Below are just a few of the advertisements here in Tokyo. They can be found on the televisions, large screens on the buildings around the city, in shops and on the subways. It’s not hard to notice that no matter where you go, there is always something for sale or being pushed at you. So here are a few of them….
Ridley: I really don’t know what it is about this video, but it’s just so creepy. The guy playing the tiger is a brilliant dancer, I’ll give him that much. I don’t know why, it’s a combination of the music, the movements he makes and also the little tail movements. Cool, but creepy. And as with all the advertisements over here, we’ve finally worked out what they’re singing (after quite a bit of debate I might add), it’s ‘Ultra Ultra Ultra-book’. The dancer is also in an advertisement that shows in the cinema here (we went to MIB 3 here, for the experience!). The ad is for discouraging illegal filming of the movies. He also dances like this but with a giant camera on his head. That too is creepy.
Latimer: This ad makes my skin crawl; the sound, the way he moves, the setting- yuck! I feel like my soul has been violated! (He’s a brilliant dancer though!)
Ridley: PonPon girl, as I call her, is everywhere here. There are advertisements in the subways, on little trucks that trundle passed playing her music, in magazines, on TV adverts for fizzy drinks and also on shopping bags carried around by people. I think she’s mad looking, a bit like an Asian Lady GaGa.
Latimer: She’s been following us from station to station and bookshop to bookshop. Leave us be, woman! The song is catchy; but MENTAL… The video is just plain crazy- if I had epilepsy it would give me seizures.
Ridley: I’ve really grown to like this song *rocks side to side with a smile*.
Latimer: No you haven’t, it makes you sick after awhile, that’s not normal.
Ridley: Perhaps….pon pon poooon…
Latimer: Why are the Moomin’s so popular in Japan? A strange Finnish cartoon from the 80’s. Apparently, they now sell Suzuki cars in Japan! Hyaku-pa-cento (100%). That’s all I get out of it. It’s catchy; periodically I will turn to Ridley and sing; “Hyaku-pah-cent-ooh”. It has amused us; the easily amused.
Ridley: I didn’t know what the crazy Moomin witch (and Latimer) were saying for ages. Since I’ve been here, I’ve never had so many words I don’t know spoken at me, I’ve perfected the art of the half smile and non-committed nod. It will get me in trouble one day.
Latimer: There’s a One Piece movie coming out soon and so, it is EVERYWHERE in Japan at the moment. They are in every 7 eleven shop. I don’t watch it, but I am half-thinking I should, but the likelihood is slim. I can’t commit to something that epic any more. I’m not as young as I used to be.
Ridley: Those twenty-five year old bones of yours are creaking pretty badly these days, Lat! Mwhaa. For the record, I have no intention of being sucked in by the bombardment of all the One Piece advertising, I have no time for it, not when I’m barely getting round to seeing my Bleach and Naruto episodes!
On Sunday Latimer and Ridley journeyed to the colourful and crazy Harajuku to see the Harajuku cosplayers. We’ve figured out that the best time to see them is between 2-3pm on a Sunday, on the Harajuku bridge just beside Meiji-jingu shire. We trawled the internet looking for this information and it was hard to come by, so spread the word!
Latimer: Harajuku is one of our favourite places in Tokyo. It’s the fashion hub for the cool, quirky and kitsch Tokyo teenagers. Takeshita-dori is the main street containing all the main shops sporting the standard to down right bizzare fashion trends.
I would love this superman bag. It’s pretty cool (but I may be too old to pull off the awesomeness!).
These pants are what we’ve termed ‘clown style’. It’s colourful, random and just plain crazy.
I love just looking at what people are wearing. While some things are just too crazy for words, I am still impressed and awed by people’s sense of style, however easy it is to come by in the endless shops of Tokyo.
I am currently obsessed with the artistic tattoo tights everyone seems to be sporting; see-through with stars (or birds) twisting around the leg. Very cool (I am determined to find a pair!).
We headed to the Harajuku bridge at 2pm to try and find the cosplayers (these are teenagers who dress in dramatic, over-the-top outfits every Sunday and meet up with their similarly dressed friends to hang out). They have become a tourist attraction. I don’t know if they like getting their pictures taken by random tourists (I’d hate it), but get their pictures taken they do.
I abandoned Ridley and got in as best I could (as respectfully as I could) to snap some shots. We’d searched so long for them, I couldn’t leave without some good photos! (If anyone knows what style this falls under please let us know because we’ve been musing over the point of the white nose strip since we saw them!)
I think these girls in the last picture wanted to kill me, but I love this photo all the same. The looks go perfectly with the image. Plus they are leaning against a black stone covered in Japanese writing; a mix of the old with the new. While I was getting up close and personal (probably too much for all concerned- but I thought they were cool so it was flattery!) Ridley had disappeared! I turned confused; “where is my friend?” I mused aloud, drifting away, wanting to assure the Harajuku girls that I did indeed have one and I was leaving them alone. Then I spotted Ridley at the forefront of a large crowd… what was she up to?
Ridley: Well at first, I was huddling by the wall on the bridge, baking in the sunlight and wondering where Latimer had disappeared to, she was lost amongst the hoard of photo-hungry tourists. Personally I think she started it all-the gathering of crazy camera snappers. As she started to buzz around the poor crouching Harajuku cosplayers, one by one, people began to join her. Soon she had created a crowd, all surrounding her, as she slipped in and out, happily snapping everyone! I dismissed myself from the madness, with a hurried ‘I’m off over to the wall!’ There I stayed, staring across at the ‘free hugs’ people. There was row of a few girls and two boys with signs offering free hugs.At one point, I’m nearly certain they were smiling over at me and nodding, as if encouraging me to come over. Which I would never do, I’m not a huggy type. I wanted to tell them I wasn’t alone and in no need of comfort, that my stoic expression was just my default one but I knew it would all seem like lies, as I couldn’t produce my friend, I only knew her general area. It was then to my left I noticed a frenzy, there was lots of colour, I saw a pink wig and suddenly there were hoards of tourists whipping out their cameras. There were Harajuku girls all lining up for a photo opportunity.
“Latimer!” I squeaked, but it got lost in all the noises. I threw a desperate glance over at where she was supposed to be, then with a big sigh I launched forward, squeezing in through the bodies to reach the front, knowing I’d never be forgiven if I didn’t get the pictures. I went head to head with giant Nikon cameras and video recorders! And won, well if it had been a competition, I would have!
(Side Note: Ah! As I was writing this, I was rudely interrupted by a small earthquake. They don’t happen in Ireland. I think I panicked a little. Latimer and I just looked at each other and were like ‘What do we do!?’ All I could remember was, door jam, get under a door jam! Or something! But we stayed sitting on our beds, I think I covered my eyes at one point. Cowardly, I know…thankfully it’s over now! Back to the story!)
So, yeah…eventually after the cosplayers began to disperse and I’d pressed the button on my camera about a million times, I turned to find Latimer hurrying towards me, with a panicked expression, demanding to know what she missed. With a nod, I proudly held up my camera, “I got it all, never fear!”
So, we finally managed to see the Harajuku people, after quite a bit of effort really. They were nowhere to be seen last Sunday. We found this week, the best time to be around there was between two/half two to about half three, this photo opportunity happened about twenty past three, then everyone started to go home. Though the Rockabilly boys were around from quite early, from half eleven or so, just in the front of Yoyogi park. They were dancing to loud music, it was funny, so I got a few shots of them.
We’ll be heading back to Harajuku later in the week me thinks, Latimer really wants those tattoo tights, haha, and I like to people watch there!
More from us later! Hope you’re liking our Tokyo posts, let us know if there’s a particular picture you’d like to see. We’re here for a few more days, so we may get a chance to capture it!
– Nightmare Before Christmas, Kidnap a Sandy Claws
We love trying out the different food while we’re here in Tokyo, especially if it’s something you can’t get anywhere else. So far our time here has been a real lucky mix of flavours. We’ve bought a few things where we haven’t the foggiest idea what flavour it is, or even what it is!
Giant Caplico: Not an ice cream, not really a sweet, this ice cream cone lookalike was hard, sugary and we’re still not certain what it was made from.
Ridley: “That was weird, I feel like I just ate twenty different chemicals. Giant Caplico? Giant chemical mess.”
Ketchup flavoured Pringles
Ridley: (I love ketchup by the by-so these are not for the faint hearted. Latimer’s face of disgust was hilarious!) “After a while the kick of the ketchup is really sour…I like it, but I’d never give up my sweet and sour…no…what is it, sour onion?” Giant Caplico chemicals addle Ridley’s brain.
Peach pieces in peach jelly
Latimer: Does exactly what it says on the tin! Yums. Fruit in jelly can’t go wrong.
Unknown flavour crisps…
Latimer: “I really wish I knew what flavour they are, I can’t taste anything. I really hope it’s not frog.”(Ridley: I wish it was.)
Green tea flavour
Latimer: “It tastes like soil! Why does it taste like soil???” I promptly placed this in the bin after approximately 3 glups (it didn’t get better with time). However, the next day the maid had removed it from the bin and placed it on the floor by the table (as you do!). She seemed to want me to drink it. (Ridley: Waste not, want not! Soil will help you grow!) I poured it down the sink and back to the bin it went. Thankfully, it was gone the next day.
?????
Ridley: Latimer took this lovely close up of tiny fish in a bowl. It’s Korean food. This was after I’d eatten two lots and thought it was seaweed, I didn’t see the eyes. (Latimer: Even though they were staring right at you.) Ridley: *silence*….I’ve nothing…no comeback to that…damn you. The tiny eyes!! Eweeee….I was chomping on it as I was telling Latimer, “My brother says I eat with my eyes, if it doesn’t look good, I’ll avoid it.” I obviously was blind this time round….
Toppo-reverse pocky, the chocolate’s on the inside! (Latimer: Reverse pocky, evil pocky!)
Ridley: *crunch crunch* “Hmm…they look like bamboo sticks with black stuff in it…I like it!”
Banana ‘Yogurt’
Latimer: This wasn’t exactly a yogurt… it was more like a solidified, banana milk jelly. Why is nothing as it seems!?
Peach and apple drink (or so you would think)
Latimer: I bought this thinking ‘yeah, peach and apple sounds good’…. but when I took my first gulp my mouth was flooded with fruit jelly-bits. It wasn’t a nice texture. One gulp from Ridley had her face collapsing in on itself; “I don’t…. I don’t, YUCK, I don’t like it! That’s nasty… nasty…”
Mushroom shaped biscuits
Latimer: Ridley hasn’t noticed this, but around Tokyo at the moment there are these cartoon whistling mushrooms (they’ve been on the telly and in the arcades on these really annoying games that whistle the same tune over and over and over again, adding to the din). Well, these are biscuits based on the whistling mushrooms (Ridley: you think! Latimer: quiet you!). They were tasty: biscuit stalk, chocolate cap. No whistling though (I’m disappointed). (Ridley: no you’re not)
Kirby chewing gum
Ridley: There were three little brown balls (stop sniggering Latimer) in this box, it was chewing gum, a fruity type! I liked them. It seemed appropriate, considering Kirby was kind of like a giant blown up chewing gum bubble…(Latimer: I loved Kirby’s Dream World. Ridley: Me too!)
We don’t know what this was, we thought chocolate of some sort
Latimer: I was going under the assumption buying this was a steal at 30 Yen. Actually no, that’s 30 cent (euro speak) and that’s not cheap considering what it was. A square of ‘chocolate’… I spent 30 cent on one square of ‘chocolate’? (Ridley: fool.. wait, so did I!). It was white faux-chocolate with a sliver of yellow jelly (custard like, or something). It was tasteless and not worth 30 cent (hindsight is a great thing) (Ridley: you are harping on about the 30 cent, people are going to think you’re tight. Latimer: I am… 30 cent! Do you know what I could have done with that! Ridley: you’re an idiot. Latimer: Damn you!)
Pocari Sweat (a God amongst the dehydrated masses)
Ridley: Lemony. Latimer: you haven’t had any this holiday. I bought one bottle and couldn’t finish it. Still, I will say it is a GOD! Ridley: you weren’t dehydrated enough… does everything I say get typed? Latimer: yes. Ridley: Pocari Sweat, a lemony rehydration drink.
More food mysteries coming soon! (if we haven’t succumbed to gastric malfunctioning in the meantime)
Ridley: So the tagline for our holiday seems to have become ‘that’s so weird’, mainly because we’re actively seeking out things that are weird, strange and just something you’d never see at home. Interesting is the other word we could use, along with a raised eyebrow!
So with this in mind, we discovered fantasy dining in the Ginza district (I keep calling everything districts, it’s like the Hunger Games, or here, Battle Royal! Mwhaa…). Fantasy dining is where the restaurant is themed and the waiters/waitresses are dressed up. We don’t have this at home, as far as I’m aware (though if we did, it would be epic!), therefore it’s a definite novelty for us! We’ve gone to see both an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant and a Vampire café.
We first went to the Alice place-Latimer is a fan of all things Alice in Wonderland- it was brilliant and the staff were very friendly. They were mainly dressed up like Alice but there were also a few mad hatters wanderinground. The entrance hall was lined with giant ‘pages’ from the book, inside the restaurant the walls were covered in man sized deck cards.there was a hanging light made of top hats over one table and in the middle of the room was a giant cup that was also a seating area. Latimer: Within the giant cup there was a group of people we named the ‘High Rollers’. All night they beckoned to the Alices and Hatters, ringing a bell to summon them for more beers or unusual cocktails. They were hidden inside the cup, away from prying eyes. I imagined them walking into the place in a wave of Yen and dollar signs; “we wish to be part of the atmosphere but not of them plebs. Put us on a step above them all… inside a large white cup, so that we may watch them, but not them us!”.Personally, I think the menu was the most unique thing about the place (and that’s saying something!). It was a box, like a big cube, where one side slid open (the menus were made up of this ‘wall’) to reveal a little diorama and it had a tiny battery operated lamp in it. Latimer: A very cool and novel way to sell the fantasy! Lewis Carroll would have been proud.No point to it really, but it was still fun. There was also a cocktail menu that opened up like a picture book into a glossy hat.
The food was decent too, though nothing spectacular. Though Latimer did get a cocktail with a rose in it and then when it arrived they sprayed perfume on it! Latimer: I don’t know what it added to the taste… but it did smell like perfume. The food didn’t sit well with me, pretty ‘blah’ pre-cooked stuff. Not nice, but you pay for the atmosphere and the fantasy, so I didn’t mind so much.
We’ve never seen such little roses with stunted growth, Latimer decided there must be plant battery farms all across Tokyo growing roses that are destined to be cruelly chopped down before their prime and used in our drinks… Latimer: Ah battery rose, of stunted growth, the casualty of fantasy dining.
We also got bread with a little dish of butter (that didn’t taste like butter, just looked like it) It was provided with a little instruction tag, ‘Eat me’. Just like in the books! All in all, I really liked this place. Latimer: When this dish arrived, Ridley thought it was her starter (garlic bread). Even though it didn’t taste like garlic. When her food arrived she looked confused. Ha.
The Vampire café was freaky, that’s the only word for it. We stepped out the lift and tiny little plastic skeleton heads to our left popped out and screamed at us. Then the hostess popped up, dressed in a black maid’s uniform with white make up and red eyes. Scary! It was the waiter though that was really unsettling….and in a weird strange way quite compelling too, for the half an hours we were there (possibly the bad boy attitude he had going on)…I wasn’t the only one, there were quite a number of giggling Japanese girls there, some dressed up too. He was about half a foot taller than me (I’m 5’10)-he had big platform boots on, so it was an artificial height-he had black eyes, black lips, white white make up, the red eyes and back-combed long hair. He was wearing a sort of robe thing, long flowing and swirled quite well when he moved. But I have to say he was quite abrupt. Maybe that was his appeal in a way, in a country that has smiling, unbelievably welcoming people, he was the exact opposite. Not rude exactly, just…like a superior vampire really…! Latimer: We were laughing our heads off during the whole experience, and maybe he didn’t like that. We weren’t taking it seriously, but as Ridley pointed out with a narrowing of her eyes, “HOW can you take a vampire café seriously?”. Haha. Anyway, in retrospect he was just plain rude.
The bathroom there,with free mouthwash!
We were shown to a little booth lined with red curtain (Latimer: It reminded me of how in Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine offers Elizabeth Bennett the chance to use her maids piano in her house. She says ‘you’ll be in no ones way in that part of the house’. Implying that Elizabeth should be hidden away from the eyes of the gentlemen and women. It felt like myself and Ridley were being treated the same way!), there was a giant coffin in the centre of the room with dripping red candles on it in a candelabra. And the hall floor was lit up showing pictures of red blood cells…very weird! Haha… The vampire boy didn’t even say goodbye when we were leaving (we said thanks and bye)! I think maybe there was a little bit too much laughing from our booth during our meal, we got a sense that we didn’t take the place seriously enough.
We only got ice cream and cocktails there. We ordered from a menu shaped like a coffin.
We’d already eaten in a very old authentic Japanese restaurant where we got to grill our own food. It was called Sometaro (2-2-2 Nishi-Asakusa, Taiyo-Ku) in Asakusa. Again google maps did not let us down, put the address in and you’ll find it. We got okonomiyaki (cabbage battered pancakes) there.
Now that was brilliant, if absolute sweltering (it was already 24 degrees out and then add in the heat from the grills)! The place was made of old dark wood, almost like a tavern, there was a real sense of history to the place. We got a lot of food there, we wanted to try everything we could, two pancake type dishes and yakisoba (noodle dish), we realised our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. We had to take off our shoes and sit on the cushions beside a low table that had a large black hot plate/grill that was heated with gas underneath. For one of our pancake dishes, we picked eggs, cabbage, pork, little cuttle fish and onion, they were all mixed up together and cooked by us (well we got help, being the idiots we are!)
Latimer: This place was great. Felt very traditional. Really enjoyable food and atmosphere. As we search out food in Tokyo, I am gravitating back to ramen (my love). I want us to eat at the best ramen place in Tokyo… but where is it? Damn I wish I knew.
Our food journey continues daily…. ichiban (no.1) ramen…. we will find you!
Ridley: Have many of us ‘follow’ random channels on youtube? It’s amazing (in a fantastic way) that some of these people have become internet celebrities through uploading interesting and often times funny videos. They make their content so worthwhile, that internet users willingly spend their precious free time viewing them. They deserve their ‘famous’ status far more than some of the ‘famous because I’m famous’ types that are always splashed across our magazines.
When I watch them, a small part of me often wishes I could be part of this youtube community, where all the top youtubers seem to know each other and do guest appearances…it just all seems like a lot of fun! These people are without a doubt extremely hard-working; they put long hours in, not only thinking up content to video, but sometimes drafting their script, taping it and then editing it.
It must be quite labour-intensive (though of course work isn’t work if you enjoy it, just an extension of your hobby really)!
But I think I’d have one main problem to overcome to be one of them…this problem leads me to think that these video makers are brave.
Brave, how so?
freedigitalphotos.net
Well, have you ever tried to stand in front of a camera and just talk, basically to yourself? These youtubers are able to face the world and talk to us, without any awkwardness or inability to express themselves.
Most of the time, there’s no one else there with them- it’s just you, in a room and the round black hole of the camera lens, spearing you with its unending angry gaze…I suppose you’d have to try envision someone at the other end, watching you….but then that gets kind of creepy. So I’d rather not! (I’m now picturing ‘The Eye’, the all seeing Red Eye of Mordor. Run Frodo, I mean me! Run Ridley!)*shudder*
I tried once to do a video. It was just with the little HP webcam thing on my laptop. I was never going to uploading anything, it was just for fun. Even still, I clammed up completely and become really self-conscious. I felt like an eejit. I had no intention of ever showing it to another soul, not even one of my dogs, and yet I just couldn’t be myself. The result was very cringe-worthy- me, smiling like a buffoon, one sweeping wave with the words ‘Hello, world!’
It will go with me to my grave.
Mind, I am one of those people that throws numerous suspicious glances at any camera in my immediate vicinity. Photos of me nearly always consist just of a blur or a random limb- an arm or a foot or a lock of my hair-as I dive out of the shot. So the invention of camera phones, like my beloved iphone, is both a blessing and a curse.
freedigitalphotos.net
However, I am also aware that writers today are expected to create an ‘author platform’. We are expected to put ourselves forward, to become a brand. Look at Stephen King, that’s a prime example of a branded author. (Though saying that, if your work isn’t good enough and people don’t enjoy it, no amount of selling yourself will bring you any success) Despite this notion of the ‘author brand’, compared to an actor, I can still duck down behind my typed words.
Now, getting back to these youtube citizens and away from my numerous ‘issues’, I do have a few people that I love to follow online. Mostly because they make me laugh or because they’re very insightful and thought provoking…mostly I laugh…
Wong Fu Productions
Ted, Wes and Phil are three friends that make up Wong Fu, they work together as film producers. They write, film and edit all their own stuff. Their official film shorts are beautiful; a lot of them have a romantic slant though there’s a good bit of comedy too. I love their stuff. (Truly, they often inspire me and sometimes make me long to be able to write and produce our work this way. I’m certain Latimer and I could come up with quite a few nice ‘moments’ and shorts. Maybe one day….though I won’t be in them, I’d be the disembodied voice off to the side!) Saying that, Wong Fu are extremely talented, there is a lot of planning and effort injected into each of their projects. They also do Wong Fu weekends, random fun video blog uploads, which make me jealous betimes at the fun they have together. Whether it’s driving tanks, visiting anime conventions, buying Christmas trees, food fairs or just playing games together in their office, they really seem like they enjoy life to the full and are doing what they love. Plus they have merchandise for sale that includes cute chibi-like stuffed animals!
Here’s a video short that they’d directed and filmed together:
Here’s one of their fun WongFu Weekend videos:
Aardman studios
Purely because I love everything that they do, they can do no wrong in my eyes! Here’s a great video, with Bill Bailey as one of the voice actors!
NigaHiga
Ryan Higa, he’s funny and very random. Originally from Hawaii, he’s been around youtube for a very long time. He’s the second most subscribed youtuber, after some other guy that, to me, just shouts a lot (Ray William Johnson-he gives you the highlights of the week on youtube)
KevJumba
He is also just as random as Ryan, he chats about his life and his Dad is very funny (he’s starting to amass his own following too!). Kevin often brings him in to do skits and videos.
DavidSoComedy
This is someone I only recently started following. He’s only been on youtube for about a year, but has amassed quite a number of fans. He’s a Korean comedian, with such expressive features as he delivers his lines, you can’t help but laugh!
Natalie Tran (communitychannel)
The most subscribed Australian youtuber (by the by, if anyone knows who the most subscribed Irish youtuber is, let me know. I tried searching once but came up with nada!) She’s extremely funny and turns every day observations or her own thoughts/phobias/habits into amusing tales. She has my sort of humour really, she always makes me laugh. She would be really one of my favourites. She also has a few videos with Lonely Planet’s youtube channel, where she reviewed travel destinations such as Paris, Singapore, Egypt, Jordan to name one or four.
HISHEdotcom
A brilliant channel with animated videos, How It Should Have Ended, creates alternative endings to the most popular television shows, movies and games out there, from Men in Black, Jurassic Park to Assassins Creed and Warcraft.
How X-men: First Class Shout Have Ended:
Charlie Is so cool like
A British guy who basically shares his opinions, likes and dislikes. He likes science, a lot. You could learn something while you procrastinate! He’s another extremely popular youtuber. He also has a Stephen Fry voice over at the end of his videos, which is pretty impressive by itself! Also along the same lines would be these two guys, Danisnotonfire and Amazingphil, also British!
Mr Weebl-particularly his Cat Face series
Another channel with great animated videos, some of which are extremely weird. In particular, I like his Cat Face series!
And his song, Tiny Japanese Girl
Chester See
A singer, he promotes his music online, he has one or two really great songs. He’s also taken part in a few fun videos with other youtubers such as with Kevin Wu (KevJumba) and Ryan Higa (NigaHiga). Quite a number of well-established youtubers here and there frequently pop into each other’s videos. They all seem to be friends. Wong Fu have also collaborated with Ryan in the past. I think some of this collaboration and friendship is due to the fact they’ve all taken part in an ISA event. ISA is a concert events company set up by Wong Fu and Far East Movement, which ‘showcases the bright and most talented rising artists of the Internet Generation’.
One of Chester’s music videos, I quite like this song.
Just an example of the collaboration between these particular youtubers I was talking about!
Vlogbrothers (Hank and John Green)
Two American brothers who began their youtube channel by video blogging to each other and uploading it. Very interesting way of creating youtube videos, they’re not necessarily chatting to an audience, but to the other brother, perhaps this makes it easier to just talk to the camera? Honestly, I’m new to watching these guys though.
Here’s Hank, the younger brother, speaking with Charlie (as in Charlie is so cool like)-see they’re all friends!!
This is John Green, the older brother of the two:
Harvard Sailing Team
More comedy, I particular love this video series of theirs….Boys will be Girls and Girls will be Boys…totes!
Anyway, I thought I’d just share a few of the fun places I hang out at during my procrastinating moments. You can’t go wrong with any of the above channels, hours of entertainment there! That said, anyone else a fan of these youtubers? What videos are your favourites? I’d love recommendations if anyone has new people for me to follow! Just let me know, I’ll pop onto them and then tell you what I think!
And yes, I am one of the millions of people that watch the cat videos. They’re just so cute!!
Ridley: I hated subtitled films when I was younger. I found it too difficult to read the words and watch what was happening at the same time.
Now though, I love them. It opens up other fantastic stories from other cultures that you may never have in your own and you get to read a film! It’s a great way to increase your reading speed! 🙂 (The geek in me just has to ruin it!)
If I hadn’t gotten over this dislike. I’d have never watched the Spanish film Pan’s Labyrinth, which was fantastic (and beautifully creepy) or the Russian film Night Watch (which was very weird, gritty too! And set me off on wanting to learn Russian for a little while until I realised how hard it was….one day…)
It’s strange how our tastes can alter so drastically. Though I know when mine did, I’ve a very good reason for it. A few years ago, I discovered anime and not the voice-over kind, (unfortunately, if I’ve watched the subbed version of something first, dubbing hurts my ears. To me they aren’t the characters’ voices!)
The world of anime was introduced to me with the show, Dragon Ball Z. God, I loved it. When I was 14/15 years old, it was on Cartoon Network and it was dubbed (I knew no different at the time. For ages I thought it was American.). I used to rush home from school, throw off my uniform and grab a cup of tea to watch the next episode. My cartoon crushes from it were Piccolo and of course Vegeta (gota love a bad boy!). DBZ had it’s poor points too, especially if there was an epic fight, it often took three episodes just for them to go Super Saiyan (power up basically). There was always lots of gritting of teeth, bulging muscles and shouting, oh and bleaching hair.
I didn’t immediately begin to watch subbed anime after that. I continued to follow what Cartoon Network gave me (during their Toonami time-Cardcaptor Sakura, Samurai Jack, bit of Gundam Wing, Tenchi Muyo (never knew what was going on in this though), Shin Chan, Xiaolin Showdown….) It took awhile to embrace the notion of watching something with a subtitle. Eventually though I became hooked on Bleach and Naruto (two of the obvious and most popular anime out there).
Then I discovered shoujo manga, anime and dramas. The best way I can describe it is, it’s a little like YA in television form. I suppose similar to our Vampire Diaries or what have you. The target audience would be 10 to 18 year old girls (we could shove that age up a good bit higher I’d say…) There’s always a relationship and it’s always done particularly well. Though I will admit sometimes the endings leave a little to be desired. But with the dramas and anime that get them right, the pay off is wonderful. In terms of anime, I devoured the likes of Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club, Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge…to name only a selection!
(It has always helped that Latimer is a fan too! So we can trade anime ideas and we’ve each been guinea pigs-one of us tests a series first before the other trails on behind. She began Naruto first, whereas I watched Bleach. Then we switched, after approvals were given, but forever more we each prefer ‘our’ anime, though both are, of course, brilliant. It’s the same ‘side choosing’ we did during Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I’ve always been a tiny bit more on the side of HP and she’s always been more LOTR, but only by a smidgen of a degree…barely even….and only because I read HP before LOTR and Latimer did the opposite!)
Of course eventually I found Asian dramas, following on from anime. Suppose it was only inevitable.
Now, dramas (with real people) gave me one advantage over anime, in that when I love the leading man character I could actually tell people. Having a crush on a cartoon is something that could probably get someone committed…not that I ever liked any cartoon men…ignore the above comment about Vegeta and Piccolo, I was delusional…
I’ve watched quite a number of Asian television dramas, from Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese…following on from this, as a non-Asian sometimes there are things we don’t quite get, such as cultural references. So we (Latimer and I) came up with the Five Episode Rule. Watch five episodes before making a decision on whether to continue or not. Often times that’s how long it takes for the drama/anime to really get going, for the love interest to be introduced, for the conflict or main plot to get set up….you get the idea.
This Five Episode Rule had to be applied to one of my favourite ever dramas to this day. It was the Japanese version of Boys Over Flowers, Hana Yori Dango.
From Wiki: “It’s about a girl, Makino who is a middle class student attending the prestigious school Eitoku Gakuen. She enrols there because her idol, an internationally-renowned model named Todou Shizuka, was an alumna of the school. However, it isn’t long before Makino discovers the superficial nature of her classmates. Their arrogance and her inability to relate to them, limit her chances at making friends. Worse yet, the school is ruled by the F4 (Flower Four) a group composed of playboys Nishikado Soujiro, Mimasaka Akira, introverted Hanazawa Rui and violent Domyouji Tsukasa. They are all sons of Japan’s wealthiest and most powerful tycoons. They rule the school, bullying fellow students out of boredom or malevolence.
When Makino’s only friend, Sanjo Sakurako, accidentally spills juice on Domyouji’s shirt, Makino is forced to defend her. Thus coming to the notice of the F4. The next day, she receives a red tag in her locker, which is the infamous order from the F4 that this student has been picked as their next target. As a result, the whole school turns against her. Despite the harassment, Makino refuses to give in and quit. Eventually, after a particularly cruel joke by Domyouji, she finally snaps and punches him. This unexpected retaliation catches him by surprise and causes him, ironically, to fall in love with her. Makino, we learn, is in love with another of the F4, the gentle Rui, who in turn harbors romantic feelings for his childhood friend Shizuka (who is Makino’s idol)…..”
And over two series (and a movie, which I didn’t see the point of), we find out what happens!
It has an absolutely fantastic love story. With a beautiful rain scene, both main characters get soaked. There are so many ups and downs in it, you feel like you’re on a rollercoaster (I mean that in a good way….i’m sure…) Granted there are some parts that they could have cut out, they almost acted like filler episodes in between the proper ones (which knowing that this happens in the case of anime, perhaps it happens with dramas too?) It still doesn’t take away from it. The song from the show is also beautiful.
Wiki again….I sorry, but if it’s been summarised already *shrug* what can you do….(i edited them a tinsey bit…)
“Set in a period where society does not allow females to be educated nor employed, Kim Yoon Hee (Park Min Young) disguises herself as her brother, Kim Yoon Shik, in order to save her family from abject poverty. She goes through a series of odd jobs, mainly at a local bookstore, before (through a series of events) accidentally enrolling in the prestigious Sungkyunkwan University. All the while pretending to be a man, she must bear with the endless mischief of upperclassman Gu Yong Ha (Song Joong-Ki), put up with the constant mood swings of roommate, Moon Jae Shin (Yoo Ah In), avoid getting in trouble with the strict, student body president, Ha In Soo (Jun Tae Soo) and at the same time, try to suppress her growing affections for Lee Sun Joon (Park Yoo Chun).
Together, the four form the “Jalgeum Quartet” (sometimes affectionately also named by fans of the series the “JoseonF4“).”
A Korean drama, this has another beautifully woven love story, with a love triangle, of course and there are characters in it that are quite funny too. There’s also a rain scene where the main people get drenched (if there’s one of these you know its going to be a good!) The historic outfits were beautiful as well, very colourful.
In a way it was the better drama of the two. The writing is far tighter, there’s less rambling and random side stories than you’d find in Hana Yori Dango (but at the same time I kind of like the randomness and extra side plots, except towards the end.) Also, there’s only the one series for SS, which for me was enough.
The ending was nice and the beginning is quite fast paced, you get introduced to all the main characters pretty quickly. There was no need to apply the Five Episode Rule with this one!
Both series of course have RSAs. There were numerous sqwee-ing moments and definitely a fair amount of swooning throughout!
If you’ve seen these dramas, would you agree?
I’ve watched numerous other anime and dramas, there’s quite a lot of them out there. (You’re Beautiful (another recommended one, great music in it too!) Mischievous Kiss, My Princess, Hana Kimi, Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Romantic Princess…)
All I’ll say is, if you’ve read your new romantic fantasy/YA novel or watched your usual English television show or seen a riveting film- it’s now over and you are now depressed. There doesn’t seem to be anything else available to watch or read and you’re looking for your next romantic ‘fix’? Don’t rule out other countries! And definitely don’t exclude them because they don’t speak English. I’ve grown to love the Japanese language because of these shows, to me it sounds quite lyrical.
Dramas from other countries, manga, comics, movies, anime….give everything a chance and you’ll find other cultures and people do a pretty fantastic job too! Good place to start: http://www.mysoju.com/
I hope other people who have ventured out there agree?
If anyone has any other viewing suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let me know! I’m always in search for something new to read or watch!
Latimer and Ridley love hearing from people, so if you have any opinions, non-opinions or little nuggets of wisdom please share them with us in the comments below! Alternatively, if you’d like to get to know us more, why not email us or follow us on twitter and talk to us directly!
In other MLR news, we are currently working on two novels, one of which we intend to publish free on our website. We’re striving hard to make them both LSA and RSA worthy! So stay tuned for more information!
Ridley: There are a few rare books that get an RSA (Ridley Stamp of Approval). It has to have all the elements to receive it; a good relationship, a vivid world and a gripping story! For it to get an RSA, after reading it, there needs to be a thumping heart and a major urge to scurry around telling people to get the novel. I have read some really fantastic books, there are loads out there, some are great on relationships, on characters and others have crafted fantastic vivid worlds (where you can almost close your eyes and see them) but very few have all of these to the same level. We all know the big hitters, they had them all, it’s why they’re so popular!
Last night, I read Angelfall by Susan Ee. The book is completely to my tastes, by that I mean it has a brilliant slow burning relationship (with my new fictional character crush-Raffe!) an engaging story filled with a twisting exciting plot, clever weaving of seemingly unimportant information and a vivid gritty world, which is steeped in fantasy and the supernatural (flying yummy deadly Angels!)
It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world, our future, where merciless angels have been sent down to bring us judgement day. Cities have fallen, unending fires rage and humans have scattered, forced to scavenge in the ruins for food and essentials. (Think of the 2010 film, Book of Eli, with Denzel Washington! They are the images Susan’s words evoke when you read this! Fantastic world building!)
The main character Penryn is a strong, kick ass girl with some great abilities as a fighter. At the same time, by highlighting the type of childhood she’s had to experience, the post-apocalyptic world she’s had to survive in and the dangerous psychotic mother she is forced to look after, we see her vulnerable side. We also see her inherent caring nature from her intense need to protect her handicapped baby sister Paige. When the little seven year old is kidnapped by an angel in revenge for Penryn’s interference in a fight, Penryn is forced to team up with the striking and injured angel, Raffe, in order to save her. (Raffe immediately has all us girls swooning!)
Together, they are forced into an uneasy partnership, both needing help from the other to achieve their end goals. As they travel and meet various obstacles, some of which are quite gruesome, while others are not immediately explained- though this is where the author weaves in information, that later becomes important. These encounters also enable the relationship between Raffe and Penryn to slowly develop. It moves at a steady, believable pace (the fun is in the anticipation after all!!) It goes from a fizzle of attraction and awareness to a slow burn, hinting and teasing us with the possibilities, until you’re just praying it’ll end up building into an inferno between them!
I can’t wait for the sequel!
Go read the sample chapters on Susan Ee’s website, pop on to Goodreads to see the brilliant reviews there and then buy it on Amazon. You won’t regret it!
I’ve finished my gushing now. (Though, did I mention I like the cover too? That rusted brown, dark, stained and old, really represents the type of world now left behind after the destruction brought down by the angels!)
An absolute hidden gem, so glad I can jump on to this bandwagon as it’s starting to get hitched up! Wagon’s roll!
Ridley: Like many people in their mid-twenties, I grew up with Harry Potter. For 12 years, as each book and film was produced, I was there ready and waiting! It was a sad and jubilant moment when the last film was finally released.
Why do I chat about this now? Because J.K Rowling has returned! She’s announced she has a new adult novel coming out. With so many children, who were her original fans, now fully grown up, I’m in little doubt that this new book will do well. Beyond well. I know already I’ll buy it, even if it was about dirty dishwater I’d still get it. I know it’ll be interesting, though I haven’t a clue what it’s about or even what it looks like (don’t judge a book by its cover unfortunately is a saying ignored by me, not deliberately, it’s just what happens. The more interesting/striking the cover, the more likely it is I will pick it up and ultimately buy it) As it is with J.K’s new book there are only rumours that it could be a crime novel.
I was trying to imagine yesterday what the pressure being heaped upon her must feel like. There are some enormous, ridiculous expectations that she has to live up to. I just wonder how you can sit down in front of your laptop and just type, knowing that’s all there, that it won’t go away. Surely it’s given some sleepless nights. At some point though, I think you’d have to just say, ‘feck it, I’ll write for me’ and just go for it. It’s what she did for her other books before this and it seemed to work!
Of course, some of her biggest fans want this to be another HP phenomenon. I say some fans, because there are those of us who wish we could tell her we just expect a good entertaining read, her books don’t need to change the world every time. Her critics, of course, want it to be a flop, for her to fail, so they can say I told you so. But we’ll all just ignore them.
Either way, she’s a fantastic writer, her words enthral you, even listening to her Harvard commencement speech was amazing.
So…I can’t wait!! 🙂
After hearing this news, I also started to remember where it all began, I believe we each have our own stories to how we ‘discovered’ Harry Potter in the first place.
My start with reading the series was far from auspicious. I was thirteen, still in primary school when Harry made his first appearance. A younger sister of a friend ran up brandishing the Philosopher’s Stone in my face, insisting it was ‘the best book she’d ever read’. I turned it over to read the blurb and saw ‘boy is rescued by an owl’. All I thought was ‘no thanks, I don’t want to read a kiddies book about giant owls.’
Even to this day I still shake my head in despair.
It wasn’t until a few months later, during the summer time, that I came across the book again. My parents brought home a treat for both my brother and I.
My mother who always worried that he wasn’t reading enough (no fear of that with me!) bought him Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. For me she brought back a tape with the song ‘Kiss me’ by Sixpence None the Richer on it. (I loved it. To this day when I hear that song, these memories still come flooding back to me.)
My brother ignored the book. It took me two days before I was bored enough to go hunting for it. I had finished all of my own books and wanted something else to read. I found Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone abandoned on the floor in my brother’s bedroom. (on the floor!!) I settled down into the living room, legs dangling over the armrest with a cup of tea. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. It was a child’s book after all…little did I know!
I flew through it.
I bought the second book that same day. I cajoled my father into giving me a lift into town where I used my allowance money. My parents cautioned me to ‘make it last’ and not to read it too fast.
I didn’t listen.
I finished the Chamber of Secrets also within hours.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had just been published that summer. I had no more money left, I remember painstakingly counting out the exact change in copper coins, penny by penny, to be able to buy it.
I had to wait a day this time. It was excruciating.
The next morning, along with an indulgent fatherly smile, another lift was provided. When I got into town, I remember it was almost deserted. I can’t remember why, it was possibly only due to the horrific weather. The day was dark grey, overcast, it had been raining heavily all morning.
When I arrived at the bookshop, the lights were glaring, harsh on the eyes compared to outside and the yellow wooden floor was so bright.
I paused just inside. It was also very quiet, a fan whirled gently just above the door. I felt a small cool waft of air along my arms. The shop was empty. A single sales assistance stood behind the till, watching me. In my wet shoes I squeaked my way straight across to the stand where the book was on display. I twirled around, clutching it to my chest and I stuck out my fist, it was full of pennies. I dropped them into the girl’s joined hands with a muttered apology.
I almost ran from the shop. When I got home, it was read as quickly as the last ones.
Then I had to wait for a year. Reading and rereading the Prisoner of Azkaban. Twiddling my thumbs like a loon. It was agony waiting for Book 4. The night before it was published, I couldn’t sleep. I was listening to the radio, they were reporting on the hundreds of people that turned up for the Harry Potter midnight party in Eason’s in Dublin. I remember thinking the people that were up there were so lucky to have gotten the book already. (little did I know, my own local bookshop opened with a party that night too!)
It was after the 4th book came out, that it really felt like the rest of the world sat up and took notice. It was popular and then some. The parties, events, they all just got bigger as time went on, then the movies happened.
Soon everyone else loved Harry Potter too.
It was my first ever experience of wanting a book now. I couldn’t get my hands on the next sequels fast enough.
I darted around the house, telling anyone that would listen to me how fantastic the books were. I suddenly understood why that little girl had run up to me all those months ago, waving the book around. Every single one of my friends got the same treatment from me, I introduced them to Harry Potter (I didn’t know Latimer at the time, so she didn’t benefit from my uncontrolled enthusiasm! It was probably just as well, I think together our Harry Potter obsessions would have reached scary supernova levels!)
I still marvel at the fact there are children alive now today that never had that anticipation, that will never have gotten a chance to go to those parties. I can only hope one day there will be a new series that can capture people’s imagination and interests like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books did. That those children can have the fun we did. Perhaps her new books will do it again? We shall see!
For now though, for those of you that were lucky enough to have them, tell me about your Harry Potter discovery stories! You too Latimer, when did you flick open that first page of the Philosopher’s Stone and join the HP world?
Below are just a few of the advertisements here in Tokyo. They can be found on the televisions, large screens on the buildings around the city, in shops and on the subways. It’s not hard to notice that no matter where you go, there is always something for sale or being pushed at you. So here are a few of them….
Carwicky 