JET and massive geekdom
Hello f-list!
Sorry I didn't announce it here sooner, but I made it to Japan, survived all of my major orientation stuff, and got settled in Kanra, my little town in Gunma.
For the first week and a half, I lived with my predecessor in the house that is given to JET participants by the Board of Education. They didn't require that we go into the office. Instead, she did stuff like show me around town and introduce me to the local stores and restaurants, teach me how to use the washing machine, things like that. But I was happy when she left. Now for the first time, I'm living entirely by myself. I've lived in dorms where I had my own room but shared bathrooms and kitchen space. That isn't the same as having an entire house to myself. So far, I'm not having any problems. Of course, I've been spending a lot of time out of the house, and Paula has already visited me twice. XD
At work, I haven't really been doing much. School hasn't started yet, so I pretty much just sit at my desk at the BoE and do things like check my email and write really long lj posts. I've had to give a couple introduction speeches and to do some corrections on my future students' speech contests, but that's the only vaguely productive stuff that I've done. When I'm feeling particularly motivated, I'll read teaching resources or study kanji. Doesn't happen all that often. We'll see how things change once I'm actually in the classrooms, personally interacting with the students.
For a very nice change of pace, Paula and I went to Tokyo this past weekend to be giant nerds all around. XD We took off work on Friday so that we could leave on Thursday evening and get a full two days at Comiket (we didn't plan to go on Sunday, because that's hentai day and we wanted to see the new Magdalena Maria musical instead) On Thursday night we met with Court for dinner and watched the first episode of Sherlock (which was awesome), before heading off to do all-night karaoke, just Paula and I. Maybe it wasn't the best plan to stay up all night right before going to what I assume is the biggest fan comic event in the world, but we did it anyway. XDDD And then we took the first trains to Tokyo Big Sight on Friday morning. This meant that we had to wait around in the middle of a parking lot for about 4 hours before the event started(thank God it was cloudy), but we got in pretty much immediately as it opened. The time that I went before, I got there an hour before it opened and didn't get to enter until an hour after they started letting people in.
So Friday's Comiket held a great deal of interest for us, because it was the day for plays/musicals and televion shows. See, about a year and a half ago, Paula introduced me to Tenimyu and from there, all things involving Japanese theater. I'm now totally obsessed in a totally uncool way, so to get her back, I introduced her to Kamen Rider W. Now we're even, because we are both hopelessly obsessed with both things, but were blessedly able to find comics for both on Friday. Before actually going into the dealers rooms, we got changed into Tenimyu cosplay (DL6 gay clubbing KenZai, there will be pictures later).
Now, it's very rare for Japanese fans and cosplayers to speak to each other if they're not actually friends with them, especially when one of the involved parties is foreign. Still, whenever we passed through the musicals section, we could see all the smiles and hear the titters of awe and amusement behind our backs, and we knew that we were being recognized. Made us pretty happy~. After buying most of our stuff, we went to the cosplay terrace to try and find space to take some pictures of our outfits. Unfortunately, the place was totally absolutely packed full of people. But by some sort of magic (aka the green monstrosity), Gwiffen managed to spot us and help us claim a spot to take a few shots of ourselves and each other. She was pretty much done and bored with Comiket at that point, so we agreed to meet later for dinner and karaoke (yes, again), and we split off from her to buy a few final doujin.
After just an extra half hour or so of browsing books, when we went back through the cosplay section, it was surprisingly more spacious AND AMAZINGLY we were acknowledged!!! A Japanese girl in a Durarara cosplay practically jumped us and begged us for our picture! It was awesome. XD And then it was made even more awesome, because as we approached the exit, we saw a group doing a Magdalena Maria cosplay! We all recognized each other's characters and had a major "Aha!" moment. We got their picture, and they got a picture of Paula as Zaizen and the person playing Cecile, because both characters are played by the same actor. It was super awesome feeling that small connection with the Japanese fans and cosplayers. XD
That night we crashed at Court's apartment, so we could all go to Comiket together the next day. For Saturday, we decided that we didn't really need to wake up super early and get there when it opened, so we got up late-ish and ate some brunch before heading across town. We got to the event closer to noon, and there wasn't a line to get in anymore, people were freely moving in and out. Paula and I went straight for the cosplay changing rooms to get into our regular Shitenhouji cosplays, same characters as on Friday, but different outfits. We met Court near the changing room exit and all went together to the TeniPuri section of the dealers' halls.
I won't really go into the things we saw or the books we bought, but the people were great. I saw a person who was cosplaying the DL6 Kenya that I had done the day before, so I went up and told her and complimented her outfit; she seemed very surprised but also happy. Then, we ran into the people who had been doing Maria cosplay the day before. They were cosplaying the Seigaku tennis team this time, and they recognized us before we did them, but everyone was happy to reconnect. They were especially happy that Paula was still referencing the same actor as before, by playing a different version of the same character.
The highlight, however, was probably this pair of girls working one of the booths. The doujin they were selling was predominately of the same two characters that we were cosplaying (no, it wasn't porn). When they saw and recognized Paula as one of the characters, they got really fangirly. Paula pointed me out in a very in-character sort of way, and the girls freaked out even more. They had us say our characters' tag lines and were falling over themselves in glee. They shook our hands and were telling us how cool we were. It was so awesome. XD
After Court got everything that she had come for, she went ahead and took off while Paula and I went to the cosplay terrace for one last bout of pictures before changing and taking our leave. While we were there, we randomly found ourselves staring down Yukihiro Takiguchi and Yagami Renn!!! (that's 3rd cast Oishi and first Yukimura, for those who don't know their Tenimyu) We learned after the fact that they'd been doing a talk event at one of the corporate booths, but at the time it basically floored us. Evidently, TakiYuki was staring at us too for a while. Maybe because we're foreign Tenipuri cosplayers?
After finishing with our pictures and leaving Comiket, we met with Paula's friend from Yokohama to watch the Kamen Rider W movie in Shibuya! We had dinner at CoCo's Curry first and then went to the theater for the 3D action hero double feature. Unfortunately, the Sentai Ranger portion of the show came first, but it was....bearable. It was laughable at least, so we were mildly entertained as we watched Mao and Kento Ono attempt to act. ^^;;
The W portion, on the other hand was AWESOME all around. I'm determined to cosplay as Shoutarou for Halloween. XD; Paula will be my Phillip.
Sunday's plan was to go see the third musical in the original series Magdalena Maria. In two words, it was immensely entertaining.
This probably won't make any sense if you haven't watched any of the other musicals, but to touch on the highlights:
Onoda Ryunosuke makes a FANTASTIC woman who can not only sing like a god, but can really work it in a tango dress.
Toyonaga Toshiyuki is as adorable and hilarious as I could ever imagine, and I hope his character makes it big in Hollywood.
Oota Motohiro is a sexy Nazi, and a perfect S to Kurippara's M.
Speaking of Kurippara, Grace lays two big wet ones on him in the first half.
"I Can't Forget. I Can't Remember," has my favorite lyrics of any MaguMaria song so far.
"Where is my Pudding?!" is my favorite Visual Kei song ever.
Kobaken was shaking his fundoshi'd ass while straddling the face of the girl 2 rows behind us.
Did I mention that Onoda Ryunosuke is a beautiful dancing lady who can move and twirl like the finest Spanish hooker and has a voice that makes me melt?
Cecile and Apollo make an adorable couple, just as long as Apollo doesn't keep referring to himself as Cecile's brother figure.
Aaaaaaand I wish that Onoda Ryuoske was older than 19, because that seems young for someone who is so damn hot and plays the role of a sexy singing and dancing Spanish hooker.
The DVD comes out in November, and I am so there!
But for now I'm stuck in the office doing not much of anything. ^^;
Sorry I didn't announce it here sooner, but I made it to Japan, survived all of my major orientation stuff, and got settled in Kanra, my little town in Gunma.
For the first week and a half, I lived with my predecessor in the house that is given to JET participants by the Board of Education. They didn't require that we go into the office. Instead, she did stuff like show me around town and introduce me to the local stores and restaurants, teach me how to use the washing machine, things like that. But I was happy when she left. Now for the first time, I'm living entirely by myself. I've lived in dorms where I had my own room but shared bathrooms and kitchen space. That isn't the same as having an entire house to myself. So far, I'm not having any problems. Of course, I've been spending a lot of time out of the house, and Paula has already visited me twice. XD
At work, I haven't really been doing much. School hasn't started yet, so I pretty much just sit at my desk at the BoE and do things like check my email and write really long lj posts. I've had to give a couple introduction speeches and to do some corrections on my future students' speech contests, but that's the only vaguely productive stuff that I've done. When I'm feeling particularly motivated, I'll read teaching resources or study kanji. Doesn't happen all that often. We'll see how things change once I'm actually in the classrooms, personally interacting with the students.
For a very nice change of pace, Paula and I went to Tokyo this past weekend to be giant nerds all around. XD We took off work on Friday so that we could leave on Thursday evening and get a full two days at Comiket (we didn't plan to go on Sunday, because that's hentai day and we wanted to see the new Magdalena Maria musical instead) On Thursday night we met with Court for dinner and watched the first episode of Sherlock (which was awesome), before heading off to do all-night karaoke, just Paula and I. Maybe it wasn't the best plan to stay up all night right before going to what I assume is the biggest fan comic event in the world, but we did it anyway. XDDD And then we took the first trains to Tokyo Big Sight on Friday morning. This meant that we had to wait around in the middle of a parking lot for about 4 hours before the event started(thank God it was cloudy), but we got in pretty much immediately as it opened. The time that I went before, I got there an hour before it opened and didn't get to enter until an hour after they started letting people in.
So Friday's Comiket held a great deal of interest for us, because it was the day for plays/musicals and televion shows. See, about a year and a half ago, Paula introduced me to Tenimyu and from there, all things involving Japanese theater. I'm now totally obsessed in a totally uncool way, so to get her back, I introduced her to Kamen Rider W. Now we're even, because we are both hopelessly obsessed with both things, but were blessedly able to find comics for both on Friday. Before actually going into the dealers rooms, we got changed into Tenimyu cosplay (DL6 gay clubbing KenZai, there will be pictures later).
Now, it's very rare for Japanese fans and cosplayers to speak to each other if they're not actually friends with them, especially when one of the involved parties is foreign. Still, whenever we passed through the musicals section, we could see all the smiles and hear the titters of awe and amusement behind our backs, and we knew that we were being recognized. Made us pretty happy~. After buying most of our stuff, we went to the cosplay terrace to try and find space to take some pictures of our outfits. Unfortunately, the place was totally absolutely packed full of people. But by some sort of magic (aka the green monstrosity), Gwiffen managed to spot us and help us claim a spot to take a few shots of ourselves and each other. She was pretty much done and bored with Comiket at that point, so we agreed to meet later for dinner and karaoke (yes, again), and we split off from her to buy a few final doujin.
After just an extra half hour or so of browsing books, when we went back through the cosplay section, it was surprisingly more spacious AND AMAZINGLY we were acknowledged!!! A Japanese girl in a Durarara cosplay practically jumped us and begged us for our picture! It was awesome. XD And then it was made even more awesome, because as we approached the exit, we saw a group doing a Magdalena Maria cosplay! We all recognized each other's characters and had a major "Aha!" moment. We got their picture, and they got a picture of Paula as Zaizen and the person playing Cecile, because both characters are played by the same actor. It was super awesome feeling that small connection with the Japanese fans and cosplayers. XD
That night we crashed at Court's apartment, so we could all go to Comiket together the next day. For Saturday, we decided that we didn't really need to wake up super early and get there when it opened, so we got up late-ish and ate some brunch before heading across town. We got to the event closer to noon, and there wasn't a line to get in anymore, people were freely moving in and out. Paula and I went straight for the cosplay changing rooms to get into our regular Shitenhouji cosplays, same characters as on Friday, but different outfits. We met Court near the changing room exit and all went together to the TeniPuri section of the dealers' halls.
I won't really go into the things we saw or the books we bought, but the people were great. I saw a person who was cosplaying the DL6 Kenya that I had done the day before, so I went up and told her and complimented her outfit; she seemed very surprised but also happy. Then, we ran into the people who had been doing Maria cosplay the day before. They were cosplaying the Seigaku tennis team this time, and they recognized us before we did them, but everyone was happy to reconnect. They were especially happy that Paula was still referencing the same actor as before, by playing a different version of the same character.
The highlight, however, was probably this pair of girls working one of the booths. The doujin they were selling was predominately of the same two characters that we were cosplaying (no, it wasn't porn). When they saw and recognized Paula as one of the characters, they got really fangirly. Paula pointed me out in a very in-character sort of way, and the girls freaked out even more. They had us say our characters' tag lines and were falling over themselves in glee. They shook our hands and were telling us how cool we were. It was so awesome. XD
After Court got everything that she had come for, she went ahead and took off while Paula and I went to the cosplay terrace for one last bout of pictures before changing and taking our leave. While we were there, we randomly found ourselves staring down Yukihiro Takiguchi and Yagami Renn!!! (that's 3rd cast Oishi and first Yukimura, for those who don't know their Tenimyu) We learned after the fact that they'd been doing a talk event at one of the corporate booths, but at the time it basically floored us. Evidently, TakiYuki was staring at us too for a while. Maybe because we're foreign Tenipuri cosplayers?
After finishing with our pictures and leaving Comiket, we met with Paula's friend from Yokohama to watch the Kamen Rider W movie in Shibuya! We had dinner at CoCo's Curry first and then went to the theater for the 3D action hero double feature. Unfortunately, the Sentai Ranger portion of the show came first, but it was....bearable. It was laughable at least, so we were mildly entertained as we watched Mao and Kento Ono attempt to act. ^^;;
The W portion, on the other hand was AWESOME all around. I'm determined to cosplay as Shoutarou for Halloween. XD; Paula will be my Phillip.
Sunday's plan was to go see the third musical in the original series Magdalena Maria. In two words, it was immensely entertaining.
This probably won't make any sense if you haven't watched any of the other musicals, but to touch on the highlights:
Onoda Ryunosuke makes a FANTASTIC woman who can not only sing like a god, but can really work it in a tango dress.
Toyonaga Toshiyuki is as adorable and hilarious as I could ever imagine, and I hope his character makes it big in Hollywood.
Oota Motohiro is a sexy Nazi, and a perfect S to Kurippara's M.
Speaking of Kurippara, Grace lays two big wet ones on him in the first half.
"I Can't Forget. I Can't Remember," has my favorite lyrics of any MaguMaria song so far.
"Where is my Pudding?!" is my favorite Visual Kei song ever.
Kobaken was shaking his fundoshi'd ass while straddling the face of the girl 2 rows behind us.
Did I mention that Onoda Ryunosuke is a beautiful dancing lady who can move and twirl like the finest Spanish hooker and has a voice that makes me melt?
Cecile and Apollo make an adorable couple, just as long as Apollo doesn't keep referring to himself as Cecile's brother figure.
Aaaaaaand I wish that Onoda Ryuoske was older than 19, because that seems young for someone who is so damn hot and plays the role of a sexy singing and dancing Spanish hooker.
The DVD comes out in November, and I am so there!
But for now I'm stuck in the office doing not much of anything. ^^;