#I will get to it soon I already drew her as a miko (shrine maiden) today

[mensiswives]

🍵I wanna draw our Micolash as a slugmaid (sea slug mermaid) b/c I love her and she deserves to be crowned the princess she is but........ then she will be 🅱️oneless O-O

[bunny-wk-fanfic]

Hey I am glad you are doing okay, I was worried for you. I would like to request a Kagome and Dante (Devil May Cry). Maybe Dante thinks he needs to save Kagome from some demons, but Kagome got it covered with her abilities? I love when Kagome kicks ass. Stay safe.

Been a long time since I’ve done anything DMC wise, hope this still entertains you.

Leaning against the tree, he could honestly say he was enjoying the show. How could he not? It appealed to every part of him.

The job he had taken had been slightly restricting in that it brought him to Tokyo, a sudden increase in missing young women and high school girls had become a cause for concern. Especially since there were no ‘normal’ explanations behind the disappearances. So when he had been asked, he took the job.

Arms crossing over his chest, he smirked when the petite figure easily took down a brute at least three times her size, wincing in male sympathy when she brought her knee up sharply between his legs only to give him a quick kick in the head. He bet those heels gave an extra sting to the sudden blow.

If he didn’t know half the women in his life, he would question how this woman was able to do half the stunts she was pulling off in those heels. But damn, if they and her pants didn’t make her legs seem endless, the pants being skin tight also didn’t leave much to the imagination. Though he did wonder how her breezy little top didn’t shift or reveal anything so far.

He tensed when the ugliest of the bunch launched itself at the woman, it’s intent to outright kill rather than kidnap as had been obvious in the beginning. Hands reaching for his guns, he barely drew them when the woman spun, arms out and a quick burst of bright light filled the area. The creature’s screech quickly ended to echo eerily in the air as a pile of ash landed at the woman’s feet.

“What the fuck are you?” the ‘brains’ of the group cried out, quick to scramble away from the woman when she turned back to face them.

Face set in an upset scowl, the woman scoffed. “If you have to ask that, then you’re about a 100 years too young to think you can take me on.” her stance shifted ever so subtly, a stance he was familiar with, it spoke of experience in fighting. Not that he doubted she couldn’t, if what with the past 15 minutes were anything to go by.

Shivering, he felt the lingering traces of that ‘light’ it was the oddest sensation he had ever felt from a human, and he was sure she was completely human as he sensed nothing demonic from her.

“So, I’m giving you this chance and this chance only.” fingers flexed  at her sides, gaze locked on the leader of the group.

“Oh yeah? To what?” said leader scoffed, wiping a small trail of blood from his chin.

“To release the women you’ve already stolen, if they’re still in your possession, and you’ll have the ability to walk away alive.” a brow ticked when the group snickered and laughed at her proposition.

He would have taken it, knowing when to cut his losses. What the woman was offering was more than gracious, he would have simply beat the information out of them, and depending on their answers, may or may not of let them live. It would depend on his mood upon learning the truth.

“I’ll enjoy breaking you personally.” the leader smirked. “First one to get her, I’ll let them have my seconds.”

Tensing at the words, he slowly withdrew his weapons, fully intent on getting rid of the muscle and maiming the leader. He wouldn’t need the use of certain parts of his anatomy to reveal where the women were, which was hopefully holed up somewhere alive.

“Trust me woman, you’ll be a sloppy mess when I’m done with you.” he made a show of licking his fangs, cracking his knuckles to draw attention to his claws.

With a flick of her wrist, her hair was tossed over her shoulder. “How juvenile.” and just like that, she was taking them on single-handedly. Her moves were graceful, using the bare minimum of energy, in fact, she used her enemies energy against them. It was actually sort of seductive, though not in the way Trish fought, but it had its appeal. There was nothing hotter than seeing a woman kicking ass in his personal opinion, so he was content to watch. That was, until he saw one of them sneaking up on her from behind, and he finally saw fit to step in.

Drawing his weapons, a shot rang through the air causing all to turn and face him.

“And who the fuck are you?” the leader spat, snarling at this point and losing control of his human appearance.

“Just someone out for a night stroll and saw this attractive woman in a spot of trouble, so I thought to lend a helping hand.” he used Ivory to give a mock salute, grinning at the last three as he had just taken out one of the brutes.

The leader lifted his nose into the air, making it obvious he was actually scenting the air. “Helping hand my ass! You’re trying to pouch our target!”

A snort from the woman drew their gaze to her. “...like that was going to happen.”

“I gotta agree with her, looks like you were getting your asses handed to ya.” he smirked, being sure to wink at the woman when he stopped next to her. His smirk grew at her obvious confusion.

“No bitch-!” before he could complete his comment, the leader gagged when a fist landed a solid hit in his throat. Hands scrambling at the now bruised flesh, he chocked and attempted to direct the two next to him. They appeared to have some form of intelligence, if their immediate jump into action was anything to go on.

“By the Kami, he complains a lot.” the woman slipped next to him, easily keeping up to his own fighting style.

“Well you did say he was young, and brats do enjoy pitching fits when they don’t get their way.” smirk still in place, he observed the smaller brute eye him, though their gaze would shoot to the woman that was easily handling the larger of the two with some trepidation.

There was a soft snort from behind. “Speaking from personal experience?” if it weren’t for the teasing tone in her voice, he was sure she was taking verbal shots at him.

“The likes of which you wouldn’t believe, Honey.” stepping back, he folded his arms over his chest when he saw that the two brutes decided to take on the bigger threat. A woman as tall as 5’5’’, he was sure at least a couple of inches were due to her shoes.

“Honey? I wasn’t aware that we were on close terms.” with a wave of her hand, a shimmering barrier popped up around them, leaving her time to turn and face him, blue eyes shining in the dim light from the distant lamp.

“Would you prefer babe? Sexy? Gorgeous?” with a slight waggle of his brows, he chuckled at her scoff and eye roll.

“...red clad, silver haired jerks… I’m surrounded by them…” her mumbled words were curious, but he didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant as she pulled out a cell phone, making him wonder where she kept it hidden. Any attempt to find a pocket had her snapping her fingers. “Oi! You want to keep those pretty eyes in your head?”

Leaning down to be closer to her height, his smirk grew when a cute blush colored her cheeks. “You think I got pretty eyes?”

She didn’t deign to answer him, instead choosing to talk to the person on the other end of her call. “Yeah, found the one responsible, he’s here with two others. Just track the GPS from this call.”

Realizing that his attempted catch was actually bait, the leader croaked out in an attempt to call the others into leaving. No sooner had they turned their backs to flee, did the barrier shift to encase them instead.

“Nifty trick. How are you doing that?” a low hiss escaped him when he wrapped his knuckles against the semi-solid surface of the barrier a few time. It stung a lot more than he thought it would!

“I thought with you being half demon, you would know what a holy person is capable of.” her cell phone was mysteriously tucked away again. Where, he had no idea though he seriously wanted to know.

“Honey, I’ve met my fair share of ‘holy’ people,” he made a show of eyeing her from top to bottom. She was attractive. Long black hair, that now looked wild from fighting these demons, framed her delicate face that housed her surprisingly vivid blue eyes, surprising in her obvious Asian features, and plump lips. She was slim, though there was subtle definition that spoke of a more active lifestyle than most women. It wasn’t as defined as Lady, but it was there. “And let me tell you, I’ve never seen a nun dress like you do.”

“I’m not a nun. I’m a miko; shrine maiden, shameness, holy warrior. Take your pick.” at his low whistle, a brow rose in silent question.

“A miko? Didn’t think any were still around. You're my first.” he stroked his chin, attempting to recall having met another like her.

Head canted to the side, she rolled her eyes. “...bet that doesn’t pass your lips often…”

Grinning at hearing the words, once again leaning down closer to her level. “Honey, you’ll need to buy me a drink and dinner before asking about my lips and their possible activities.”

Blue eyes narrowed on him, not in anger, but in contemplation. Her nose quickly wrinkled as her lips pinched. Soon she flinched back as she shook her head, as if attempting to shake off some thought, groaning only for it to end in a whine.

“You okay there, Honey?” he was honestly amused by her expressions. Trish, due to her nature, was poor at expressing herself save for extreme moments. As for Lady, she also seemed to have a set of emotions that she was willing to publicly display, everything else were kept private. But this woman, now that the three were contained, was easily expressing her thoughts and emotions.

“Please, shut up. With your words and appearance, my mind went down a forbidden path.” she quickly pinched the bridge of her nose, once again muttering under her breath.

“Miko, your ability to attract riff-raff with little effort never ceases to entertain me.” the voice drew their attention to an approaching male.

Dante whistled lowly at the amount of power this male carried with ease. The male was obviously not human, demon of some kind, wore a business suit that was tailored to his size. Despite his apparent Japanese appearance, he was tall, standing perhaps at his own height.

“Does that include you, Sesshoumaru? Remember, you came to me in the end, not the other way around.” there was a tilt to her lips, a teasing tone to her words.

A brow was merely raised as the now identified male stopped next to her, golden eyes slowly closing when he seemed to realize that her words must have held some truth. Dante blinked when those eyes turned to him. “...I’ve heard of you, son of Sparda.”

“Same, son of the General.” smirking at the slight narrowing of those golden eyes, he turned his attention back to the Miko when Sesshoumaru approached the three contained males. “He always this excitable?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” her attention was more focused on her acquaintance and the three males, waiting for a signal from Sesshoumaru. The moment she had it, the barrier was down and the three were being escorted by more of Sesshoumaru’s agents.

While he was happy that the threat was taken care of, the reason he took on this job was an attempt to find those that went missing. “What about the missing women and girls?”

“They will reveal where they are.” Sesshoumaru spoke up, pulling out a wallet as he approached them. “One way or another. I believe this was the amount this ‘job’ offered you in finding the females.”

Dante didn’t accept the money, though it was tempting. “Why give me this?”

“Allow the families to keep their money, they will need it upon the conclusion of learning the truth of what happened to their females. This paltry amount is of little consequence to me.” the money was once again offered.

Going over the words, Dante figured it was true. Learning that demons were real would be traumatizing for those women and girls, the medical bills for any injuries they suffered was also going to add up. “Alright. Guess I can take you out to dinner now, Honey!”

“We never agreed to any such thing. Nor am I interested in learning of your illicit affairs.” offering a mock salute, she spun about and began walking away, no doubt home being her destination at this hour.

“Miko.” the single utterance had the woman freezing, shoulders hunching as she turned to toss a stink eye at the stoic male, it darkened at seeing his smirk.

“Fine!” the words were growled through clenched teeth. “Come along, Oh great son of Sparda! I shall direct you to where you can receive the best accommodations in payment to seeing to the return of our missing women folk!”

Snickering under his breath, it became outright laughter when her ire was quickly directed at him. It didn’t stop him from make his way to her side, following her out of the park and to where said accommodations were no doubt going to be. “Honey, you’re a sure spit fire, I’m gonna enjoy getting to know you.”

“Don’t, you’re free to leave at your earliest convenience.” she was practically stomping along the pavement, grumbling under her breath about brats and the males in her life. “I already babysit one silver haired idiot with a fondness for red, I don’t need another in my life.” she gave him a quick look over, brows pinched. “Do you always use guns? Or do you have other weapons?”

“I have a sword, why?” he was honestly curious, wondering why what weapons he used had to do with their current conversation.

“Great. No doubt you’ll meet each other sooner rather than later and start a fricken pissing contest about who has the bigger sword.” she started mumbling again, her anger causing tiny sparks to fly from her.

Dante was honestly entertained, and so glad that this job didn’t go as planned. Normally when things didn’t go as planned, the shit hit the fan leaving him with more work to do. “Well, size is great and all, but it’s useless without technique.” smirking at the look she tossed him, it was downright venomous, and she looked ready to spit fire, he relaxed as they continued on. “But don’t worry about that, Honey, you still have to buy me that drink first.” tossing a wink at her, he laughed as she sputtered for any sort of come back.

[sorosoroso]

Article for Connect Magazine

I had a chance to write about a music artist I really love, and it will soon be published in Connect Magazine, which is a community driven project where expats living in Japan contribute articles about Japanese culture and everyday life. The issue my article will debut comes out in a few days. It is totally free to read and available online. Please enjoy below!

A Folkin’ Good Time: My Journey from Japanese Traditional Folk Music to 8-bit Technofolk

I stumbled upon Japanese traditional folk music the same way a horror film heroine might trip into a dark, deep pit in an old, creepy mansion: by accident.

And much like said heroine who suddenly wakes up in said mysterious, deep pit, I don’t even know how I got here. The last thing I remember is wondering about Japanese instruments and typing in “Japanese traditional songs” into a YouTube search bar, before being sucked in by the strums of shamisens and the dynamic vocals of Japan’s traditional folk singers.

Although it’s usually put under the umbrella term “min’yo”, there is no exact name for the genre Japanese traditional folk music belongs to. Sometimes they’re called inaka bushi (country melody), other times they’re called inaka buri (country tunes) or even hinata uta (rural songs). However, I think min’yo, whose kanji translates to roughly “the people’s chant”, is a weirdly accurate description of these simple, yet intriguing songs (and for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to be referring to them as min’yo from here on out).

 In the same way certain foods or adorable mascots are part of certain prefectures’ identity, min’yo songs are another way for many regions in Japan to further distinguish themselves. Originally sung by lower class people, their purposes vary from work songs sung while toiling away in fields, to sacred religious chants performed during ceremonies. Many songs tend to have imagery of nature or details of everyday life, and often incorporate special dances or instruments during performances.

Take for example Japan’s oldest min’yo song: Kokiriko-bushi. Hailing from Gokayama village in Toyama prefecture, Kokiriko-bushi illustrates the natural flora and fauna of the village during the harvest season. A performance of Kokiriko-bushi is visually intriguing as well; performers move slowly across the stage in uniquely shaped straw hats, as others play the iconic binzasara instrument: an accordion-like apparatus consisting of many wooden slats that clack together to create the “dedereko-den” chorus of the song.

I fell in love with how all these elements came together into a cohesive experience. More compelling, though, were the powerful emotions behind each song. Each one seemed to condense the essence of feelings like sadness, happiness, or loneliness in a way that you could empathize with, despite the language barrier.

My appreciation for min’yo grew extensively throughout college, and during long hours of nighttime studying or downtime between projects and papers, I often listened to min’yo playlists to keep me company. Whether it was the more New Age, emotional ballads of Ikue Asazaki, or lo-fi recordings of televised performances from the 90s, I listened to it all. I wasn’t too picky, and even if I didn’t always understand the words, I let myself get swept away by the vibrant energy each song and performer exuded.

Unfortunately, my college roommate and study buddies didn’t quite share the same enthusiasm for min’yo, and I don’t blame them. I completely understand that min’yo isn’t exactly easy listening for a lot of people. It can be a bit grating at times, with tunes that don’t follow traditional Western note progressions, not to mention the sometimes startling kakegoe (call-and-response) that seemingly jump out of nowhere. 

Older Japanese folks didn’t understand why I enjoyed the genre so much, either; even they found min’yo to be a relic of the past that didn’t quite have the chops to withstand the more international appeal of modern-day songs. For a lot of people, min’yo was something that only a  few Japanese people sang, and even then only to demonstrate Japan’s nostalgic, rustic charm. I found myself having to agree with them. It seemed that min’yo was reserved for special occasions, like cultural events or TV specials, and so many recordings I enjoyed were decades old. Perfect preservation of the genre seemed to be the goal, and innovation was limited, if present at all.

And then I discovered Omodaka.

I was looking for more min’yo to listen to on the Internet (as per usual), and during a mindless return to YouTube’s homepage, I noticed a distinctive thumbnail. 

A punchy, vibrant red background emblazoned with a stark white, minimalist graphic of an arrowhead flower; that’s all there was to it. The title was equally as simple: “Hietsuki Bushi”, uploaded by “Omodaka”. At the time, I had no idea what any of those words meant, but I was riding high on my min’yo video binge, so naturally I clicked.

Imagine my surprise when, instead of hearing the bare twangs of shamisen like I was expecting, I was hit with a lush, multi-layered 8-bit melody mingling with a classical guitar’s gentle strums. Before I could process what I was hearing, a loud, piercing, siren-like horn cut through, and jarring though it was, I only became even more entranced in whatever the hell YouTube just recommended me. I was totally immersed.

Then the vocals kicked in.

To hear the powerful voice of a trained traditional folk singer sing about a tragic love story from the Kamakura era was absolutely breathtaking, especially with the blips and thrums of the 8-bit chords accenting it every few measures. The singer’s notes swooped up and down with confidence, working alongside the digital landscape of the background music to convey the melancholic longing of the narrator. I’d never listened to such a wonderful marriage between traditional and modern musical aesthetics before, and as soon as the video finished, I was already eager for the next song.

As it turns out, the skilled vocals I’d heard on Hietsuki Bushi and on subsequent tracks belonged to classically trained folk singer, Akiko Kanazawa (whose min'yo rendition of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” is definitely worth checking out), but listening to her other works, it was clear that someone else had a hand in the skillful mixing of chiptunes and traditional folk standards I was hearing. After a few music videos and a deep-dive Internet investigation, I soon discovered that Omodaka was not just a one-off, eclectic min’yo mashup duo, but a collaborative project that combines traditional Japanese music with contemporary visual artists. But, behind all of it is one man—electronic music producer and DJ, Soichi Terada.

 An accomplished house techno artist and founder of record label Far East Recording, Terada has enjoyed listening to min’yo music since childhood, but felt he “couldn’t say that [he enjoyed min’yo]” to his friends because they weren’t interested in it. He experimented with min’yo/ house fusions, and over time, Terada developed a distinct sound that would define his label. Later on, spurred by a desire to collaborate with visual artist friends, Terada launched the Omodaka project in 2001.

The Omodaka project usually involves Terada’s friends creating fantastical, even psychedelic, animated music videos for his “techno folk” songs (a term Terada has coined to describe this niche genre). My personal favorites are “Yosowya-san”, with its side-scrolling 8-bit exploration of Japan’s gambling culture, and, of course, “Hietsuki Bushi”, an adventure of a love confession thwarted by portal jumping spacemen and a farmer/lion/bird chimera. Oh, and aliens. There are also several albums released under the Omodaka name too, each filled with songs beyond the wild, color bursting music videos.

Where the Omodaka project really shines, however, is during live performances. They are an unabashed bonanza of pure theatricality, with projections of Omodaka’s music videos flashing behind Terada as he waves around props like paper lanterns or bamboo flutes all throughout his set. Even Kanazawa makes an appearance during performances, singing to the audience virtually through the use of TV screens set up around the stage. 

Especially striking is Terada’s costume when he performs as Omodaka. Instead of his trademark, brightly colored shirts, Terada comes onstage wearing a white, plastic mask, a shaggy black wig, and miko (Japanese shrine maiden) religious robes. As Omodaka, Terada transforms into an uncanny, barely human, androgynous entity whose only goal seems to be to get the audience’s blood pumping to some good ol’ technofolk.

Best of all, when you look into the audience during an Omodaka show, it doesn’t consist of solely geriatric Japanese; it’s diverse and, importantly, it’s young. I’m certainly no expert in methods of preserving a cultural property like min’yo, but I think that Terada is taking a step in the right direction to make sure min’yo will stick around for a bit longer. Sure, perhaps some purists may condemn Terada’s genre mixing as sacrilegious to everything traditional folk music stands for. However, when I see the audiences during Omodaka’s performances sway their bodies to Kanazawa’s trilling and yell back kakegoe to Terada, I feel that wonderful energy that drew me into min’yo in the first place. All I hope is that some of these people will also go back and listen to the music that led to the Omodaka project, and appreciate the unique sound of min’yo, too.

If you would like to check out the Omodaka project or Terada’s other works (he’s composed music for video games as well!), I highly recommend looking at his label’s YouTube channel: “fareastrecording” (all lower case, no space). If you search “Omodaka - Topic” in the search bar, YouTube even has a curated playlist with Omodaka’s entire oeuvre! Omodaka is also on Spotify. Furthermore, Terada regularly updates a Twitter account which announces future performances and other exciting news, like the October 28th release of Omodaka’s newest album in five years!