With the recent announcement of the Live Action Jojo's Bizarre Adventure movie, I feel like as a Jojo fan I'll share my thoughts regarding Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable.
SPOILERS!
Diamond is Unbreakable, or DiU is the 4th part of the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure saga. It follows Josuke Higashikata, a high school delinquent as he goes about his daily life in Morioh city. The story is split into several arcs, as per the norm for a manga, with the first arc being Josuke's experiences with other Stand users as he enters high school, meeting his closest friends Okuyasu Nijimura and Koichi Hirose along the way while hunting down the Bow and Arrow (mysterious artefacts that encourages the growth of a Stand in others) with the guidance of his older nephew, Jotaro Kujo, the protagonist of Part 3: Stardust Crusaders. The second arc chronicles his hunt for a killer in Morioh, Kira Yoshikage, who has a fixation with hands. It gets personal in an adventure and that leads to the final arc where they hunt down Kira in disguise while his dead dad, armed with a second Bow and Arrow seeks out several others to stop Josuke and his friends.
Josuke Higashikata is the main protagonist of this Part, and as per Jojo rules his name forms a JoJo (the suke in Josuke can be read as Jo). He's incredibly proud of his pompadour and has a hustler personality. His Stand, Crazy Diamond (a reference to the Pink Floyd song "Shine on you Crazy Diamond") has the power to fix anything, or return an object to its initial state. In the context of his team, he plays the part of Healer and DPS.
A contrast to Josuke's heroism, the main antagonist of DiU is Yoshikage Kira, a serial killer with a hand fetish. He has gone unnoticed for years, with his victims reported as missing. The team is alerted of him because of the ghost of one of his victims, and begin to infringe onto his "peaceful" life. His Stand, Killer Queen (a reference to the Queen song of the same name) allows him to turn anything it touches into a bomb.
DiU was the first JJBA part to be set exclusively in a single area, as all the events in this Part transpire in Morioh city, a departure from the previous stories which feature travelling, usually globe-spanning. The story also introduces a slice-of-life element in that Josuke goes to school, goes to cafes, makes friends all the while protecting his city from the Bizarre elements that goes on, which makes him the only Jojo protagonist to do so.
Araki (Jojo's Creator) has stated that DiU is his favorite part and Josuke his favorite protagonist, because in his opinion Josuke is the sort of dependable senior, a contrast to Jotaro who is more akin to a hero the world looks up to. This makes him relatable, a fact that I feel is crucial to his popularity.
In my opinion, DiU is not my favorite part, but Yoshikage Kira is a unique villain within the context of JJBA. Unlike previous villains such as DIO (remaking the world in his image) or Kars (become the greatest lifeform) or villains that come after him, Kira just wants a "quiet life". He wants to continue his lifestyle uninterrupted, just a shark in a lake. I think this is a great metaphor for monsters living among us, translated into this serial killer. No grandiose plans, no ridiculous motivations, just a desire to have things stay the way they are. This makes him relatable too, in the same vein as Josuke, making him a villain you can't help but root for.
Josuke however falls flat in my opinion precisely because of his down-to-earth-ness. He's a good protagonist, but not a great one in my book. No doubt about it, he's a tough cookie, but not a great guy to be around.
A little bit of trivia: The first fan translation of DiU is called "Duwang Scans", notable for their horrible quality and weird grammar. It serves as a hilarious companion to the series though, and I recommend it to anyone who's interested.
Since a lot of people read my previous blogpost about teachers, I decided to share another aspect of my life: Form Six. I was a form six student before entering NCKU, and that experience provided me with a modicum of life-changing experiences.
For those that don't know, Malaysia doesn't have a junior high/high school system. We have Secondary schools with 5 years of mandatory education, and we graduate with SPM (Malaysia Education Certificate), or an O-Level equivalent. After secondary school, we have a choice of either doing a diploma, A-Levels, Matriculation and Form Six, the latter two which are government sponsored. As I wasn't on the shortlist for Matriculation (which is not all that uncommon for non-Malays, despite my 9A results), I entered Form Six instead.
Form Six has often been called the "Poor Man's A-Level" and "The place for local universities". Almost all graduates of Form Six who passed their STPM (Malaysia Higher Education Certificate) are offered a place in one of the local universities. Also, the school fees for Form Six are a fraction of the price for A-Levels in a prestigious Private College, but at the same time the difficulty curve for Form Six is obscenely high. In fact, STPM was ranked among one of the top 5 toughest exams in the world. I admit, I was lost at that time and chose Form Six out of spite because I felt like I had no other place to turn to.
My other family of 6 Mulia
One of the main things I learnt in Form Six is integration. No, not THAT calculus integration (though I did learn that), but integration with my peers. In an average Form 6 class the number of students are never more than 30. In my class, 6 Mulia (Literally 6 Noble) we had only 18 students and all of them were Chinese. Over the one and a half years of Form Six, we became a tight knit family.
Honestly speaking the first few weeks of Form Six was absolutely terrible. I felt like an outsider as most of my peers were from a rival secondary school and they already had their pre-established cliques. But through mutual interests and generally assimilating their behavior, I became friends with most of them. And the thing is, we became close as brothers: sharing our thoughts, consoling each other and generally being a dick to each other most of the time.
It's ironic that I have better friendships with these friends whom I only spent 1 and a half years with than friends back at my secondary school. Perhaps it was the distance, perhaps it was because I generally couldn't care about them anymore but I became distant with my secondary school friends. Even today I can count the friends from my secondary school that I still kept in touch with on one hand.
Form Six students working hard on a typical morning
Another thing I learnt from my peers is hard to describe. As I have mentioned earlier Form Six is lauded as the Poor Man's A-Level, as such honestly speaking most Form Six students come from more impoverished backgrounds. They are not in poverty but none of them are rich. This is consistent with the facts as many people who can afford private colleges enter them instead of Form Six. We know that post high school life is formative. It's a fact that most college students go clubbing on weekends but my Form Six peers never go clubbing.
Me and my friends meet every other week, and while most people would assume we get wasted and go partying, they could not be further from the truth. Instead we meet up at a fast food joint (Usually KFC, though for variety sometimes we go to McDonalds or even other joints) and just sit around (no smoking) and play Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Yes. We do geeky stuff like that.
On the other hand, I have friends who come from rich backgrounds and can afford to go to expensive places. One of my buddies from high school is such a person. Instead of fast foods we get Dome and the like. Honestly speaking this gives me a perspective on how fundamentally different life can be for people with different backgrounds.
A Typical Mathematics class
A third thing I learned from Form Six is that the Malaysian education system is flawed beyond belief. Meritocracy as a whole does not exist in our country. My fellow students during my time in 6 Mulia were all bright students who were born with the unfortunate condition of "Not being Malay". The best of them had an average CGPA of 3.8+, and in my opinion deserved more than what he got instead.
Post STPM, Malaysian students are thrown into different local universities based on their results. Malaysia has the 4 "prestigious" universities that all students hope to enter, namely UM, USM, UPM, and UKM. These top 4 universities are notable for being the only ones on the global top universities list (albeit dropping in rank year by year). But the flawed system is notorious for giving students only one choice at the end of the day. No multiple offer letters, no multiple acceptances from different universities, only one university will accept you at the end of the day.
The worst part of this system is sometimes you will receive a subpar course. For example, my friend who studied Biology was "offered" (and I use the term loosely here) Mechatronics. Mechatronics, a subject as far removed from Biology as Photonics from Chinese Literature. Thankfully her appeal was accepted, but this is a demonstration of the Malaysian system of "no audible complaints mean no problems".
At the end of the day, boys will be boys.
Perhaps the most important lesson I learnt from Form Six is that at the end of the day, it's all down to you. During the 1 and a half years in SMK Seri Serdang I learnt a lot of things, made a lot of friends and grew up, but in University I found that none of it mattered. In University, you get to choose what you want to do, and hopefully excel and put those skills to use in the real world. Despite our government carting off the chosen "merited" students overseas (which undeniably has real talent along with the rest), it's ironic that many of the best talents are just in our backyard, denied the chance to shine. One good example would be the inventor of the flash drive, a Malaysian who was denied a government grant because he came from a private high school. He went on to achieve success, and made millions.
To all readers reading this to get some tips whether or not to choose form six, I would say this: Think about it, and whether you are willing to spend your time and energy on something that takes too long. If you can do it, then go ahead. If not, you'll be wasting your time, and I would advise you to choose something more suited to you. It's your choice!
So today (May 16th) is teachers day in Malaysia, chosen on this date in commemoration of the Razak Report. Usually primary school students have half their school hours off to get a performance extravaganza (using that in the loosest of senses here lol) and secondary school students will just have to contend themselves with a 5 minute generic speech given by the Education Ministry to all schools in Malaysia.
So today, I find it the best time to examine this question: Are Teachers Heroes or Villains?
Before I start, let me warn you that this article is written from a primarily Malaysian point of view. Some may apply to all teachers worldwide but some may not.
It's funny how students share a love-hate relationship with teachers. Some hate teachers up until the point when they graduate, and then they miss them. Of course, teachers as humans are different and unique. Some teachers are interesting, some boring; some are strict and some are more open to opinions. But are they heroes?
Many people paint teachers as the unsung heroes behind every successful person. Everyone who ever went to school experienced the anxiety waiting for their new teacher to enter the class, waiting for the teacher to introduce her/his name (teachers in Malaysia are mostly females) and hoping that this teacher would be memorable.
In my 12 and a half years of formal education (I took form six after form five), I have met a lot of teachers. But let's start with some reminiscing of my educational life, shall we?
Honestly speaking none of the teachers in my Primary 1 class were particularly memorable. I have some hazy memories, and sadly that's all that is left of my Primary 1 days. I only remember my form teacher as being female, and somewhat kind, up until the point where she found out I was cheating in my Chinese spelling test (I'm calling it spelling because the term is interchangeable in English class as well). Hey, I was young and stupid back then. I honestly didn't know it was cheating. Well all I remember of that time is that I was berated for cheating. At the same time, I have hazy memories of teachers asking me to cut my hair all of the time (the school had a very strict buzzcut policy). According to my mother, teachers singled me out for that because my parents were very vocal in their objection of this policy, but perhaps it was because I was very young at that time I can't remember it.
In Primary 2, I have more distinct memories. I entered the My form teacher was very strict, but no one was stricter than my Malay Language (BM) teacher. I forgot their names, but I remember one time where I got caned on the hand because of something I did....which I forgot. It hurt so much, I started asking my left-handed friend for tips on how to write with my Left Hand. One of the worst memories I had of the time goes like this.
So I was a prefect at that time. And I can't say I wasn't proud of myself. But one day, due to forgetfulness or a lack of foresight I forgot to buy a notebook for my Chinese class. Without as much as a by-your-leave I was stripped of my prefect rank with it going away to my classmate, and forced to go to the school bookshop to buy one. It was a walk of shame, and I was crying all the way to the bookshop. Worst thing was, the bookshop was closed at the time! So stupid old me waited in front of the bookshop, crying, until the teacher sent someone to go check on me.
Honestly, my standard 2 Form Teacher was one of the worst teachers I've ever had. It might be due to memory bias, but I always remembered here as being strict and no-nonsense. Her daughter was the one who always got first place in class, and of course, there was a rumor that she cheated. Can't really say if it's true or false, but by God do I resent what she did to me.
In Standard 3 (Primary 3) my parents transferred me to a new school. By some weird twist of fate or whatnot I was sent to the last class in the entire year. Like my standard 1 class, I have no distinct memories of the teachers. Perhaps it was because they were very relaxed in their methods, but honestly speaking all I can remember of this time is me meeting one of my best friends up to this day, Lee Ejay.
It's odd to note that despite English being my best suit and my favorite subject I literally have no memories of English classes and teachers for the first 3 years of Primary School. I don't understand why, but it's just a blank there.
In Standard 4 I entered the second-ranked class in my school. Here the memories become clearer. I can even remember the name of my form teacher! In my memories she was a strict teacher who taught math and Chinese. Her policy....errr I forgot. It was something about studies though (you don't say). My English teacher was also one of the most interesting teachers I've had. Unfortunately, her classes were somewhat...ahem.
Standard 5 and 6 are easy because they shared the same teachers. My late form teacher (she passed away in 2007-ish I think) was a strict teacher. At this time I became the worst kind of student, the kind disinterested in studies. I let homework pile up and generally didn't care about my studies. I became too cocky. Teacher didn't resent me though, she tried to steer me back. I remember her quote very distinctly even now:
"You are 7 A material (referring to the 7 subjects in UPSR, the generalized exam for Primary School), if only you would put in more effort to your studies. Malaysia's future lies with your generation, and it's your future duty to make Malaysia the same with the West."
This moment for some reason stuck with me even more than all of her classes. I can even describe the scene perfectly. It was Physical Education class. Instead of playing I was standing there (probably because I forgot my sports tee). She called me over next to the school hall (SJK(C) Serdang Baru 2 students will now what I'm talking about). And she started telling me that quote.
I think it's because nobody has ever told me about my potential outside of my family. And I'm very sorry to say that I unfortunately let her down. I only got 6 A's in the end.
Another teacher of note in my Standard 5 and 6 days was my English teacher. Haha, if you're reading this, Hi Madam Chong! :D Her classes were never boring and she tried to make it as interesting as possible. She encouraged us to be creative (Not too creative though, because she discouraged me from using Bionicle names in my homework). I remember her thinking up English related games after we finished our UPSR. And I remembered the laughter in class so distinctly.
A third teacher...well a third and a fourth teacher I recall are my science teachers for this period. One taught us for about 3/4 of a year before transferring away to another school. The other replaced her. And god. God almighty was she awful.
Our first science teacher was very interesting. You could see that she legitimately loved science and teaching science. Two classes were of note to me. The first one was a class where she came in bringing doodahs and whatsits. She started demonstrating heat expansion and cold compression. Right in the classroom. And I had front row seats, so I took in the wonder. The second class I remember was astronomy. She told us that the universe, ahem, our solar system is 3-Dimensional. And drawings on books and blackboards can't do it justice.
Unfortunately, an obnoxious teacher came and replaced her. Obnoxious...yes. Most definitely. Unlike our first teacher, she took a textbook approach to science. Her answers were rigid, and when my peers tried to argue, as real scientists would, she would snap at us and tell us not to argue with the answers and go into dead ends. I can honestly say that she took away the fun of science and made it a drab and dry subject.
Another teacher that I can recall with not-so-fond memories was my BM teacher (Malay Language). When Standard 4 started, he was a fun, interesting man who kept telling jokes and keeping the class entertained. But unfortunately, I think it was because I skipped past a few overdue homeworks, he started resenting me. He started ignoring me in his jokes and when I tried to joke with him it was a 180 degree change from happy face to indifferent face. For a 10 year old, it's quite scarring as all I wanted was to have fun.
One last teacher that I can recall is my Moral studies teacher. He was one of the vice-principals of my school, and he took a new approach to teaching. Unlike other teachers, he tried to introduce us to the university method too early. He gave us assignments, which we were supposed to present in class. Honestly speaking, I didn't do even one of his assignments (lazy syndrome strikes again?!), but in hindsight that move was one of the few that I regret.
My Primary School memories show that the acts of teachers shaped my life throughout those years. Teachers played a part in my life as much as my parents. The ones who shamed students made me somewhat resentful of myself, and the ones who encouraged students to pursue their ideals made me reach out higher and further than ever before. I can honestly say that without these teachers and more, I couldn't be sitting here and typing this from NCKU, Taiwan.
Of course, Secondary School teachers played a part too, but that is for another story for another day!
Well, in conclusion, generally teachers are all heroes. But on the other hand, teachers are humans too. And as humans, they aren't perfect. And some accidentally become villains who unwittingly destroy a students life. But they can also gift students with a rare gift: Hope.
Welp, it's time for a movie review! Recently decided to re-watch Caroline Coraline because I watch children movies, so shut up and read.
Coraline is the tale of a little girl exploring her new house and meeting inhabitants that are either senile or drunk (No, he's eccentric!). She becomes embroiled with the conspiracy of her "Other Mother" who seems to offer her goodies but seem to have an ulterior motive.
The movie is adapted from one of Neil Gaiman's works. Neil Gaiman, for you uninitiated, is a British writer/author and the brains behind works like American Gods, Sandman, The Graveyard Book and so on. A full bibliography can be found here.
Coraline is adapted from one of his novella for young adults, which won the Hugo Prize and the Nebula Prize in 2003. The movie is directed by Henry Selick, best known for his works like this:
Yes, it's the director of the Tim Burton classic The Nightmare before Christmas. Like that film, Coraline is stop-motion, and as such a marvel for both the eyes and your mind.
According to Cracked.com, one of the most amazing feats in the movie is the production of the clothes. One solitary woman named Althea Crome knitted ALL of the clothing in that movie, even undies. Undies!
Without her effort, we wouldn't have quality clothing like these
Now to the movie. In my opinion it's a fantastic movie. The movie provides you with stunning visuals, a strong story with a moral in the end: Don't leave home, even if tempted. It's grim and dark for a children's tale, but still manages to be cheerful and bright in the usage of visuals.
The soundtrack is fantastic as well, with an otherworldly theme. It feels surreal but yet grounded.
Disclaimer: The following post is based on my experiences and observations over a 3 year period of friends both in real life (IRL) and online. The viewpoints may offend some readers. Read so at your own risk.
Cosplaying is a no longer new hobby but has recently taken spikes due to being in the limelight. News are clamoring to report on this "phenomenon", events and conventions are popping out like there's no tomorrow. And of course in every country there's the creme de la creme of events every year. For example, Comic Fiesta for Malaysia has record attendance every single year. But this prompts a vital question: What has cosplay become?
In my 3 years of being an observer, I have met all sorts of people. The kind ones, the patient ones, the awesome ones, the fun ones. Of course, every coin has a flipside and I have met the unkind ones, the power hungry ones, the fame whore ones, and who can forget the drama queens?
Firstly let me apologize in advance. I'm gonna start with my story. Don't worry, it's not gonna be long. I held an interest in cosplay since I was a lad. Always fantasized about cosplaying Ash, of all the people. Then I grew up, it became a long forgotten interest, until one day I went to an event and met cosplayers, and the interest bloomed into a fire. Which then died away because my parents forbade me to cosplay, and only allowed me to be an observer. Then again, being an observer provided me with the knowledge and the viewpoint to see cosplay from a different perspective. And that's how I'm writing this article.
During my friendship-building throughout these 3 years, I found that a not insignificant number of cosplayers come from families with money to spare. Then again, it makes sense. Cosplaying is not a cheap hobby once you take costumes into account. A regular store-bought costume can cost up to RM 3000 (Approximate to 850 dollars) for good quality armor cosplay (Fallout, Kamen Riders, Space Marines etc) whereas "regular" non-armor cosplay can cost about RM 1500-RM 2000 for detailed and excellent craftsmanship. Even normal costumes cost around RM 500 shipped from China. Some cosplayers take the DIY route and build their own costumes. But even so the budget can be around RM 500 as well. So like I said, it stands to reason that cosplay usually is a "sponsored" hobby for teens.
But an interesting note is that some of the best cosplayers come from broken families. I have seen a few of them in my 3 years. This prompts a question: Is cosplay an outlet for escapism? Let me ask you another question: What hobby isn't? Yes, cosplay is escapism, but so are other hobbies as well.
Drama.
To some it is the quintessence of cosplay. You can't have one without the other. From a logical standpoint, it makes sense. Cosplay is unique in that there is an unseen caste system with the cosplayers at the top getting fame and fortune. It that aspect it's a lot like life since people who join try to climb to the top of the pyramid. And like life, there's people who will climb to the top at all costs. They will step on other people. They will tear other people limb from limb. They will chew you up like the sarlacc and you won't get up until they're finished with toying around with you. At this point I would like to point out another example I've seen in my 3 years.
Drama Cosplayers, exhibit A
A majority of cosplayers either are liberal arts students or working in entry level jobs. Before you people protest in the comments, ask yourself this: Have you seen an engineering or science student (from university, High School does NOT count) who is a full-time (or at least as full-time as one can be) cosplayer? They're rare, to be honest. Frankly, I might be a tad biased towards observing this (I'm an undergraduate studying Photonics Engineering in NCKU, Taiwan), but the sad truth is engineers and scientists don't tend to pick cosplaying as a hobby compared to bankers, models etc etc. I'm not saying that all science students are good and all liberal art students are bad, it's more of a problem of probability that shows the tendency of such cosplayers to associate themselves with more drama.
Now back to drama.
The most obvious kind of cosplay drama is flaming/bashing. In any cosplay group, left open and alone for a length of time will invariably produce flaming posts. (Adam's First Law of Cosplay Drama :D). Maybe it's because one person said something that another didn't agree on. Maybe one of them already hates the other. Maybe he/she just wanted to destress by trolling other people. Whatever the cause, one of them is irritated and wants to see the other person BURN. BURN BURN BURN. He/she will disagree with everything the other person posted. He/she will start calling names. He/she will try their damnedest to make the other person look stupid. The sad truth is flaming/bashing works most of the time. Even more so if you're an experienced cosplayer with fame and reputation already established. People will side with you and bash/flame the other person. And to be honest, it degrades into cyberbullying.
Here I have to say that Facebook is one of the factors that aid drama. The semi-anonymity, the ease of access, the ease of going into groups....it all becomes part of the drama potion. People become accustomed to hearing what they want to hear. If they hear negative things about themselves, they grow to block out the negativity with WAHWAHWAH sounds. Their egos are boosted by the attention they receive, and they become insecure. They lash out at others.
Another contributing factor is jealousy. As humans, all of us are prone to jealousy. We become jealous of the success of others. Some turn it into a driving force, some just ignore it and unfortunately some turn it into a weapon. Honestly speaking I've been involved with drama due to jealousy, stemming from me. In my (flimsy) defense I was young and stupid then. Too arrogant too. Then again, in hindsight any kind of drama is wrong.
And now, The last part of my rant I'll talk about Addiction.
Addiction
Cosplay is addictive, for some reason. Well, the reason is simple, the euphoria, the fans, the people smiling at you, the facebook likes....who doesn't want it to last forever?
I have seen cosplayers whose life consists of nothing but cosplay. From a hobby to their life...honestly speaking it's sad. From an outside viewpoint, such people have done nothing with their life. Everyday it's work, buy costumes, photoshoot, sell costumes, work. It's a neverending cycle. It's comparable to drugs and alcohol, honestly. But on the other hand these people are happy. As an observer, I cannot provide a comprehensive viewpoint on this matter, so I shall not elaborate. But still, it shows the effects of addiction to a hobby as high-maintenance as cosplay. And after all, addiction leads to obsession which leads to emptiness. The void.
The end product of obession: Darth Vader The Void
Lastly, to present an unbiased view and to conclude my report/blogpost, I have asked a few cosplayers the million dollar question: What is Cosplay to you? The following are their responses (grammar edited)
What is Cosplay to you?
Mocchi Tan: Cosplay to me is wearing your favorite anime costume and experience the feeling to be the character.
Cosplay is not role play. I wish everyone in the community is clear about what is Cosplay.
Cosplay is also an activity or hobby that involved different races. We should respect each other and stop the criticism
Black Roach: Well for me it is a hobby, when cosplay is the time that I don't have to pretend to be another person to blend in to society, I can be myself!
Shawn Kazu: You split up cosplay and you get "cos" and "play" = costume playing. Very direct right?
Dante Ting: To me, cosplay is a hobby. It gives me an opportunity to represent my favorite character, as well as an avenue for socializing with others.
Isaac Bloodsworth: a hobby that connect all kind of people. From stranger to friends. It also boost up your prop making skill and costume making skills. Of course, it can make you more disciplined by default (as in you made a mistake, involved in a drama and you correct yourself)
Nicholas Ho: Well cosplay to me is about being able to dress up as your favorite character. To be someone else for a change. You can never be Batman unless you dress up, because he doesn't exist and sometimes a game just isn't enough.
Other reasons are, to make people happy. Making other people happy just because you dressed up as their fave char and they are so happy to see you is the best feeling ever. Especially little kids (not being a pedo lol).
Another reason is to escape from reality for once. You can dress up as a billionaire genius but in real life you are just a banker with just barely enough to fund your life.
Hikaru Mizushiro: hmmm cosplay is... a hobby? It's a medium for you to fully enjoy a character's existence by portraying the character itself. Also a medium where you can role play and try out different personalities which you always wanted to try out =v=b
And it's also a hobby that enables one to test their skills in accuracy, observation and mimicking
That's all I can think of lol xD
Yamamoto Akira: (Translated from Chinese) Other than being a hobby, cosplay is something that brought me out of my sadness. It's also a place to make friends.
Misadako Amano: Expensive Hobby. You can make friends and extend your creativity skills
Version: "The way how I understand about Cosplay is: To be the character and make it into reality. Take the creativity and imagination in you. Be the character is'nt by watch or see the character look or appearance only.You must focus on the character, feel the character's body, movement, appearance, expression and background. Imagine you are entering into their world." (reprinted under permission)
Hadi Aker: To show my own creativity or talents, or to show my hobby to others.
Bill Phang: Cosplay to me is all about loving your favourite movie/game/comic/cartoon characters. In addition, cosplay allows one to make friends and get connected with them.
Yuoici Wataru: Cosplay for me is not just a hobby .. its something that teach u how to saving money , making friends , become a good leader (for cosplay group) , to teach you to be creative , to be hardworking person and lots more ..
Kiwii Teng: (Translated from Chinese) Cosplay is feeling the breath of life.
It's also about having fun!
Khalidi Khalid: to express our love or likeness to the series and the specific character.
Lonewolf Tommy: Cosplay is a way of self-expression on one's passion and interest in ACG, as well as to show our admiration and appreciation to any fictional character they admire.
Phoxias: "It's a fun and harmless way to socialise and make new friends. We get to meet a lot of accepting and like-minded people who share our interests and hobbies due to the shared passion for cosplay at cosplay events. It's also really great motivation to improve DIY skills for prop making and sewing, as well as make-up and hair/wig-styling skills. Cosplay is also sometimes a form of stress relief, because being able to not be yourself for a while and just being your favourite characters with your friends is a wonderfully freeing activity once in a while."
Chinatsu Rin: hmm... is like just an interest .. not for money. even competition also like gain more experience, den u can perform more good with the character.... then passion is like u need very very very passion to style ur wig, making costume... and the make up..do until perfect just like the character....
Lea Joanes: (translated from Chinese) Cosplay to me is a hobby that you can learn a lot from.
Alan Chin: Cosplay for me : it's more than just enjoyment of be yourself , making friends and unleash your own characteristic, but it's a powerful weapon of building confidence, self-esteem and perhaps most important thing is your creativity and learning attitude. That's how the way of cosplay should be.
Ripley Siehkee: (translated from Chinese) Cosplay is where you bring your loved characters from anime or comics to real life!
Lydia Lockheart: Cosplay to me is a hobby where people enjoy dressing up as their favorite character, quite a costly hobby but the fun is worth it!
Junekiy: For me as a girl, cosplay teaches me things like makeup, making props and making costumes, I keep learning new things, it's also Japanese culture.
Stephanie Yukino: To me, cosplay is a form of art for me to express my love for the characters. I get to see the world through the perspective of the character that I cosplay as. It is also a form of hobby that helped me to gain self-confidence and to express myself.
Hugh Ankh Moses: Cosplay is my favorite and main hobby. It's a way to escape the day to day norms of society to spend time with like minded individuals and friends in festive environments at conventions. I feel it's the ultimate expression of one's fandom because we are literally becoming physical representations of our favorite characters.
Yuki Sac: To me, cosplay is an art , a hobby for you to have fun and experience.
Asyraf Noor Azizi: At first cosplay is a hobby~ but when for quite awhile i cosplay it become a way for me to express my feelings towards the character~ expressing my emotion~ and it became a passion bit by bit~
Jade Killjoy Trinity: Cosplay to me is a hobby that offers an escape from reality for a day or two. It's like a weekend getaway, in my point of view, a chance to expand my creativity in order to transform into a character from a fantasy world and just be that character and forget all about the problems of a hectic life for a day or two.
Cosplay to me is also not about the attention one gets from wearing brightly colored wigs, or fancy costumes while carrying eye-catching props. It's about the fun one has hanging out with friends at conventions, meeting both old and new people. It's also about seeing the excited smile on the faces of the people who ask for a picture, that warm feeling you get knowing that you've made the day of a random stranger by just posing for a picture for them.
At the end of the day, cosplay to me, is not about how much attention I can get, or if my costume or wig is 100% accurate (although I as a cosplayer strive to be as accurate as possible), or if I'm cosplaying a famous character from the latest series. Cosplay to me is about enjoying myself to the fullest with friends, making children and families smile, and simply letting go and relaxing for the weekend before I return to all the work and problems of a normal life.
Okita Riki: For me, Cosplay is some kind of hobby where all of us could express ourselves by being the character that we love. No matter how old you are,cosplaying is for everyone to do. And it's always been for fun too, as long as you can enjoy doing it together with friends~
Mitoki Kuro: to me cosplay is a hobby which i will do when i got free time & something that i can use to get to know new friends
Nerv Lim: Cosplay to me is a form of self-expression. You can be the hero you love in cosplay.
Iqbal Noor Azizi: Cosplay to me is something that u can call a hobby with a full of passion.
almost the same like drawing. If u draw it nicely with full of passion, you will get nice drawings..
If u cosplay it will full of passion, u will look good in the character u love.
Cosplay is something where u can express yourself. Of course not to impress
because once we express it very well, we will accidentally impress everyone.
If u cosplay to impress. means u not expressing in cosplay
Short story. Cosplay is a passion hobby n a cruel one at the same time.
Ryu Watanabe: To me Cosplay is a hobby where you choose to be expressing character that you love. It can be from many genre. Either from animation series or even movie, from any countries production or maybe even self made character (OC) will do.
As time past, we will learn more and more, and i do enjoy in props making. At the same time, we met tons of people at con. Yes, i do met tons of amazing people who like the same thing i do. Each of it share the same interest. Some of it become my client. Some of it become my teacher. As you will expose in many part of Cosplay, Props making, Makeup and many more. Most likely actually expose and related to industry.
Angie Ong: (Translated from Chinese) To me cosplay is a challenge~ I can try out different styles and find myself through different characters. Of course, the happiest thing about cosplay is that I can become the characters I love, at the same time I can meet others with the same hobbies as me~
Venus: Cosplay consists of two parts: costume and role playing, i.e. playing the personality of a character while being in his or her attire and style. The characters may be from anime, manga, cartoons, movies, games or comics. Personally, cosplay is a hobby turned passion turned career. It is an open door for me to be someone that I am attracted to for a day. It is not an obsession as I do not carry the character when I am out of the costume and back to daily life.
Zack Ventosus: From my view cosplay is a form of art for ACG lovers. We can portray the character of any series that we attached to and also as aesthetic and appreciation toward the series that we loved. As example for me is Tokusatsu series such as Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Saban Power Rangers series, GARO & Tomica Heroes series. The reason i'm cosplaying as my favourite characters is because i impressed by the heroic form of this heroes and the good morality that i gained from the series. Cosplay is also a good way to improve your social skills and make you more brave to approach new people and making new friends.
Sharivan Spark: "for me cosplay is a passion amidst it being a hobby though sadly because of the dramu the cosplay community on my home country is becoming frustrating nonetheless this hobby is not a stepping ladder to stardom. It is where you should portray your characters well and love the character that you should cosplay remember everything about them in your heart. Get used to commoners thinking about you being weird on the hobby because being weird doesnt matter anyway. Love the cosplay hobby but remember to set your priorities in life 1st before this.
Allen Yap: To me cosplay is craft. In BM it would be called Karya.
In life there basically 2 types of things we learn - academic & creative. Academic is the usually 'classroom learning & acquiring knowledge' style stuff like math, formulas, applications, geography, science, language, accounts. Creative is the type of things you learn like art, music, graphic design, dancing, singing, pottery, wood work & even cooking. So cosplay & the elements it encompasses fall under the creative side of learning. A balance of both things are good for life, though many parents believe that there is no future / money / hope in learning 'creative' things. This is very unfortunate.
As an educator (by profession) I believe that cosplay can enrich lives and even more so to those whose parents starve them from learning creative things. We are meant to have both academic & creative elements in our lives. This can be found with the obvious facts of having a left & a right brain. The right brain is the creative side & the left side is the math / facts & logic side of things. Have both makes us a more balanced person. The discovery of a more balance life will seem to be like we've suddenly unlocked some hidden talent that we never knew we had. Where in fact it was always there all a long but just dormant inside us.
Entered Animangaki Idol auditions today. I got eliminated after being placed on the waiting list.
I did a rendition of Malice Mizer (Gackt's) Gekka no Yasoukyokyu (Moonlight Nocturne). A soulful melody lamenting the fact that two dolls were dancing their last, sad, lonely and beautiful night away. I performed with a good level of showmanship, or so others said.
I found out I didn't advance to the preliminary rounds. Apparently I made it only as far as the waiting list. All my other friends advanced to the prelims.
What hurts so much is that this was supposed to be my farewell performance, the way I planned it. I had hoped and tried my damnedest to pass this audition. People keep telling me don't worry, there's still next year. No. There is no next year. There is no more auditions for me.
I planned to do Malice Mizer's Illuminati provided I passed the auditions. I planned to do a mock story based on the music, one involving being controlled by other people, being a puppet of the Illuminati. It was going to be a musical piece, intertwined with showmanship. And now, POOF! Gone. Utakata no yume. That's what it all was.
In fact, one of the greatest pains was that people keep telling me they couldn't believe how close I was. In fact, one of the people joining prelims is a screamer. He kept screaming in his song. So, instead of getting an A.N.G.R.Y. penned musical, Animangaki 2013 goers are going to get a "rocker" screaming his song.
Well, I guess people just couldn't accept Malice Mizer. After all, they are not as well known as your Ayumi Hamasakis, your Lukas and Mikus.
This may sound bitter, but this is how I feel. To be so close yet so far.
Now excuse me while I go cry myself to sleep again. The pain.
What is human? Nothing but a being of Malice and Misery. -Malice Mizer-
So, let me start this blog post with a simple riddle. What is the longest word in the dictionary? No, it's not supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, neither is it a dozen of words currently in your mind. The correct answer is Smiles, simply because it has a "Mile" between the first and last word.
A smile certainly is important. If the eyes are a window to the soul, a smile is the welcome sign of the soul, because it hangs at the "doorway" of the soul, the mouth. A smile can tell others your intention. Are you an evildoer, are you a being of malice, or are you just a simple, sweet person wanting to make friends.
I got my STPM results the other day, and my results were less than expected. I raged, I cried, I screamed, and in the end, I made a decision. I would never let my emotions control me.
So I went around, telling my friends that my smile had died. Died and was buried under 10 feet of concrete and thrown to the seas, along with my hopes and dreams. Ideals. Aspirations. All of these left me when I lost in the race called STPM.
This got me thinking. As an unfeeling, unthinking, unsmiling "thing", I could observe a lot of things. I could observe the smile from a distance.
The other day, before my smile "died", I went to work with my mother as a crew member for "Ah Boys to Men 2" roadshow. In Penang, the invited guests for the roadshow that day were a number of people from a Home for the Mentally Handicapped. They were very friendly, and most importantly, they kept smiling. They didn't care who you were, they didn't care what you did, they just smiled at you, and was grateful for anything you did for them.
This got me thinking. Their smiles were pure, innocent and just a smile in its purest form. They had no worries, no complaints. No thinking about exams, about taxes, about pain and hurt. No malice, no misery. It was a smile that continues to ring on my head even after a week. Their smile was something that I knew, deep down, that I could never achieve in my life.
I find it ironic, to be honest. That I, despite constantly telling my friends to perk up, cheering them up, being the class clown, would lose my smile. It was like Thor losing his hammer and bravery, Iron Man losing his Arc Reactor, Hulk losing his Anger (Sorry, I'm not really that good with similes. Oh look, Similes. A letter away from miles. Oh wait, this should be the longest word in the Dictionary. An extra 'i'.). In fact, this is so ironic and painful for me and my friends.
Anyways, a smile is a powerful thing. It can change someone's life, if given at the best moment. As such, I end this post with Two kinds of smile. You decide which one to emulate...
