::kusagi no rai-chan::

 Series ~ Videogames ~ Jdorama 

Harajuku (meaning meadow lodging) is a common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamamote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan. The area is known for its youth style and fashion. The area has two main shopping streets, Omotesandou and Takeshita-douri. The latter caters to youth fashion and has many small stores selling Gothic Lolita, Visual Kei, Rockbilly, Hip-Hop and Punk outfits, in addition to fast food and others. The term Harajuku Girls is used in the English language to describe teenagers dressed in any fashion style who are in the area of Harajuku. These girls maybe members of various subcultures. The may also be dressed as characters from anime, movies or manga (known as Cosplay).

Visual Kei refers to a movement among Japanese musicians, that is characterized by dressing up in costumes, wild hair styles, striking make-up. This is also used to a genre of JRock (Japanese Rock) related to glam rock, punk and metal. Some sources say that a Visual Kei’s clothing is as important as the sound of the music. Some visual kei uses this genre to get started, then as they become more popular the visual is dropped and becomes more about the music. Visual Kei is popular among independent underground music, as well as mainstream. Visual Kei emerged in the late 1980s by the band X Japan. In the mid 1990s Visual Kei increased popularity in Japan, the most notable bands to achieve success during this period included, X Japan, Glay, Luna Sea and L`Arc~en~Ciel. In 1999, mainstream popularity in Visual Kei was declining, most popular Visual Kei disbanded. In 2007 the genre has been revitalized when Luna Sea and X Japan decided to play again. With these, Visual Kei bands enjoyed a boost in public awareness.

Gothic Lolita or GothLoli. The term Gothic and Lolita is used by the Japanese to describe a sub-culture of teenagers who wear wide range of fashions. In English language it is used to describe a specific subset of Lolita Fashion. In the English Language fandom, the term Elegant Gothic Lolita was originally used to describe a sub-set of Lolita fashion that was either black, or mostly black with white accents. However there are many subsets within Gothic Lolita including Amarori (sweet Lolita) usually wearing pastel colors often pink and blue, Shirorori (white Lolita) wears white color, Kurorori (black Lolita) wears black colors, punk Lolita, dark Lolita, country Lolita and more. The male counter part to Elegant Gothic Lolita is Elegant Gothic Aristocrat it is describe to be very tailored ans stream lined, both being mostly black and white. Lolita fashion draws its inspiration from Rococo, Victorian and Edwardian fashion.

There are three types of characters in the Japanese language. First is KANJI, there are thousands of Kanji for a person to learn. That is why it is important for Japanese to read and write a lot.

HIRAGANA. These are characters used to spell words with Japanese origin. It is also used to help describe a Kanji.

KATAKANA. These are characters used to spell foreign words. Usually scene in Anime with English titles.

In Japan, blood types are a big deal. In 1916, Japanese doctor Kimata Hara reported that your blood type determines your personality – the way horoscopes and zodiac signs do in the Western world.

Type A - Farmers

Calm, obedient, cautious, intellectual and sensitive. In true-with their feelings, making them sympathetic and good at handling relationships, which they value a lot. Disciplined and ready to sacrifice – the serious ones in the group. On the downside, they worry a lot, maybe too much, making it hard for them to make decisions. They look inwardly and are usually ahy and deteched from the outside world.

You're like: Sakura Kinimoto (Card Captor Sakura) and Sakura Shinguuji (Sakura Wars)

Type B - Hunters

Possess a strong personality and a cheerful outlook in life. Open to adventures and easy to get along with. Their lighthearted spirit, however, makes them a little disorganized and they tend to do many things, without really focusing and perfecting any one thing. They love people but are a little on the noisy side – but hey, they’ve got a lot of stories to tell.

You're like: Killua Zaoldyeck (Hunter X Hunter), Sumire Kanzaki (Sakura Wars) and Miaka (Fushigi Yuugi)

Type AB - Humanist

Observant and aware of their environment. Maybe a little too observant, sometimes – they complain a lot. They have short tempers and are often moody and overly critical of themselves, though sensitive and efficient workers, they try to be useful in any situation.

You're like: Kenshin Himura (Rorouni Kenshin) and Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter)

Type O - Warriors

Romantic, confident, strong willed and dedicated to their causes, which is why they are often workaholics. Their dedication has a downside – they don’t like anything to get in their way. Cold at times, stubborn, and self-centered because no one else’s mission seems as noble as theirs. They are great leaders though andgood at organizing activities.

You're like: Kaoru Kamiya (Rorouni Kenshin), Dita Liebely (Vandread) and Gon Freecss (Hunter X Hunter)

By Shiloah Matic

K-zone Philippines vol.1 no. 6

March 2003 issue

There are two types of manga: shonen and shojo. Shonen manga are primarily targeted for young boys and feature long sagas packed with action and adventure. Some examples of  shonenmanga are dragon ball , get backers, shaman king, and yu gi oh! Shojo manga are primarily targeted for young girls, though, contrary to popular belief, they aren’t limited to romantic stories – there are fantasy, science-fiction and even horror stories! Some examples of  shojo manga are cardcaptor sakura, fushiji yuugi, magic knight rayearth and  sailor moon.

When a publisher loves a story a mangaka it will be included in a zasshi or comic magazine. Zasshi have hundreds of pages and may contain as many as 10 stories. They are printed in lack and white on cheap newspaper.  Depending on how many in demands they are, zasshi comes out monthly, bi-weekly or weekly. When a particular story does well, the publisher reprints it as tankouban literally means “separate volume”. These contain five to ten chapters, allowing fans to read their favorite story without interruption of ads or other stories they’re not interested in.

If these stories are given the chance, it can be turned into anime. Making anime is expensive and difficult. It includes many people: the producer, director, editors and many artists. Anime is produced in three forms: TV episodes, Original Video Animation and full-length feature films. TV episodes are the most common anime we see and more than half of all anime made for TV are the ones based on manga. Original Video Animation or OVA are anime that skip TV and go directly   to video stores. Full-length feature films are anime specially made for big screen. Whie TV episodes and OVAs last to an hour, feature films start at 60 minutes up to as long as two hours.

That’s Anime section

K-Zone Philippines vol. 3 no. 6

March 2005 issue

Yakitate! Japan is all about breads. Yakitate means freshly bakes and the word Japan in the title doesn’t refer to the country, it means Japanese Bread. (Ja for Japan and Pan Japanese word for bread). This anime is sure to be enjoyed by anybody with it’s humor. The lead character Kazuma Azuma aims to make Japanese Breads that will remind anybody who would eat it the whole country of Japan. The anime features cameo appearances of other characters from different animes just for the humor.

With this I posted a recipe from the Anime for making bread in a rice cooker. Yes! You’ve heard right! A rice cooker! It’s called Japan no.2!!!

I haven’t tried this recipe. And once I do, I’ll put pictures along with it.

Ingredients:

• Nori
• sushi rice
• crab meat
• mango or avocado
• cucumber
• tobiko or sesame seeds

Place half nori in sushi mat

Put sushi rice 1 cm high (made of rice mixed with vinegar)

Flip nori so rice would be in the bottom and nori on top

Place crab meat, mango or avocado, and cucumber at the center then roll

Remove sushi mat or bamboo mat

Roll uncut sushi in tobiko (orange colored) or sesame seeds

Carefully cut sushi makes 6 servings

I haven’t tried this recipe. And once I do, I’ll put pictures along with it.

Tempura Batter

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cold water

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients with fork just until blended.  (Batter will be

thin and slightly lumpy.)

Tempura Sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

Heat all ingredients until hot.  Serve in small individual bowls.

Shrimp Tempura

6 servings

1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ice water

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Peanut Oil

Hot cooked Rice

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Peel and devein shrimp; set aside.  Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, water,  vegetable oil, and egg;  Stir mixture until smooth.  Heat peanut oil to 375 F in a wok or deep fryer. The oil should be 2-3 inches deep in the wok.  Dip shrimp into batter and fry until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and serve over rice.