#Japanese mook

[kep1er-net]

kep1er_jp: [📚] #KepMemories_JP 『KRAZE 001』 ~Behind The Scenes~ CHAEHYUN🩷 @TakarajimaMook

[watchoutzhk]

Grand Seiko Complete Book #seiko #grandseiko #gs #watch #watchoutz #watchoutzhk #watchuseek #bible #gsbible #grandseikobible #2023 #mook #bilingual #grandseikocompletebook #jdm #completeindex #index #tattoo #allaboutgs #japanese #thephotographicindex #completebook #japanese #english #englishandjapanese (at Watch Outz 注目時計) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqXsK4irvCA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[landlinestudios]

What is a mook?

The “mook”, “mookbook” or “e-mook” is what most Japanese publishers would call the perfect combination of a (m)agazine and a b(ook) typically produced for a luxury brand and packed together with a gift for its reader. You can find them in Japanese book stores like Kinokuniya or Tsutaya and convenience stores like 7-11, FamilyMart and Lawsons.

I first experienced a mook while walking into the basement level magazine section of Kinokuniya in Bryant Park. These chunky, plastic wrapped, ad heady books caught my eye amongst all the other reads in the aisle. Specifically it was the Bape mook that stood out the most. I was perplexed as to why they would give away a whole Bape bag typically priced at $200+ with the sale of just a $30 magazine. But maybe that was just it, The E-Mook could be a gateway for its reader to become one with the brands community at a lost cost of acquisition. While enjoying the sick freebie, the graphic catalog of that years Bape season left me in wanting to dig deeper into that section of magazine culture.

Despite the alluring gift that is packed with the mook, there is still a whole printed editorial product that it’s paired with that can’t be missed. The content in the magazines usually is related to fashion but range into the hobby or niche genres of magazine publication.

What truly makes the mook different from a magazine is that it is printed with a ISBN (International Standard Book Number) code which is different from the traditional system of magazine codes.

If you want to collect some cool brands product at a fraction of the cost or you want to impress your loved one with a great niche gift, check out your local Japanese book store’s magazine aisle and see what mooks that have to offer!

Written by Jayquel Michael W. @jayquelmichael

Check out more of our articles on landlinestudios.com

[tretinoin-tube]

Lolita Accessory tutorial pages from Japanese mook “Gothic & Lolita Patterns”, 2004

Included are: head dresses, hair clips/ties, camisole pattern, drawers pattern, sock stoppers, multiple bag patterns, detachable collars, and jewelry.

Consider this as my Valentine’s gift to you guys!! Thank you for being very kind about my post ^-^

*Also* If you would like the patterns to some of the tutorials (ie: the mini top hats, pattern 62) let me know so I can make a post later!

[feybeasts]

“Oh, but Ace Combat MUST be a direct, americanistic political analogy, all the Bad Guys fly Flankers! Isn’t it saying the guys who fly Russian jets are evil??”

The first game to prominently feature a Flanker-flying antagonist spent literally its entire story mode exploring how he was, despite being on the wrong side, a deeply caring and kindhearted man who found mutual humanity with the narrator, a young kid whose parents it’s heavily implied he accidentally killed. The entire game builds up how despite the greater conflict going on around them, people share a mutual humanity and that war is a deeply unnatural thing that puts barriers between folks who otherwise would have been wonderful for one another- you kill the love of his life, leave his nation in ruins, and when you finally kill him, you leave the narrator devastated, the whole vehicle of the story being in the form of a letter he’s writing you in the hopes that you’ll understand a man that was, to you, a faceless mook, and that he believes Yellow 13, despite it all, would have forgiven you.

He’s the Char Aznable of the whole goddamned series, and antagonists flying his aircraft- up to including the “antagonist” of 7 (a grandpa and former prince who lost everything but his family and his urge to fly, things he clings to even as his body fails him and the world leaves his generation behind,) has always been a callback to him.

Plus Flankers are fucking cool and are treated as one of the best aircraft in every game, and the “bad guys” fly every other kind of American, European, and Japanese aircraft too.

Because it’s not a simulator of reality. It’s mecha anime, exploring concepts in a setting that is wholly fantastical, yet points to parallels in our own world and goes “makes you think, huh?”

Reducing it to a direct parallel to our own reality minimizes a series that has always has more to say than your empty-headed Call of Duties or your Medal of Honors of the world.

[mendelpalace]

The “Illustrated Fantasy Book Guide” is a magazine-format book (or mook) released in 1989 by the publisher of ファミコン必勝本 “Famicon Winning Book”, an NES gaming magazine. The mook lists 37 works of fantasy originally written in English except for “Ficciones” by Borges. The editors of “Famicon Winning Book” were fond of the Wizardry port to the NES, which is my explanation for their interest in this stuff. In any case, they created the best Appendix N so to speak of fantasy translated into Japanese that I have yet found. The Japanese titles are provided below to aid the online searches of would-be buyers.

Images/Text courtesy of Japanese Tabletop RPG

I wish I could find a complete set of scans for this book!

Full list of books featured under the cut.

The Lord of the Rings 指輪物語 Earthsea Trilogy ゲド戦記 Chronicles of Narnia ナルニア国ものがたり Conan コナン・シリーズ The Worm Ouroboros ウロボロス The Wood Beyond the World 世界のかなたの森 Lilith リリス Nine Princess in Amber アンバーの九王子 The King of Elfland’s Daughter エルフランドの王女 Gormenghast Trilogy ゴーメンガスト Magic Kingdom for Sale-Sold! 魔法の王国売ります! The Chronicles of Castle Brass ブラス��年代記 Night’s Master 闇の公子 A Voyage to Arcturus アルクトゥルスへの旅 The Princess Bride プリンセス・ブライド Witch World ウィッチ・ワールド A Spell for Chameleon カメレオンの呪文 The Last Unicorn 最後のユニコーン At the Mountains of Madness 狂気の山脈にて Swords and Deviltry ファファード＆グレイ・マウザー The White Hart アイルの書 She 洞窟の女王 Charmed Life 魔女集会通り26番地 Darkover Series ダーコーヴァ年代記 The Riddle-Master of Hed イルスの竪琴 The Sorcerer’s Ship 魔法つかいの船 Dragonlance Chronicles ラゴンランス戦記 Pawn of Prophecy ベルガリアード物語 Dragon Flight パーンの竜騎士 The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz ボアズ＝ヤキンのライオン Momo モモ The Magic Goes Away 魔法の国が消えていく Magician リフトウォー・サーガ The Ship of Ishtar イシュタルの船 Tea with the Black Dragon 黒龍とお茶を Ficciones 伝奇集 Dandelion Wine たんぽぽのお酒

[imuemononihs]

FRIDAY Premium Gravure Mook 2024

Release date: November 12.

[tnbscans]

Tnbscan Want list

I am looking for pretty much anything that you can't find on here already. I have hundreds of items in the queue and many I haven't even scanned yet but there's always things I'm not aware of existing, especially non Japanese items. If you have scans to donate (full credit given of course) please contact me. Thank you!

Bromides

Missing Link Mind Game, OST Seigi no Koe ga Kikoerukai Best of Hero Hero Radio The Beginning OST On-Air Jack 7 Piece Set The Live (ones not already on here) Animate Girls Festival 2011 (All but Kotetsu, Barnaby) 2016 bluray box hero academy Enter Bell (all) T&B2 OST (both) KujiPia (all)

Postcards

Animate New Chitose Airport (Kotetsu & Barnaby) Namjatown & Beginning in Namjatown (many, please ask) Wondergoo (all except T&B2 vol 1 &2, T&B1 (Sakakibara) vol 1) Sunrise (2013 & 2014) MBS Anime Fes 2014 Graffart (all) CharaShop (all) Karatez (2021) Pash May 2022 4DX (Kotetsu, Barnaby) Hero Festa in Sunshine 60 Observatory (all) Parco (all four) Compact Blu-Ray Box Onkyo 2023 Nengajo (all) T&B2 in Namjatown (all) 2022 Pia Mook Cybird Season 2 Bluray (set of 7) Molly Online (all 3)

Clear Files

Sunrise Festival 2011 Namco Namjatown Origami Cyclone Washi Minimini (The Beginning & Origami Cyclone) Circuit of Hero The Beginning 3 Pocket Chipicco (A & B) Sound of T&B 2016 Characro (Ryan, Keith, Pao-Lin) Pachislot Stationary Series (all 6) Pop'n Hero (all 8) Yuru Palette (Hero on Air) NordiQ (Kotetsu & Barnaby, Origami Rock High, Yuri, Group) Nitengo (A & B) Cafe Playback (Both) Mitsukoshi Passlogy Parco (Kotetsu, Barnaby) Rose (Barnaby) Birthday Set (Ryan & Karina, Antonio & Ivan) le coq sportif Summer Resort Heroes (Ivan & Antonio curling) Bkub Okawa (Wild Tiger, Barnaby)

Posters

Newtype Ace Vol 3 (2011) Animedia October 2011 Pash November 2011 Newtype December 2011 Miracle Jump Vol 4 (2011) Cool Voice Issue 5 (2011) Miracle Jump Vol 11 (2012) Ichiban Kuji (Kotestu, Barnaby, Ivan, Keith, Blue Rose, Group) The Beginning World Premiere Poster Collection (1 & 2) Pash July 2012 Animage November 2012 On-Air Jack DAM Hero Karaoke 2012 Circuit of Hero Pash October 2013 Pash May 2014 Oedo Onsen (all) Hero TV Fan The Rising The World of Tiger & Bunny No Anime No Life Ichiban Kuji Rascal Karatez Hero Supporter Art Archives Movie Compact Blu-Ray Box (all) Animedia February 2023

Stickers

Gyu-Kaku x Rock Bison (10 types) Hero TV Jack ~Achieve Emergency Missions~ (Ivan, Keith, Antonio, Nathan, Pao-lin, Karina) Anime Film Festival Tokyo 2017 Wall Stickers (all) Stationary Series Cafe Playback (set A & B) Parco (all) T&B2 schedule stickers Sanrio Petant (set A & B) Buon Appettito Pac-Man A-on Store Origami Cyclone Bakery Usagiza Lepus (all)

Manga Covers (JP)

Comic Anthology 1: It takes two to make a quarrel Comic Anthology 2: First catch your hare Comic Anthology 3: Hitch your wagon to a star Comic Anthology 4: The age of miracles is past…!? Anthology Comic: Go! Go!! Tiger & Bunny 1, 2, 3SP Tiger & Bunny Comics Anthology Vol. 1, 2, 3 Tiger & Bunny 4 Koma Kings Vol. 1, 2, 3 Tiger & Bunny The Comic (Ueda) all except Vol 4 Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology Extra Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology: We Love Sky High Tiger & Bunny The Beginning Comic Anthology Tiger & Bunny (Sakakibara New Edition) Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4

Books (full scans or at least art and interviews)

Tiger & Bunny Hero TV Fan vol. 1 Tiger & Bunny Hero TV Fan vol. 2 Katsura Masakazu x Tiger & Bunny – Original Drawings & Rough Sketches Collection (donation pending) Tiger & Bunny Official Hero Book Tiger & Bunny Official Hero Book 2 Tiger & Bunny Official Guide Book Hero Gossips Tiger & Bunny Roman Album (partially scanned) Tiger & Bunny King of Works (partially scanned) TV Anime Tiger & Bunny Scenario Document Vol. 1 TV Anime Tiger & Bunny Scenario Document Vol. 2 Tiger & Bunny The Live Official Visual Book Band Score Tiger & Bunny Sheet Music Tiger & Bunny -The Beginning- Official Hero Book Tiger & Bunny -The Beginning- King of Works (interviews done, art pending) The Beginning Souvenir Program Special Edition Smart Special Edition Tiger & Bunny Special Book Smart Special Edition Tiger & Bunny -The Rising- Special Book Katsura Masakazu x Tiger & Bunny – Original Drawings & Rough Sketches Collection 2 Mizuki Sakakibara Tiger & Bunny Illustrations (copy obtained) Sum Up!! Tiger & Bunny The Rising Souvenir Program Special Edition Tiger & Bunny -The Rising- Clear File & Postcard Book Tiger & Bunny English of Heroes Tiger & Bunny Pia Tiger & Bunny Hero TV Fan-The Rising- Tiger & Bunny -The Rising- King of Works (super fanbook done, art pending) Tiger & Bunny - The Slot Works- (copy obtained) Tiger & Bunny 2 Multi Pouch Book Tiger & Bunny Kotetsu T. Kaburagi & Barnaby Brooks Jr. Pia Mook (copy obtained) Katsura Masakazu x Tiger & Bunny 2 Original Drawings Tiger & Bunny 2 Anime Visual Book (copy obtained) Tiger & Bunny 2 King of Works (illustrated sheets scanned)

Other Merch:

Monthly Hero Magazine in any language besides Japanese and English. I am aware of French and Korean editions Birthday card included in the Barnaby's Birthday Plate set Calendars (2012, 2013, 2014) Sunrise/Bandai Namco shareholder promotional cards and calendars (all except 2022) Monthly Sheets (Yuri, Ben & Saito) All quo and tosho cards not already here Yurindo bookmarks DAM 3D Mini Book Comics Takaoka bonus paper (Vol 9) Oedo Onsen omiikuji card (Karina) Chimi Mega Buddy Illustrated Sheet Antonio's birthday set Molly Online Kuji clear posters Hero cards and NFT cards given out at the Museum of T&B 2 Netlfix anime card given out at Anime Japan 2023 Hub collab cards and cheki photos

Any non Japanese merchandise I am not aware of, especially outside of North America

Any interviews/articles in any language not already on here

Lost Media

2011 film comic Any undocumented images or files related to the lost media video games Road of Hero, My Private Hero, and V Residence God Eater II T&B DLC Tiger & Bunny The Xmas livestream Hero Radio episodes 26, 40, 74 T&B Station episodes 12, 24, 25, 26

High quality scans of the below art:

[imustbenuts]

Malice, Malevolence, Maous.

Kegare, Shinto Buddhism and how it gets reflected in Japanese video game writing. (Fire Emblem and Zelda Botw/Totk centric)

Gonna blab on a very specific aspect of Japanese Shinto :D. This is not talked about often despite the sheer amount of stuff out there so here's me talking about it.

So. It often goes something like this. The Hero gets a powerful magical weapon at some point. They fight through the Big Bad's army of mooks while they may journey throughout the land. Eventually, they, or the weapon mcguffin gets powered up by a higher power, and at the climax, the Hero/es comes through to take down the evil big bad Demon King-esque malevolent monster/dragon/non-human out, thereby succeeding in saving the world.

Any of that sound familiar? It should, for anyone who has engaged with just about any Nintendo media from Mario to Fire Emblem to Breath of The Wild.

This big bad character archetype is also known as Maou, or the Demon King. 魔王 can also be translated into Sorcerer/Magic King, but the negative evilness associated with it is more apt. TvTropes even lists this as a trope (link)!

The why they are often times taken down this way though, kiiiind of lies within Shinto Buddhism. (And by extension many of other culture/religion's concept of 'ritual cleanliness', but for this post I'm ignoring them! Sorry!)

I'll switch gears a bit to culture/religious stuff and talk about Kegare under the cut.

I think everyone who has ever touched any Nintendo or Japanese related media has ran into the concept of 'kegare', or 'spiritual uncleanliness' multiple times without realizing it.

Kegare (穢れ or 汚れ) is the concept of 'spiritual dirtiness'.

Translated as 'pollution' or 'defilement', to be kegare'd is to be dirtied in some form, often times through action. Generally speaking, kegare is a negative energy typically generated upon contact with death, childbirth, disease and menstruation. But it can also come into state through particularly powerful, negative state of emotions such as hate, jealousy, guilt and anger as well. Note that Kegare isn't by itself a moral or judgemental concept, but rather a force of nature. Kegare is not sin, and therefore cannot be seen as such!

You can think of kegare as bad vibes, bad juju, or even miasma. They're very similar concepts.

With enough bad vibes (basically), a place, object, or a person can be polluted so hard that evil spirits might manifest and cause harm to both them and their surroundings. Hence why Japanese media loves depicting places with bad vibes like the hospitals to be full of yokais or ghosts looking to cause harm.

This is why characters who harbor ambitions of taking over the world are seen as Maous. It's why characters like Hegemon Husk!Edelgard, Grima, Ganon, Mr. Grizz all fit into this evil, ambitious, resentful, almost force-of-nature-like beings who brings with them death to the world. Because they aren't just bringing death with them, they're about to unleash the largest tsunami of bad vibes they can into the world too!

But, the state of kegare can be purified away. There are 2 main ways to do so. Misogi, and Harae.

Misogi (禊)

By standing under a waterfall or washing the body with water, kegare can purified. Notably though, one must be dressed in white during this ritual cleansing. This specific concept is known as Misogi, and you might have come across it in botw already:

In BoTW, Zelda attempts to purify herself in order to unlock the power of the Goddess. By visiting important spiritual places and washing herself in its water in white, she's performing Misogi.

In Fire Emblem Heroes, Naga will suggest this to Kiran, the Player Character:

But misogi isn't exactly why big bads get the holy weapon whacking treatment. If you have noticed, misogi affects only the willing individual taking part in ritual cleansing. The real reason is actually...

Harae (祓)

Harae can mean 2 things. To drive out, or, exorcise. Consenting or not, harae essentially drives out or purifies kegare in another person, place, or object through rituals.

Harae can involve ceremonies, song and dance, using a ritual cleansing tool(!) such as the onusha.

As an example of the former, Azura in Fire Emblem Fates essentially embodies the power of misogi through her association with waters and purification. Here, she tries to exorcise the evil inside of Garon. She is actually performing harae!

As an example of the latter, the cleansing tools.... Why, it should be sounding familiar now.

Be it the Falchion, Yato, Fire Emblem, Breidablik, The Creator Sword, the Master Sword, Ocarina of Time, The Twilight Bow, they all share 2 very similar traits:

Be powered up by the good juju power/light

Whack the big bad maou with it, sometimes unleashing light in the process

In this context that I'm presenting, they are all tools of purification/exorcism. Sit down and think about this. Think about all the Japanese JRPGs you've played so far and see how much this clicks.

The Hero gains a weapon/tool/relic, powers it up in some way or is inherently already powered, and then uses that to smack the big bad and win. Sometimes the tools can be the heroes themselves, but it is often the very similar song and dance (heh). Hell, you can even extend this beyond Fire Emblem and Zelda. Maybe even extend it to anime and manga, and you might find the same themes in places you don't expect.

It's kind of neat to think about. Essentially, the hero not just defeats the big bad, but kind of purifies them as well.

But! There's another reason why weapons are often the divine relics needed to deliver the finishing blow in video games, and why they are almost always associated with characters of authority.

The Imperial Regalia of Japan/ The Three Sacred Treasures

There exists 3 treasures which represents 3 primary virtues and are part of the enthronement ceremony in Japan. They have never been shown to the public to symbolize authority, so no one but the authority knows what they look like. The above image is just an artist's impression of what they might resemble. They exist, supposedly.

The Sword is known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the mirror as Yata no Kagami, and the jewel as Yasakani no Magatama. They represent Valour, Wisdom and Benevolence respectively. They are said to be brought into this world by Japanese gods, passed to the first emperor of Japan, Emperor Jimmu, who said to be a descendant of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess.

Yep, this is also why Fire Emblem is always about noble blooded people with divine weapons.

Yep, these are also the original inspiration for the triforce in The Legend of Zelda.

I won't get into the details behind the Regalia's story in this post, it's too long! Linfamy has done a video about the Regalia if you're interested.

Hopefully this was interesting. Again, feel free to take the ideas here and read up on it externally. So many, many videos and posts and I've not seen people talk at all about this. Sadge.

But before I close off this post, there is a negative side to this kegare concept, in which real people are discriminated against in Japan. ...Remember the association with death for kegare? Yeah... Uhm, someone needs to take care of the dead in any society and butcher livestocks for food, so what happens to those people? ...Messed up things, actually. If you are interested to learn about this, feel free to check this video out (link). Warning: it's a huge downer of a video.

And I think I've spent enough time writing this! Ty for reading this far if you did! ❤️

[russenoire]

the teruki hanazawa arc seized me by the brain almost two years ago and still refuses to let go. teru is just warped in a slow-burn-horror kind of way, despite his apparent good cheer, and i find him tragically fascinating.

i looked up a word he attempts to bludgeon intimidate shigeo with in episode 5: 上下関係。

it's read じょうげかんけい (jougekankei). for context, here's teru's dialogue where it appears:

｢聞きたいことは いくつかあるけどその前にハッキリさせとかないと��。上下関係ってやつを差！」 ききたい　こと　は　いくつ　か　ある　けど　その　まえ　に　はっきり　させ　と　かない　と　ね。じょうげかんけい　って　やつ　を　さ！ k'kitai koto wa ik'tsu ka aru kedo sono mae ni hakkiri sase to kanai to ne. jougekankei tte yatsu wo sa! 'i have some questions i want to ask you, but first i have to clarify something. between the two of us, who answers to whom?'

the english subs translate 上下関係 as 'hierarchy', though it's a little closer maybe to 'pecking order' or 'senpai/kouhai dynamics'. i couldn't even find it on a 15000-word japanese frequency list. fortunately, this 四字熟語 (よじじゅくご・yojijukugo・four-character idiom)'s individual components are common and easily assimilated; i was able to understand what it meant on sight:

上下 = among other meanings, high and low, top and bottom... the ruling and the ruled. kanji: 'up, above' + 'below, down, inferior'.

関係 = relationship, connection, concern. kanji: 'gateway, connection' + 'thread'

the katakanized english loanword for hierarchy, ハイアラーキー, is far more common in japanese. so why would teru use this word? why might he just drop it on shigeo without explanation as he does?

much of the vernacular co-opted by criminal organizations -- at least in anime -- tends towards the archaic and/or formal, in keeping with samurai ideals they profess to uphold. was this language he picked up from fending off claw mooks, alone, throughout his childhood?

knowing the exact word teru uses for 'hierarchy' lends even more hilarity in japanese to shigeo's bafflement when he hears it. it's unlikely that he would know teru's peculiar choice of expression, given his lack of interest in academics. the joke in the english translation falls a little flat IMHO, as the boy doesn't seem so poor a student as to be unfamiliar with the word 'hierarchy' or the concept.

i... i want to examine more of teru's language now in this arc, to see how much of it is as elevated as this word and his sense of self-importance here.

an edit (2023.03.31) for some minor errors in this post:

上下関係 actually isn't a yojijukugo... not all four-character expressions are four-character idioms, of course. i should have consulted the monolingual japanese dictionaries i use on this. ごめんなさい！

my transliteration of the line 「聞きたいことは いくつかあるけどその前にハッキリさせとかないとね。」 should have been: k'kitai koto wa ik'tsu ka aru kedo sono mae ni hakkiri sasetokanai to ne. i still get stumped semi-regularly by 〜て＋おくcontractions in the wild. thank you @listlessnss for this and the previous erratum! させとかない is just させる (to cause or make someone do. usually taught to JSL learners as an inflection of する) in its conjunctive affirmative form させて + 置く (as an auxiliary verb, here meaning to do a thing in preparation for something else).

'formal' would have been a better word choice than 'archaic' for describing 上下関係。上下関係 is not an archaic word, but it is uncommon-ish and more likely to be found in formal writings.

[gunsatthaphan]

GMMTV 2024 part 1 - review

another year, another lineup, another post that no one asked for dhkgdf

But here are my thoughts on the announced shows from today (in order of announcement, BLs are marked with a 🏳️‍🌈, personal favorites are marked with a 🌟):

My Precious The Series: This project has been lingering around for 4 years now since it was announced and I'm tired lmao why are they making this into a series now??? I have many questions. I never had any desire to watch the movie, it seems like a generic coming of age drama oozing with unnecessary nostalgia so it's a pass for me. .

Ploy's Yearbook (🌟): I like this one!!!! It's giving I'm Tee Me Too but with a female ensemble cast, all of which are fantastic and also the rest of the cast is very promising and we're in for a lot of new ships - I was hoping Earth and the other 30yr olds would finally be free of the blue shorts but maybe this the last one 🤡 but anyway yes I will definitely be tuning into that one 👍🏻 .

We Are (🏳️‍🌈): I'm just gonna go ahead and assume this is the WabiSabi show because it looks terrible. Like how lazy do you have to be to just throw a bunch of BL side- and 1 mainstream couple into the same show with the most basic plot you can think of like what a joke?? WinnySatang are another side couple in this so either they're getting their actual debut show in part 2 or this has all been a scam lol. I expected a lot more, same goes for AouBoom and MarcPawin, who I was hoping would maybe get a comeback show. Also PondPhuwin going from NLMG to this is.... a choice. Don't wanna judge too fast but the trailer made it seem like no effort went into this at all. Hoping for a better end result. .

The Trainee (🏳️‍🌈): Oh look!!! It's OffGun show number 6 lmao rip. I'm not gonna comment on this matter again, I guess they'll just be around forever and that's that lmao. But anyway I'm a little confused by this show, the premise seems fun but?? I have questions lol. I'm excited to see View and Piploy though and I'll just keep an open mind. .

Only Boo (🏳️‍🌈): How did we go from Only Friends to Only Boo lmao what a downgrade. I wanted an all-newbie BL and I'm excited to finally see some new faces but I guess I fooled myself into anticipating a setting that's not highschool lmao. This is another show that I'm clearly too old for but it's also the MSP of 2024 and that ended up being nicer than expected so maybe this will be the same. We shall see. .

Pluto (🏳️‍🌈 🌟): I'm 😭😭😭 This was such a huge surprise I'm still shook lmao. Namtan and Film is not only a couple I never expected in 432 years lmao but also a very strong combination in terms of acting and I'm SO into it. They're revisiting a plot about a disability which is still something I'm dreading about Last Twilight so I guess it comes down to the director again. Let's hope they do it justice. Also the twin story could be tricky, I'm getting some Not Me vibes plot-wise but regardless the trailer looks super interesting to me, also Ciize and Kapook?? YES please. I'm so hyped for this!!!! 🥺 .

On Sale (🌟): Ghostbusters but make it TayNew? I love it lol this looks so fun, I'm very intrigued. I wasn't a huge fan of New before but he climbed up the ladder with The Warp Effect real fast because he undeniably excels at playing awkward goofy characters and this looks like another chance for him to showcase that lol. Him and Tay have always worked better as a comedic duo for me so I'm actually excited that this will be more of a bromance situation lol. Also Mook and Jan are excellent additions so I will be watching this for sure!! .

Ossan's Love Thailand (🏳️‍🌈, remake): I have very mixed feelings about this, I have not seen the original show but from what I've gathered, this does not seem fitting for EarthMix, also is it really necessary to remake another Japanese BL? But this is coming from someone who's not exactly a JBL connoisseur so I guess I'm biased. It seems that after MLC they became enthusiastic about the idea of casting EM in more mature roles which I endorse very much but aren't the people in the OG literally 40 💀 idk I'm curious to see what they make of it and also if we will ever get to see a trailer because we all know how that went with Cherry Magic lol. oh well. .

My Golden Blood (🏳️‍🌈🌟): Well well well. what do we have here. This is for sure the biggest surprise since Be My Favorite lmao I can't believe Gawin is bringing yet another retired BL actor back from the dead and this time it's supernatural kjdhgd. The vampire genre is something I never thought GMMTV would take on but like?? I'm excited?? I'm so happy to see my boy Gawin in another main role and Joss is such an interesting partner but he fits the genre very well imo lol. Also Neo and Mond?? I'm so ready. Hoping for a release around Halloween next year for obvious reasons lol ✌🏻 .

Kidnap (?): Another show another confusion lmao this looks like Double Savage 2.0 to me, Ohm is caught in another mafia situation but this time not with his brother but with someone who's either a bro or a 💖 bro 💖 lmao but this smells like bromance to me. Ohm would never. And besides that I'm not really intrigued. next. .

Summer Night: This is kinda strange because everything about this seems like a BL but... it's not? the first 30 seconds had me convinced PhuwinDunk were gonna be the new thing on the block lmao but yeah apparently not. If I squint my eyes I would think this is Hidden Agenda 2 but with more girls lol and tbh I expected another JD series but regardless the plot seems a bit generic to me so I'm on the fence about it for now. .

Wandee Goodday (🏳️‍🌈): This looks like the Walmart version of Only Friends tbh but guess what I'm on board lmao. It's AllThis Entertainment's new project which means no Eclipse Season 2 (thank god). Great and Inn are a pair I did not see coming and tbh I did not expect Great to even take on a BL role to begin with but I'm intrigued! The director has been moving on a vast spectrum of different genres lately and this is another one that's completely different from their previous works. But I'm excited. It looks kinky and violent. perfect. .

Highschool Frenemy: All I'm seeing is people beating each other up and calling each other friends afterwards so yeah. not my thing. next. .

My Love Mix-Up (🏳️‍🌈, remake): I'm not a huge fan of this, not just because I didn't like the original but because I was hoping to see GemFourth in a different setting. I'm confident they can do it justice though and deliver a good outcome, especially regarding the comedy, but other than that this isn't going on my watchlist for now. .

conclusion: this was a wild rollercoaster lol, every trailer was a stressful game of Het, Gay or Bromance lmao - The majority of this lineup was not to my liking but then again I appreciated the variety because from puppy love highschool romance to gay vampires is a spectrum you really can't complain about lmao. My 2 highlights for now are Pluto and My Golden Blood simply because they're both a massive surprise that they kept very well hidden lol, I'm also intrigued by Wandee Goodday and Ploy's Yearbook because those have great ensemble casts.

One thing I'm missing from the BL lineup though is a genuine romance, something that's deep and genuine and more mature. What they announced seems fun but for the most part either silly or drowned out by 32 couples at the same time lol. so I really hope we will get something a little more serious that also talks about lgbt issues in part 2; Something like Be My Favorite would be nice, maybe minus the supernatural element.

I did not expect them to announce 15 series already, considering this is only part 1 so who knows what part 2 will bring. I'm expecting FK to make an appearance as well as PerthChimon since they are the only 2 couples that have not shown up, also possibly JoongDunk because I can't imagine they would separate them just yet. Looking forward to December! ✌🏻

Don't hesitate to drop your thoughts below! 🧡

xxx

[kep1er-net]

kep1er_jp: [📚] #KepMemories_JP 『KRAZE 001』 ~Behind The Scenes~ XIAOTING🤍 @TakarajimaMook

[hoppipolla]

The basement scenes in Beyond Evil

Some quotes are from the Beyond Evil scriptbook translated by @/yeoyuo on Twitter. (link to the scriptbook in the comment section) The setting in Beyond Evil is always both significant and relevant: the reed field, Lee Dong Shik’s basement, Jae Yi’s butcher shop, the archives room, the Japanese restaurant, etc. These different places are highly symbolic — some more than others — and are essential to understand everything that is at stakes. 

With this post, I want to give you my analysis of Lee Dong Shik’s basement. 

The basement scenes are key moments of the drama for they mark crucial shifts, both in HJW and LDS’ relationship and in the plot itself. 

The native title of Beyond Evil translates to Monster in Korean (괴물). The very definition of ‘monster’ is quite complex and even its etymology hints at the many roles monsters can play in our society (and in History more generally). 

'Monster' probably derives from the Latin, monstrare, meaning 'to demonstrate', and monere, 'to warn'. Monsters, in essence, are demonstrative. They reveal, portend, show and make evident, often uncomfortably so. (source in comments) This last sentence encapsulates perfectly how Lee Dong Shik is seen by others; Han Joo Won acts as a reminder of such perception when he first arrives in Manyang and is convinced that LDS is the killer they’re looking for. Indeed, Lee Dong Shik is presented as someone demonstrative, whose agonising pain and temper earned him the nickname ‘nut job’ and the stares and distrust of most people in Manyang.  

Lee Dong Shik is said to be a monster because he was the prime suspect of a murder he did not commit. Because he became a person so visibly drenched in his own pain that it became difficult to look him in the eye. He then depicts himself as a monster — by interfering in Min Jung’s case — to make sure HJW will play his game and take the bait, because he desperately needs HJW to “bite him”. Because he needs his help to catch Jin Mook and to find the missing bodies. Because if everyone keeps being blinded by LDS’ seemingly craziness, then Han Joo Won needs to be the one to see beyond. He needs to see the bigger picture. 

The basement scenes play a huge part in making HJW see the bigger picture because so many elements of truth are revealed in LDS’ basement which makes me think… what if LDS’ basement was a means to rewrite Plato’s cave but in a more paradoxical way? Let me explain. 

The basement is a place of confrontation and its dimly lit interior makes it resemble a cave, somewhere underground with no real light. HJW and LDS discuss and make hypotheses in this place, so often that LDS even jokingly suggests that HJW should pay rent at this point since he’s always in LDS’ basement. 

What makes it a paradoxical rewriting of Plato’s cave is the fact that the truth is, in fact, found in LDS’ basement, on multiple occasions. However, in Plato’s cave, the cave is the place the philosopher needs to escape from to confront the real light, the sun’s light — i.e the truth — to eventually access the world of Ideas.

In Plato’s myth, the cave is a place in which chained prisoners stare at inverted shadows projected by the fire burning inside the cave and they take these shadows for reality. The fire in the cave represents the notion of culture which is to say, constructed beliefs (this is overly simplified but it’s just to give you an understanding). The people in Manyang are like those prisoners in the cave who are convinced that those shadows are what the real world looks like: they are convinced Lee Dong Shik is the cause of Manyang’s tragedy and doom despite the fact that many cases that took place in Manyang were dropped. The Manyang people believe in the evidence that is the guitar pick as fervently as the prisoners believe the shadows are the only reality that exists. Despite it not being enough to indict Lee Dong Shik, it still made him look like the killer for twenty-one years, to them at least. 

Just like the philosopher who decided to climb up and face the burning sun to get to the Truth, Lee Dong Shik is the one who sacrificed himself and ruined his life so that the truth could be established.

To come back to what makes this rewriting paradoxical, here are some truths that were discovered in LDS’ basement:

The posters of the missing people + the files of both Yu Yeon’s and Ju Seon’s cases (before LDS put them back into the archives room) → These enable LDS to carry out his own investigation.  

Min Jung’s fingers → LDS brings them to his basement before figuring out what to do with them. 

Lee Geum Hwa → LDS figures out the name of the victim of HJW’s sting operation during one of his confrontations with him which took place in his basement.

Yu Yeon’s body → LDS finds the body of his sister inside a wall in his basement.

Jung Je’s memories → Again, Jung Je’s memories come back to him during a heated conversation with LDS in his basement. 

However, LDS has to go up into the light, he has to leave the basement and his house to make the truth known. It is within hell that the truth emerges, but it is under the sun’s light that the truth needs to be revealed.

Thus it’s interesting to note that the big reveal — i.e the rain scene in ep 15 when HJW makes LDS listen to his audio recording — doesn’t take place in LDS’ basement but in his yard (outside and not underground). This emphasises the idea that, just like the bodies in Manyang, the truth needs to be dug out. 

Just like Lee Dong Shik and the philosopher before him, HJW became the one willing to sacrifice himself so that everyone could know who the real killer was: “I’ll be a monster, take Han Ki Hwan with me, and dive into hell when he’s reached the peak.”.  

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Saizo / サイゾウ, Xaizor / サイゾー, and Asugi / グレイ

Saizo (JP: サイゾウ; rōmaji: saizou) is the fiery ninja that serves as a retainer to Hoshido's crown prince Ryoma in Fire Emblem Fates. This name is in reference to the fictitious ninja Kirigakure Saizō (JP: 霧隠才蔵). He belonged to a group of ninja known as the Sanada Ten Braves, who served the samurai warlord Sanada Yukimura during the Sengoku period. According to the tales, the Ten Braves participated in the Seige of Osaka, a year-long conflict in which Sanada, loyal to the Toyotomi clan, lost the defensive war of attrition. Of the ten, only Kirigakure Saizō and Sarutobi Sasuke really stuck in pop culture.

This choice of name for the Fire Emblem character is based not only on him being a skilled shinobi, but his fierce loyalty to Ryoma—also named after a renown Sengoku period samurai. Given the importance of the fall of Osaka, with the Tokugawa Shogunate becoming Japan's militant government system for the next two hundred years, the fall of Ryoma and Shirasagi Castle in the Conquest story route could be influenced by the Seige of Osaka. The death of Saizo's father may also pull from stories that claim that Kirigakure was the son of Azai Nagamasa, brother-in-law to the infamous warlord Oda Nobunaga—the very man who had killed Azai.

Xaizor is a dread fighter of Rigel that is fought in a skirmish at the foot of Fear Mountain in Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Though not immediately apparent, this random mook is also based upon Kirigakure Saizō. This could be surmised in the original release, with his Japanese name being サイゾー (rōmaji: saizо̄)—a less common rendering of the name in katakana—and the ninja-inspired design of the Dread Fighter class. The remake deepened this connection with additional lines in the script indicating a devotion to the noble Emperor Rudolf, rather than the cruel witch Nuibaba. One could even consider a parallel between the Seige of Osaka and the Deliverance storming Rigel, and thus, a parallel between Rudolf and Sanada Yukimura.

Asugi is the young, candy-loving shinobi and heir to the Saizo name in Fire Emblem Fates. Surprisingly enough, he shares quite a bit of intel on both his and his father's names in the game itself! Straight from the horse's mouth:

"Asugi" is a word in one of the languages they speak out there. It means "gray."

As it turns out, asugi is only a word in some languages of the Philippines, primarily Hiligaynon. In those tongues, asugi means mercury—not gray, but the silver color of the metal is gray-adjacent.

More than anything, the name Asugi was intended to be an anagram of Gaius, the character from Fire Emblem Awakening that he is practically a carbon copy of. And though the name is certainly not Japanese, when rendered in the language as アスギ, it would closely resemble アズキ (rōmaji: azuki), just with the dakuten (the two hash marks on the top right corner of ギ and ズ) changed. Azuki, more commonly referred in English as adzuki beans, are typically boiled with sugar to make red bean paste. This paste is a common ingredient in sweets in East Asia, used as a filling in Japanese dango, mochi, and other confectionaries.

In Japanese, Asugi is instead called グレイ (rōmaji: gurei). In internal files, this is romanized as Gurei, while the official artbook calls him Gray. In the original script, this is what he said about his name:

「グレイ」は、暗夜の言葉で「灰色」って意味だそうだ。

Translation: I heard that in the language of Nohr, "Gray" means "ash-colored*."

*In Japanese, the word for many colors refer to a common natural occurrence of that color. As such, the color gray literally means "ash-colored" in the language.

Much like the English localization, the name also makes reference to a familiar face. The rōmaji rendering Gurei is an anagram of Guire, the official romanization of Gaius' Japanese name. However, there is a possibility that there is a reference to another character in this name:グレイ is also the name of Gaiden's Gray. Though not indicated in the original game, the stats of the Ram villagers suggest that Gray is intended to take the Mercenary classline. This class distribution would be further pushed with the release of Shadows of Valentia two years after Fates. It's not an unreasonable possibility that Asugi and Saizo were intended to be named after the suggested choice of playable Dread Fighter in Alm's army and the only named Dread Fighter encountered by the Deliverance before the final battle.

As hinted earlier, Asugi also reveals some information about the Saizo name, at least in the world of Fates. Here's what he has to say in English:

If I understand right, [Saizo is] a Hoshidan word that means "color bringer."

In Japanese, Asugi instead says that Saizo means 彩りを造る (rōmaji: irodori wo tsukuru)—"making color." The kanji used in the phrase are alternatively read as sai and zou, making Saizo the only Hoshidan character in Fire Emblem Fates with a canonical kanji rendering of his name: 彩造.

[tretinoin-tube]

Lolita coords from Japanese mook "Gothic Lolita Patterns Vol.5", 2005.

Patterns 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Glad to be back ^_^

[hestzhyen]

Hakuri's Layers

Hi internet void... maybe someone out there can commiserate with me on something incredibly stupid? You see, my brain keeps pleasantly short-circuiting when I try to understand Hakuri's design. It's so boyish and adorable. Cute, CUTE, CUTE! But the actual clothes just kind of... don't make sense? (To this fashion-challenged trans guy anyway.)

So hey, the layers. Why so many?

Spoiler: the answer is "trauma".

My son's got a lot going on despite the plain black-white-black layering. On top looks like it might be a haori of some kind that gets tucked in to the waist? It's hard to tell in most shots due to the inking but it's definitely inspired by traditional Japanese clothing in the way it folds over at the middle of the torso. Underneath is a Western-style collared shirt that buttons close at the wrists and fits loosely elsewhere, likely due to being oversized. Then he's got a black turtleneck underneath it all, presumably short-sleeved but it could easily be another long-sleeved layer with how loose the other two are. The top two layers seem very baggy and oversized, while the bottom one could be a normal fit.

It's very different from how his father, siblings, and the estate staff dress. Kyoura wears a Western three-piece suit and tie at all times. The Tou uniform has a tunic on top of a dress shirt featuring open sleeves, bandages/braces on the arms, and a different collar style. Same with the regular Sazanami uniform, the most noticeable difference being the short sleeves. The children and non-combat staff have only been shown in regular kimonos/servant uniforms (except for the one group flashback to Granpa Sazanami's funeral, where all ages wore suits and ties). Mr. Proceeder, estate staff, and kids:

The Tou:

Sazanami Mooks:

Child Hakuri & Tenri feat. Low-Res Background Abuser:

Interestingly, there's a shot of kid Tenri wearing a black turtleneck under a white kimono so I wonder if there are different types of dress for a specific age group/level of training? Hakuri had the same clothing as him during the flashback's time period, so that's what I'm going to assume.

Also, at the start of the Ice Lady chapter Hakuri, is wearing the black haori and a short-sleeved white shirt underneath, no long-sleeved dress shirt or turtleneck in sight. It takes place in August and he wasn't expecting the chill at first, so this makes sense.

This was consistent for the first four pages of the chapter before abruptly shifting to something closer to his usual getup on the fifth page, showing us that at least a day had passed between scenes. He adds the turtleneck in but actually seems to have two different variations to show the passing of time through the chapter. (Note the white shirt...)

I'm gonna hit the image cap at this rate so please believe me that he alternates between these two styles throughout.

So here is the origin of his layered appearance: Hakuri was dressing against Ice Lady's chilly aura that overpowered the summer heat. This leaves me with a continuity question...

Final Meal:

Present Day:

The white dress shirt is slightly different from the one we meet him in so I wonder what happened when Hakuri was tossed out of the estate. In the panel above, it's identical to the ones his siblings in the Tou and Sazanami defense force wear, just rumpled and unbuttoned at the collar. But he's clearly wearing a different style while Current Events are going down. Did he have to return Sazanami uniform pieces before being escorted out? Did he just grab what was at hand before fleeing? Did the process take a few days, so he just left with what he was wearing at the time? Inquiring minds want to know!

It's also interesting to note that the loose suspender straps hanging from his waist aren't present in the Ice Lady flashback sequence.

Same chapter (35) - flashback vs. present. Fun fact: Soya deserves to be fucked with rusty screwdrivers. Since that's part of his design when we first meet him in Ch. 19, and they're consistently present outside of the flashback scenes, Hakuri definitely changed his outfit a bit between receiving a latent trauma buff and meeting Chihiro. I wonder if we'll ever get an explanation... It's probably not a detail that will ever be explained but I have to know about the straps. I love them. They make no functional sense and clearly weren't something included as a permanent part of his design like the hair tie pattern, short boots, haori, and baggy cropped khakis were. Is it his own fashion sense? Something his samurai can use to position him at will? Just added by Hokazono-sensei for aesthetic reasons? I choose option 2 until it's disproven. But yeah, after going through all of this panel by panel, I'm really curious about the time Hakuri spent drifting before he fell in with Team Goldfish. I'm fuzzy on the timeline but basically, he met the Ice Lady in August, spent three weeks with her, was kicked out, then found Chihiro about a week before the Rakuzaichi was held on November 3rd. How long was he on his own for, and where was he staying? He was always nearby if Chihiro needed him, but what about when they were done planning for the day? We didn't see him sleeping at the cafe, Hinao's place, Chihiro's apartment, an alley, a park bench- anywhere. I'm so, so curious about that little part of his life but it's not likely to be explored... I think if it's brought up at all, it'll be as a reason for Chihiro to add him to the goldfish bowl with Char. I'll just have to live with making my own headcanon about it I guess.

Anyway. Most likely, Hakuri was designed to counter-balance Chihiro's straight and narrow look- slim and cool vs. loose and boyish. They're opposites that compliment and complete each other at pretty much every level. I really want a character bible just to see the designs in neutral poses side-by-side to go feral over...

I'll have to ramble about that another time though because I just found out that Tumblr has a 4,096 character limit per block, whatever that means! It won't let me post pictures any more so I guess that's it for now. If you made it through to the end, you're my samurai.