vethica | This is just like one of my Japanese animes

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This is just like one of my Japanese animes

Okay, so I haven't posted since mid-July. Is there a reason for this? Well, sort of. I got caught up in work for my internship, and when I was done working for the day I was generally too burnt out to make a post. And when I wasn't I was probably playing Pokémon Conquest or something. :P And about a week after that ended, I left for Japan. So here I am, about a month into Japan and finally feeling like I have things together somewhat, so I decided maybe I ought to post! Besides, LJ has once again decided it would be a good idea to make a completely unnecessary and unwanted change, this time to the posting page, so I should enjoy this one that actually works while I can. :B

So I guess I'll just post some things from my life I've been thinking about. Starting with stuff about Japan.

Yes, I did mention that I was in Japan. It's been pretty awesome so far! Not the magical land of animes and merch that all us weeaboos subconsciously hope for, but let me tell you, it is pretty darn close. I offer a list of the merch I've acquired so far (i.e., this month):

- 8 mangas from Bookoff (a super cheap used book chain), mostly yaois but 1 yuri and 1 gen
- Another yaoi from local bookstore
- The new Baccano! light novel (crappy webcam pics @ the baccano! lj comm)
- Yume Musubi Koi Musubi vol. 1 (also YOU GUYS YUME MUSUBI KOI MUSUBI GOT LICENSED LAST YEAR AND I DIDNT KNOW foams at mouth)
- Our Light Club/Bokura no Light Club vol. 1
- 2 Smile Precure gashapons
- Smile Precure + fairy tales picture book
- Notepad w/ pictures of all the precures on it
- i like precures ok
I'm also planning to pick up a Madoka or Sayaka figurine the next time I stop by a small figurine store relatively nearby! Figurines are so much cheaper here guys. ;_;

Right I should probably talk about my life and not just merch. I'm on a study abroad program and living with a family in Kyoto. The program is great (they give us a lot of free stuff and perks!) and my host family are really nice. I feel bad a lot of the times though because I'm not good enough at Japanese to carry on a real conversation, and I spend a lot of time in my room, so I feel like I'm ignoring them. :( Anyone have any tips on this front?

I haven't been anywhere outside of Kyoto yet (except a brief visit to a friend who's staying in Osaka), but my friends and I have done a fair bit of exploring within Kyoto. I've been to two temples, an anime fair (not as good as it sounds; much less cool than a convention, trust me), and a flea market/food fair, as well as gone drinking and done karaoke. I really don't understand the point of social drinking yet, I'm afraid, but karaoke is HELLA AWESOME. They have so many anime songs. They have Butter-fly. ♥ So going there as often as possible. Aside from that, we spend a lot of time hanging out in Shijo, the local shopping district. That's where aforementioned Bookoff and figurine store are located. There is also, as my friend and I found out, a doujinshi store, but our excitement was lessened when we realized it only sold yuris. (Well, that and one small section that I think was traps, but could have been futa.) Guess I'll have to save my money for Otome Road. :B

I think that is it about Japan, but let me know if you guys have any questions, or if you want me to get you anything! I will do it. I will get you things. You may have to pay for them depending on the price though. :P

And now on to some fandomy stuff!

Okay, Kokoro Connect isn't the best fandom. It is just the one I'm currently spazzing over! And it's rEALLY really good okay. Basically what it is about is, it is about five friends in a high school club who have a bunch of weird supernatural stuff happen to them, and it's also a romance, and it's also really deep psychologically. And it's SO GOOD. I can't say too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but the first supernatural thing that happens is bodyswap, if that's a draw for anyone. :B (it was for me) Also the acting is all really good, like holy crap, all these voice actors deserve a medal or something. And and freakin' and. Man I watched 8 episodes of this show back-to-back on my own, in one day. That never happens. So that should give you an idea of how good this show is. And how much you should watch it. c: The finale is this Saturday night! We don't get the channel, sadly, but I'll try to find a stream. I'm excite fffffff!

And a dream I had last night. I'm going to c&p this from what I wrote in my dream journal app (a really good one called Dreamer, if anyone cares) when I woke up, because I like the way I wrote it. But I apologize for any incoherence. @_@

Making out with Isaac and Miria! At first when I mentioned it I think it came from some other dream I had or dreamed I had, but it turned out Isaac and Miria were totally okay with it (I'd kind of thought they might be!), so it became a reality.
What was happening was, it started with a Facebook page joking about 101 Dalmatians and immortality and smoking weed. My parents were there too. Then I ended up in this giant hotel/jail, but in the hotel part (bad guys went to the jail part), and there were pretty much every fictional character living there! Every fictional character I cared about, anyway. Also Yuki was there and we hugged. <3
There was this part where I was on trial, but it was a really casual and jokey trial. People were asking me if I did things like burn their crops and poison their water supply, and I kept saying no. Then one guy, who appeared to be at least part cardboard cutout, rattled off a list of basic stuff like theft, violence, etc. When he was done, I said, "No, but I did make out with Isaac and Miria."
"What? Vethie!" Miria seemed surprised, but not displeased.
"When was this?" Isaac inquired.
"Well, you know, that one time we'd gotten a little sloshed, and I was all like, 'Oh, Isaac... I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you sound exactly like J. Michael Tatum...' "
I noticed approximately fifty people staring at me at this point. "Do you want me to write this down and just tell you later?" They did. I guess it would become a fic or something, but real.
I saw them again later. We were sitting on a bus or something with seats in groups of 3. I got all embarrassed and was like, "Now every time I see you guys I'm just going to be thinking about making out with you." "So?" said Isaac. The seat next to him was free. I slid into it.
Other things that happened:
Mewtwo lived on the floor below me, and by "lived" I mean he just kind of levitated near some trees and a garbage can. He was still serious but considerably chiller than in canon. Also, he had a mouth. I remember this because we were talking about makeouts and how many people we'd made out with (this was a running theme).
Some criminal escaped and we all were chasing them. I remembered they had a number on their shirt, which I thought was 12, so for some reason I thought of Cabernet/Burgundy because her name was apparently Shiki???? Also I ran into her at the beginning of the chase and she was mad about being woken up, and recognizing that she would be, I apologized: "Sorry, but something's going on!" I think her look of annoyance changed to one of interest as I rounded the corner. (The shirt turned out to say "11+".)
Roy Mustang yelled down to the next floor looking for Gamzee, but found Riza instead. Apparently he and Gamzee were like best friends, but I think Gamzee was in jail now. (Roy also was wearing bunny ears.) Riza asked if he really missed Gamzee, and Roy realized that their relationship was actually kind of toxic and he felt better now that he didn't have to take care of him all the time. Then Riza told him that the Elric brothers were in the hospital. That was the end of the dream. :(

So the upshot of all this is I think I have a crush on Isaac and Miria now?? This feels kind of wrong, in ways I can't put my finger on. It also feels really awesome though. I haven't had a new crush in a while. I'm keeping it. @_@

my life everyone. Well I think that is quite enough for one post! Don't worry, though; for anyone who's been waiting with bated breath for my next 100 things post, I'll try to get it up soon. C: (that's what he said)

EDIT: Wow I almost forgot. You guys remember the dakimakura case I mentioned commissioning from

soltian a few months ago? Well, here's the finished product! Yes, it's Valmont. Did you guys expect anything else from me. c: Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh it's perfect though and I'm really sad I'm in Japan and not at home where I can hug my new dakimakura. I urge you guys to commission your own ones when she opens commissions up again next month or so! Because seriously. ♥

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Kokoro Connect IS the best fandom :P

I don't know about that. I've found the fandom itself to be pretty lacking. There isn't even much fanart. :c

Ahhhh, I studied abroad in Kyoto. I love it~~~~

JAPANESE KARAOKE IS THE BEST but yeah the convention culture is really really not at all like in the West, like at all. From what I understand. Apparently comiket can be really good though. But I should not speak like an expert, because I'm not!

There's a mandarake up in Osaka, they at least have a yaoi section. It's still definitely worth it to hit Otome Road. I think most of the best stuff gets bought up on site at comiket, though!

Your dream is hilarious. SOMEONE SHOULD ART IT.

ENJOY THE KYOTO LIFE OMG

Whoa. Your username all makes sense now! :O

It's okay, I'm fine with trading subpar conventions for sweet karaoke. As long as I can do Anime Boston when I'm back in the US, I'm good. :B Also I would really really like to go to Winter Comiket! It's during our break, so maybe...

Mandarake is another used bookstore, right? I'll definitely look for it next time I'm in Osaka! At the very least I can compare it to Bookoff, and at the most I can buy some sweet yaoi. :B

Oh dude thank you! I made it myself. Subconsciously, but, details. :B And, uh. If someone arted my dream I would die and then come back to life so I could die again. .//////. But I don't think that's a thing that would happen! Still though.

Don't worry. I don't think it's possible for me not to. :D Thank you! ♥

BIG tip - because I have this same problem in Sweden too so I know it exactly - just talk and talk and do the best you can. The host family is going to secretly think you don't like them otherwise, or that the place is too boring, etc (mom is allllways saying "you must be so bored!" and "you seem like you don't like us" because i act like that). They don't care that your Japanese is bad, you're there to learn, so even if you can only say a little it pleases them to know you're trying. And if possible you should sometimes study in the living room or something so they know you do study (but I don't know about Japan, it could be considered too strange to study outside of your room). It's probably "easiest" to watch tv if someone else is watching at the same time, you can even bring a dictionary and look up words, but maybe that's too difficult at this point still I don't know. And you should in general write down stuff they teach you, I don't know if someone could get offended because you didn't remember something from last time.

Hmmm!!! I for sure want you to pick me up something, but what, I don't know.... gotta talk it over with my wife to see what she'll let me buy...

Do you have any other place you post more often? I'd love to see pics and stuff.
Also what are classes like?

About social drinking, it's like that in Iceland and Sweden too, and frankly if you don't drink you get very isolated. People immediately stop thinking of you as one of them, if they ever did, and at least in Iceland a lot of people will only actually see you at parties because they're "too busy" for all the rest of the week. So I would pretend to drink most of the time if possible but not decline too many offers to go out (I mean, all this costs money, whether you actually like to drink or not - and you should always have a good excuse to decline because people will start thinking badly of you). I enjoy that kind of thing, but unfortunately my wife hates alcohol to the point of not being able to stand the smell or watch drunk people, so even if I were to move to Japan I wouldn't be able to... some people have gotten out of drinking in Japan by saying they're allergic hahha.

Based on my experience and what I've heard, conventions in America are the best, in terms of activities, organization, friendliness, and amount of people dressed up... and sometimes even cost. I'd love to go to SakuraCon again. But Europeans tend to think they have good conventions if they haven't been to American ones.

Edited 2012-09-27 16:33 (UTC)

I'm trying, man! I've tried to study downstairs but sometimes when I bring my stuff down my host mom tells me I should just go to my room, so I don't really know? Ughhh I guess I'll get better at figuring this stuff out. I'll just keep trying to talk to them more.

The only place I post pictures is Facebook, I'm afraid. :( Classes are fun! We have a main language class, two electives, and two mini-elective type dealies. We share one of the electives with kids from the university so it is really cool because actual Japanese students. :D Also, there's a lot less homework than I'm used to. yessss

I've found drinks I like, but it's mostly the kind where you can't taste the alcohol, and then what's the point, right? @_@ I will keep going if people invite me, though. Maybe it's something I need to get used to.

I would agree with you on that one. American conventions are amazing. :B If I make it to Comiket I'll have to see what that's like though!

Hmm, no photobucket?! photobucket is super easy for browsing and copying links etc. (and you can password protect albums) so i always use it.
I can make a dummy facebook account and add you, maybe? since I don't use facebook.

in iceland we had one small composition (like ten sentences or less even) due per week, and twice a semester some kind of group talking script. more than that, what amazed me was you could turn your homework in waaay past the deadline and you didn't get points off or anything. but don't try that in japan!!

yeah, then i'd say to just talk as much as you can with them and try watching tv with someone if you see they're watching something. are there subtitles for deaf people on japanese tv? maybe you can ask to turn those on when you watch. it helps me a lot with swedish, but then again maybe reading in japanese is more difficult than listening haha. it's the same at my house, it's like "you're never using swedish!" and then if i do stuff in the living room it's like "why don't you use your room!"...... mom is weird. and it was also the same at my house, maybe mom was working at home and dad was doing carpentry stuff and no one was around to talk, but now two sisters are home also so it's almost constant talking going on.

i agree with fujicori, you have to force yourself to stick around a lot even if they only talk about boring stuff, but you just have to think of it as language/culture learning. I don't know what you do exactly, but i carry around pen and paper so i can write down new words or example sentences and look them up later.

oh yeah, i think i am speaking for everyone in baccano fandom when i say "if you happen upon baccano doujinshi, no matter what kind of content it is, BUY ITTTT" : P but the one i saw someone point to once (that got scanned) was pretty expensive. hey, i have an idea, just make doujinshi-making friends hahah.

i've been wondering if i should get the baccano DS game... i already have pokemon green in japanese for gameboy colour (it only uses hiragana and katakana) and a japanese dictionary and a kanji practice game, for the ds... but it's going to be a while before my eyes are good and i can study again, and a while after that before i'd be able to even play the baccano game because of how much kanji study it means.... but maybe if i don't get it now i won't be able to find it in the future.

Edited 2012-09-28 17:56 (UTC)

Oh, I have a photobucket, but generally I don't want my online life and my irl life to mix. :( I'm also leery of giving out my facebook for that reason. But maybe I'll compile some of the pictures that don't have me in them and post them here sometime! We will see.

Japanese TV tends to have subtitles on it by default, at least news and game shows and stuff. Also my host mom has taken to turning on kids' shows during dinner, which helps. I will keep trying to talk and listen man. ;_;

You do not have to tell me twice to buy Baccano! stuff, don't worry. :P Unfortunately, I am pretty sure there are only 12 Baccano! doujins in existence (y u unpopular in japan ;_;). But if I see anything Baccano!-related, I will buy it even if it costs me my life savings. I wonder how much it would take me to buy all the books. :|a

If it's anything like the books, yeah, it's gonna be pretty hard. I think maybe you should hold off on it. If I see any copies I can buy you one though so you will have it? @_@

I didn't study abroad, but at least in new living situations, I've found that it helps to force myself to hang around the people sometimes even when everyone else just wants to talk for two hours straight about a show I don't like. I'm an introvert whose people-batteries drain quickly, but if went out of my way to see people I was living with, they didn't take it personally when I wanted to be alone. (No experience with the language barrier, though.)

Yuri doujinshi exist? o_o I've only ever seen het and BL for sale.

... I kinda want to know how much less expensive figurines are in Japan, now that you've mentioned it.

Ugh, I'm the same way re: introvertedness. But if you can do that, I probably can too! :D My host family doesn't talk all that much but maybe when the kids are around I'll get an opportunity. c:

Oh, dude. You have no idea. BEHOLD THEIR GLORY (http://www.melonbooks.co.jp/)

The Madoka ones are around the ¥3000 price range! I feel like something like that in America would be $70 at least.

I never know you liked Precure so much! :o And a doujin shop that sells almost only yuri...sounds nice...hehe.

I don't think I'm as obsessed with it as you are, but Smile Precure is freakin' awesome. Also, yes, it does rather seem like your kind of place. I will buy you a yuri if you want. :B

Yeah, I'm rather obsessed, haha. Smile has been pretty good so far--it's been fun to watch. :3 Oh, that would be great! :o I'm really picky about yuri, though, so could I like...send you covers of specific doujinshi that I want? There are some that aren't sold online, and I'm not sure if they'd be in shops (they might be Comiket-only specials), but if you're near that shop again sometime and you wouldn't mind looking for some specific stuff...that would be awesome. :3;; I'll pay you back, of course.

Yeah, absolutely! Just let me know what you want and I'll take a look next time I'm there. :D

Screeches I'm still so jelly of Book-Offs. There's one in SoCal but... I'm not there so it kind of doesn't make a difference. There are so many cheapo used manga I could be buying.
I'm glad you're having a good time!

I'm sorry man! Do you want me to buy you anything when I am there? @_@

Noo, it's fine! My list is way too long! XD
What I've been doing is having used stuff I buy on amazon.jp shipped my friend who lives there, and when I accrue enough stuff she ships it out to me. O w O

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This is just like one of my Japanese animes

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