutes ago.

(Hooray!)

I will try for some regularity after I'm done with all this hooplah, I promise--I have one or two ideas swimming around in my head, and I'm sure I'll get the gumption to write them up eventually. If only you lot shared my passion for academic studies incorporating gender and Japanese popular culture, then I could share with you the brilliant dissertation topic I came up with last night...

BUT. Since I'm not sure how many seedy academics troll the interwebs in search of brilliant dissertation ideas, I won't. I'm keeping this baby all to myself until at least two professors have seen it.

... I wonder if paranoia is common among those involved in research. Probably.

Anyway.

BUCK-TICK is currently doing some pretty snazzy things, including a new single, a new album, and, yes, that's right, a whole new label. Now all you indie kids can listen to some decent music without feeling guilty about selling out to the man! (Also, wash your hair. Geez.) You can head on over to their website to check it out, or, as always, The Blog-Tick Phenomenon.

Personally, I think you should head over to their official site for a second even if you can't read Japanese, just to experience Atsushi in his shiny cape. It is shiny. On top of his vaguely vampiric hair-style and what appears to be a blue, crushed velvet suit... well. You have to see it now, don't you? Also, Imai has some lovely dandy-esque hair at the moment that I am enjoying thoroughly.

Look, just go, all right? I can't save the image and post it here for you, otherwise you know I would. Go. Go now. It'll take you five seconds. Come on.

How about some mood music for incentive?

I'll even keep it to songs that my dear old grandmother might enjoy.



ミウ(Miu) is definitely underrated. Melodic, haunting, and just all around beautiful.

The video, however... it makes no sense. It does have the haunting bit down, and I admit that anything which focuses on Atsushi's face for such extended periods does certainly qualify for "beautiful"... but still. I love it anyway, sense be damned. Cowboys, body parts, and a reprise of the asylum theme from BRAN-NEW LOVER with some sort of mummy get-up? I'm sure there's some deep, deep imagery going on here, but I'm equally sure that anyone who tried to explain it to me would sound completely off their nut.

Also, Imai is terrifying. Terrifying. He is a genius, yes, and I adore him and all the strange sounds he makes, but good god. Toll's a little scary too. It helps that the last time I heard him interviewed, he sounded like such a stereotypical old Japanese man that I couldn't help but laugh. Imai still sounds like Imai.

... speaking of BRAN-NEW LOVER...



Yes, yes, I know I posted this before, but it's one of my favorite songs, and the video is basically a crazy cyberpunk romp, and that is just awesome.

Also, Atsushi writing in a straight jacket. You don't have to be a slobbering fangirl to appreciate that.

.... the less said about the tentacles, however, the better.

And speaking of underrated songs...



I love 蜉蝣ーかげろうー (Kagerou, Mayfly) as much as the next guy, but I really think it's the single's second track that stands out. You want beautiful and melodic, here's your number right here.

It's an interesting bug theme that they went with... 蜉蝣 meaning mayfly or dragonfly and 空蝉 (Utsusemi) being, loosely, a discarded cicada shell. Of course, Utsusemi is also a character from The Tale of Genji, not to mention a metaphor for this world (as opposed to different Buddhist planes, usually) or a person living in it... And, ok, so, technically, 蜉蝣 can mean ephemerality, which I buy and therefore gives us a Buddhist theme, but my sources insist that reading it as "kagerou" removes that meaning, making it... well, honestly, I suppose that doesn't mean anything when we're talking about V-kei lyrics, if Dir en grey has taught me anything, but I do prefer to be neat, and... oh, forget it.

Really, 空蝉 is just a snazzy kinda song.

Admittedly, I don't belt out the lyrics when it comes on in the car like I do with 蜉蝣, but still.

And... uh... speaking of things you... belt out in various locations... (bear with me here)



Ah, this was the first tour I ever attended. How young and naive I was... and yet excited and appreciative as hell. Especially about the pimp hat and cane (not pictured here, unfortunately).

Admittedly, this is off of the DVD (which I own, but was not at the filming of), so I didn't actually get to see Atsushi's evil-twin-pirate goatee in person...  He did fall off a speaker, though, which was on the one hand very concerning and on the other, hilarious (after, of course, he joked about it, slapped his "bad" leg and showed no ill effects.) Never step on triangular speakers, kids.

Regardless. This is, in my humble opinion (hah), the best arrangement for this song. The original and the NOT GREATEST HITS versions can't even compare in terms of energy and the ability to cheer you the hell up.

Also, the Imai-kick (tm) and Imai-dance (tm) routine is a great workout. Try it, just for the duration of this song, and only when he does it. You'll be panting, I promise. And you wondered how he stays in such good shape.

He does that the whole time. Every show.

... ok, not the whole time, but still, enough so that it's goddamn impressive.

I kinda think he cut the hair so it wouldn't weigh him down anymore.

... BUCK-TICK is awesome.

This is Edo, signing off with a very pointed look at every one of you who did not, after all that, click the link. Come on.