Dance Trooper Storms the Shibuya Streets

Posted by 0rion on November 1st, 2007 - 10:00 pm

OK, after seeing Danny Choo’s latest dance performance I couldn’t resist blogging about this.

Not only is the song great, the dance moves are hilarious. It even comes complete with free background dancers!

Speaking of all the guys who jump in to dance along with Danny…many people have this mental image of Japanese as being quiet and reserved, trying to avoid drawing attention to themselves, but as this video clearly demonstrates, even they can’t resist the lure of going crazy in the front of the cameras. :D

It’s also ironic that he’s doing this in Shibuya, of all places, which is where all the “too-cool-for-school” yuppie teens and 20-somethings come to hang out. This kind of funky, off-the-wall behavior would fit right in in Harajuku, where people regularly parade up and down the streets in every fashion on Earth, as well as a few that I’m convinced originated on some other planet.

Shibuya, however, is a completely different story. The kids who hang out in Shibuya are often trying so hard to appear cool that they look like they’re in pain. Danny’s performance must have just blown their minds. It was such a departure from the normal image the Shibuya-kei (Shibuya style) guys try to put on, they probably just had no idea what to make of him.

In Shibuya your collective attire should have the roughly the same retail value as the downpayment on an automobile…so en vogue it’s almost embarassing. Whereas in Akihabara it’s almost expected to see some form of street performers; in fact you’d feel a little cheated if you crossed the street without seeing some kind of crazy cosplay or idol performance.

And you can think of Harajuku as the crazy art student cousin of the yuppie metropolitian professional known as Shibuya.

As a gaijin in Japan, fitting in is not an easy thing to do. Standing out, on the other hand, is both easy and fun! People are gonna stare anyway, might as well give ‘em a good show, right? :P

Props, Danny. It was megas funny. ;)

Original at www.dannychoo.com



Moyashimon = Mushishi + LocoRoco

Posted by 0rion on October 14th, 2007 - 12:56 am

In a season overflowing with sequels and generic “been there, done that” plots, Moyashimon’s unique premise and unusual, lighthearted style is a breath of fresh air.

Basically it’s Mushishi, but instead of mysterious and sometimes sinister creatures that live in your eyeballs, it’s full of cute and harmless bacteria who appear as chibi critters with big heads and giant smiles. I swear they look like something straight out of LocoRoco. Even the music in the little ending skit totally reminded me of the game.

Moyashimon’s OP, “Curriculum”, sung by Ifu Sarasa as her debut piece.

If watching this doesn’t make you smile, then there’s something terribly wrong with you.

As soon as I saw that little yellow oryzae guy with the dreadlocks come out and start boppin’ to the music, I knew this show was gonna be epic. :D

The ending skit, which took the spot that would
normally feature an episode preview.

Read the rest of this entry »



Dango Daikazoku

Posted by 0rion on September 30th, 2007 - 8:36 pm


I think I’m in love with the CLANNAD ED. The OP isn’t bad either, especially with KyoAni’s awesome art, but it feels a bit cookie cutter, pretty much much like every other visual novel theme song.

Anyway, here’s the lyrics for the TV size version of Dango Daikazoku, sung by Chata. The translation is something I just threw together on a whim, so it’s not the greatest… Read the rest of this entry »



Shakugan no Shana II Trailers

Posted by 0rion on September 30th, 2007 - 3:52 pm

A couple new trailers are out, and they’ve revealed some very interesting information that has me really psyched about the second season of Shakugan no Shana!

The first interesting thing that caught my eye was the introduction of two new characters. Well ok, the first thing that caught my eye was “OMG Shana is hawt!”, but I figured that kinda went without saying. :P

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Extreme Mochi Making and a Crowdy Day at the Pool

Posted by 0rion on September 3rd, 2007 - 11:51 pm

Slow day here at Epic Win, so I thought I’d share with you all a couple of Japan related videos that have been making the rounds recently and which I’ve enjoyed a lot.

First off, from the great guys over at Japan Probe, this video featuring the most awesome mochi making technique you’ve ever seen.

Mochi is traditionally prepared during New Years in Japan, when families break out the giant mallets and make it the old fashioned way. Half the time, however, the guys are totally smashed when they do this, so it’s generally not an especially speedy process. These guys, on the other hand, have taken it to a whole new level.

This one’s been much more widely circulated, but is still a favorite of mine. Crowdy day indeed! Brings back fond memories of how packed Tokyo can be, from trying to squeeze onto a Shinjuku-bound Chuo line train during rush hour, to trying to escape from the one million person strong ocean of madness that descends on Asakusa during the Sanja Matsuri.



Washinomiya, or ZOMG Lucky Star is Real!

Posted by 0rion on August 21st, 2007 - 11:03 pm

Otaku invade Washinomiya-jinja, home of the Hiiragi Twins

This is kind of old news, but it seems like a number of people haven’t seen this yet, so I thought I’d mention it here.

As you may know, the setting for Lucky Star is in Japan’s Saitama prefecture. What you may not realize is just how closely the show matches reality. In fact, the locations that appear in the show for the most part actually exist, and are strikingly similar to their real life counterparts.

Lucky Star is set in the real life town of Washimiya in southern Saitama, and many of the town’s locations are featured in the show, most notably the venerable Washinomiya-jinja, which appears in the opening credits.

Hakase’s site Small Love has a nice set of comparison shots between various scenes in the show and photographs of the real town. Read the rest of this entry »