As I'm still working my way through Kuromajosan Ga Toru, we'll be taking a look at two more kanji that touch on the supernatural, though are perhaps are a bit more useful than 呪文: 幽霊 (ゆうれい, yuurei) and 死霊 (しりょう, shiryou).
We'll deconstruct 幽霊 first. The first kanji 幽 isn't a word by itself, but can carry the meaning of calm, dark, dim, or tranquil. Since it's an adjective, it needs an extra character to become the word 幽か (かすか, kasuka) which means faint, dim, or hazy. Interestingly, this kanji is also used in an archaic word for confining something in a room. The second kanji 霊 (たま, tama OR れい, rei) means soul or spirit and crops up a lot in the manga I read. Together, they take on the meaning of ghost, spectre, or phantom.
死霊 begins with the kanji 死 (し, shi) which means death. You'll run into the imperative form 死ね (しね, shine) often in shonen manga whenever characters rush to deliver the final blow to their opponent. Combine 死 with the familiar 霊 and we get a word meaning the spirit of a dead person or ghost.
So if both of these words can carry the meaning of ghost, the question becomes are they synonyms. Well, not quite. From what I gather 幽霊 is a general term for all incorporeal creatures, be they the vengeful spirit of your umbrella, a spectral animal, or some kind of monster. On the other hand, 死霊 is a term used exclusively to refer to the spirits of once living people. To put it another way, while all 死霊 are 幽霊, not all 幽霊 are 死霊.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Origami A Day 6: Cerberus
Today's model comes from the pages of Dragon, Witch and Other Fantasy Creatures Origami. This is a pretty cool book if you're familiar with origami and fairly confident with your folding. It's meant for those with some experience and the latter half of the book is filled with some very impressive, and very difficult, models. I used a piece of red 8 inch Fold'ems paper for this build.
The instructions are minimal, but clear. All the folds are explained in the preface to the book and it's generally expected that the reader is familiar with the standard notation given to folds in most books. Still there are places where I would have appreciated some commentary on the folds, having to deduce what is expected a few times through trial and error. I'd rank the model as advanced. Folding time was a little over an hour from start to finish.
I have yet to get this model just right. I can never seem to fold the heads correctly and always end up with earless dogs. This one faired a bit better than my previous attempt, but the model isn't without some serious flaws.
The front of the model is very thick, so much so that it pushes out the front legs. I'd press it in a book, but I'm not sure if it would help too much and I'm afraid of messing up the heads.
I also don't care for the pointed legs, and had a lot of trouble getting the front ones folded correctly. There actually wrong in the picture above, but I fixed them after comparing this model to my smaller one.
I had tried to fold this with a 15cm square about a week ago. Though I was able to finish, I had to sacrifice a lot of detail to do so. The heads in particular came out much nicer in the larger model, as I was actually able to get them shaped properly (minus ears). The back legs and body were also a bit better, although I like the tail on the smaller version better.
Despite my complaints, I still like this model. It's rare to find diagrams for this particular creature and it's not as difficult as I imagined it would be.
The instructions are minimal, but clear. All the folds are explained in the preface to the book and it's generally expected that the reader is familiar with the standard notation given to folds in most books. Still there are places where I would have appreciated some commentary on the folds, having to deduce what is expected a few times through trial and error. I'd rank the model as advanced. Folding time was a little over an hour from start to finish.
I have yet to get this model just right. I can never seem to fold the heads correctly and always end up with earless dogs. This one faired a bit better than my previous attempt, but the model isn't without some serious flaws.
The front of the model is very thick, so much so that it pushes out the front legs. I'd press it in a book, but I'm not sure if it would help too much and I'm afraid of messing up the heads.
I also don't care for the pointed legs, and had a lot of trouble getting the front ones folded correctly. There actually wrong in the picture above, but I fixed them after comparing this model to my smaller one.
I had tried to fold this with a 15cm square about a week ago. Though I was able to finish, I had to sacrifice a lot of detail to do so. The heads in particular came out much nicer in the larger model, as I was actually able to get them shaped properly (minus ears). The back legs and body were also a bit better, although I like the tail on the smaller version better.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Origami A Day 5: Godzilla
While searching for cool new origami patterns, I ran across this site and decided to try my hand at folding a Godzilla. I used a 4.5 inch square of green Fold'Ems origami paper.
The models on this site are really cool and I hope to fold some more soon, but am having a bit of trouble with the way the directions are presented. I really don't like the use of photos for directions, as the darker color of the paper sometimes made the folds difficult to see. I attempted a few other diagrams on the page as well, without much success. The Godzilla model is the easiest one I looked at, though I'd still rank it an intermediate model overall. It took me about half an hour to fold.
The head is probably the thickest point, with four layers to either side. Still, it was simple enough to shape.
The feet are really nice for a model this small and didn't give me that much trouble. The model is balanced enough to stand on the feet if you fold them just right.
I liked it so much, I made a Mecha-godzilla from one of my special foil pieces. Those things are hard to fold.
The models on this site are really cool and I hope to fold some more soon, but am having a bit of trouble with the way the directions are presented. I really don't like the use of photos for directions, as the darker color of the paper sometimes made the folds difficult to see. I attempted a few other diagrams on the page as well, without much success. The Godzilla model is the easiest one I looked at, though I'd still rank it an intermediate model overall. It took me about half an hour to fold.
I must say I'm really impressed with this model. It's challenging and detailed, but not overly complicated or thick. In other words, it's the perfect model for me.
The feet are really nice for a model this small and didn't give me that much trouble. The model is balanced enough to stand on the feet if you fold them just right.
I liked it so much, I made a Mecha-godzilla from one of my special foil pieces. Those things are hard to fold.
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| Fight! |
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| Godzilla: King of Monsters! |
Photo Friday: DyDo Machine and Kamen Cider
DyDo machines are amazing for a number of reasons. They stock awesome drinks like Hotcake Juice and Yogurt, the machine thanks you for every purchase and there's a roulette system which, if you win, gives you a free drink.
It's also host to my favorite Japanese gimmick soda: Kamen Cider.
I say gimmick because other than the name, this soda doesn't have much going for it. It's a decent cider I guess, but the only reason to seek it out and buy it over another brand is the packaging.
I suppose a little background is in order for those unfamiliar with Japanese pop-culture. There is a long running tokusatsu (特撮, special effects) TV show in Japan called Kamen Rider. Kamen (仮面) means mask or masked, so the show is Masked Rider. Though I'm sure I'll elaborate more on this series in a future post, think of something along the lines of Power Rangers, itself an American adaptation of a tokusatsu series. The design of each can of Kamen Cider is based off a character from the show's long history, with information about the character included on the back. It lends itself well to the collector "Gotta Catch 'Em All" culture of Japan, my own disappointment with getting four Kamen Rider Black cans a clear sign that I too have been sucked into this mindset.
Kamen Rider not your thing? Dydo has you covered with Ultraman (Ultra Water) and Super Sentai (Goranger). Check out their website here.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Girl's Generation US Debut: K-pop Music in America
The Korean group Girl's Generation recently made their US debut with The Boys. A 17 track album, it features an English version of the song of the same name as well as a balanced set of Girl's Generation's more recent Korean music.
The group's attempt to jump across the Pacific is not without precedent. Several Asian artists including Utada, Teriyaki Boyz, and BoA have made similar stabs at breaking into the American market, usually with middling success. As a fellow Korean, BoA's career is perhaps best at illustrating the difficulties associated with this kind of move. Debuting in Korea in 2000 and expanding into Japan the following year, BoA quickly gained notoriety in both countries. In 2008, she released a self titled album under the newly created SM Entertainment USA label. The CD peaked at 127 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and despite high hopes to work with artists such as Justin Timberlake and T-Pain, BoA returned her focus to the Japanese market the next year. Though not attributed as a direct cause for her return, BoA did mention the difficulty she was having learning English and making friends.
Girl's Generation has had a similar, if somewhat slower moving, career. Debuting in Korea in 2007, the group didn't make the hop over to Japan until 2010. There are a number of notable differences in the way they are approaching the move to America as well. For starters, rather than crafting a new CD for the states, The Boys is simply a re-release of their best selling 2011 album with a few remixes thrown in to help sales. They may also have a leg up on the language barrier that BoA found so daunting in that two of their members, Jessica and Tiffany, are from America.
As I said, the CD is a varied arrangement of the type of music I've come to associate with this group. Buried between the dance beats of songs like "The Boys" and "Mr. Taxi" are slower moving, melodic tracks like "How Great Is Your Love" and "Sunflower". The songs "Trick" and "Oscar" are probably best compared to the groups earlier "Run, Devil, Run", which kicked off their move into darker sounding music. I feel "Lazy Girl" has the kind of sound that will appeal to western audiences despite its foreign nature. For some reason, it reminds me of Katy Perry.
If there's one complaint I have with the CD, it's the end. I expected an English and Korean version of "The Boys" to be included, but not four additional remixes. Though I understand the logic behind the choice to pair Girl's Generation with notable American artists in an effort to boost sales, only one of the four remixes does anything for me. The first, a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, is by far the worst, with no effort whatsoever to make the two artists mesh. Suzi's remix fares a bit better, but the overall effect is still a negative in my mind for reasons that are hard to explain. The last two are a David Anthony and Teddy Riley remix, respectively. I like the David Anthony version, which manages to speed the song up a bit while adding an unobtrusive and enjoyable techno beat. The Teddy Riley mix is a close second, but relies a bit too heavily on the tired remixing technique of repeating the end of lines and has a few balance issues.
At the end of the day, I fear the language barrier will once again be the deciding factor of this CDs success stateside. But we don't need to understand music to appreciate it. So I encourage anyone reading this to go take a listen to Girl's Generation. The CD is available on iTunes, which has samples of each song and includes a nice digital booklet. Alternatively, you could just look them up on Youtube. If you like what you hear, there are plenty of other k-pop artists whose CDs are available for download. My favorites include f(x) and 2NE1.
The group's attempt to jump across the Pacific is not without precedent. Several Asian artists including Utada, Teriyaki Boyz, and BoA have made similar stabs at breaking into the American market, usually with middling success. As a fellow Korean, BoA's career is perhaps best at illustrating the difficulties associated with this kind of move. Debuting in Korea in 2000 and expanding into Japan the following year, BoA quickly gained notoriety in both countries. In 2008, she released a self titled album under the newly created SM Entertainment USA label. The CD peaked at 127 on the Billboard Top 200 charts and despite high hopes to work with artists such as Justin Timberlake and T-Pain, BoA returned her focus to the Japanese market the next year. Though not attributed as a direct cause for her return, BoA did mention the difficulty she was having learning English and making friends.
Girl's Generation has had a similar, if somewhat slower moving, career. Debuting in Korea in 2007, the group didn't make the hop over to Japan until 2010. There are a number of notable differences in the way they are approaching the move to America as well. For starters, rather than crafting a new CD for the states, The Boys is simply a re-release of their best selling 2011 album with a few remixes thrown in to help sales. They may also have a leg up on the language barrier that BoA found so daunting in that two of their members, Jessica and Tiffany, are from America.
As I said, the CD is a varied arrangement of the type of music I've come to associate with this group. Buried between the dance beats of songs like "The Boys" and "Mr. Taxi" are slower moving, melodic tracks like "How Great Is Your Love" and "Sunflower". The songs "Trick" and "Oscar" are probably best compared to the groups earlier "Run, Devil, Run", which kicked off their move into darker sounding music. I feel "Lazy Girl" has the kind of sound that will appeal to western audiences despite its foreign nature. For some reason, it reminds me of Katy Perry.
If there's one complaint I have with the CD, it's the end. I expected an English and Korean version of "The Boys" to be included, but not four additional remixes. Though I understand the logic behind the choice to pair Girl's Generation with notable American artists in an effort to boost sales, only one of the four remixes does anything for me. The first, a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, is by far the worst, with no effort whatsoever to make the two artists mesh. Suzi's remix fares a bit better, but the overall effect is still a negative in my mind for reasons that are hard to explain. The last two are a David Anthony and Teddy Riley remix, respectively. I like the David Anthony version, which manages to speed the song up a bit while adding an unobtrusive and enjoyable techno beat. The Teddy Riley mix is a close second, but relies a bit too heavily on the tired remixing technique of repeating the end of lines and has a few balance issues.
At the end of the day, I fear the language barrier will once again be the deciding factor of this CDs success stateside. But we don't need to understand music to appreciate it. So I encourage anyone reading this to go take a listen to Girl's Generation. The CD is available on iTunes, which has samples of each song and includes a nice digital booklet. Alternatively, you could just look them up on Youtube. If you like what you hear, there are plenty of other k-pop artists whose CDs are available for download. My favorites include f(x) and 2NE1.
Origami A Day 4: Running Baby Squirrel
The diagram was pretty detailed and included notes for every step (in Japanese), so there were no problems with folding. It's clear this book was meant for beginners and it's nice that everything is explained so thoroughly. The hardest step was probably when you had to pull up the layers to form the head, but everything squashed easily. It took me about 15 minutes from start to finish.
It's cute, if a little simple. Not sure of someone would look at this and instantly think squirrel. Color probably also plays a part in this, as I hadn't found my solid colored paper and opted for orange, which was the closest I felt would work.
I don't like drawing on my models, but I may make an exception with this one. The face is just too plain.
I like making models that move in some fashion. It's why I still enjoy making hopping frogs and flapping birds. Thanks to the fold in the tail, the running squirrel will fly forward a short distance if you quickly tap it.
Pretty fun overall. Definitely recommended if you can find the diagram.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Double Prizes: Nyanpire
The Gothic World of Nyanpire began as a doujinshi in 2009. Though often associated with adult content, the term doujinshi refers to any self published material, be it book, magazine, or manga. In this case, Nyanpire is nothing more than some short stories about the titular character and his friends. They are relatively short as well, the first two volumes weighing in at 18 and 24 pages respectively. We learn about Nyanpire's origins and watch as he meets new friends and is taken in by a girl named Misaki. The manga is ongoing and was popular enough to get a 12 episode OVA last year.
For me, however, Nyanpire began as an adorable cat plush in a crane machine. I can't remember which one I won first, but I became hooked on collecting them pretty quickly. This one's sash reads "血を下さい" which means "Blood, please". Adorable and perhaps just a little frightening.
Nyanpire goods come in all shapes and sizes. The upper plush is meant to be attached to a bag or phone. The lower one is a coin purse. I remember it being exceptionally hard to win. I probably could have filled it twice over with the change I used to get it.
As I said, the Nyanpire manga largely consists of Nyanpire hanging out with his friends. The first one he runs into is this guy. His name is Masamunya and his look is based on the historical figure Date Masamune. You may have noticed that both Nyanpire and Masamunya both have "nya" in their names. This is because "nya" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound cats make. Also, how easy was it to get me to try for this twice? All they did was put him in festival wear, opened his mouth, and gave him a little fan.
Another of Nyanpire's friends, Chachamaru is the only cat I know of in the series without "nya" in his name. He is the last cat Nyanpire befriends. I have a larger version of this one somewhere, but I believe it's currently boxed away somewhere.
There's a fourth cat as well, whom Nyanpire meets at the end of the first manga. He is an angel/cat who has been thrown out of heaven named Nyatenshi. I don't have any plushes of him...yet.
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