A question for tora tora tora

Redpossum · Post by **Redpossum** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 12:40 am

Hey, tiger-man, what the heck is this advertising? And why does it have that word in french?

As Shin-Goji, (the resident smartass over at Twisted Kaiju Theatre) has penned in at the bottom, it's apparently got all the horny little otaku in a frenzy right now.

What's the story?

tora_tora_tora · Post by **tora_tora_tora** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 11:08 am

Thank you for showing interest in Japan's wonderful culture.
Well, as I have never seen this particular picture before, I guess this is by Kose.

http://www.kose.co.jp/index4.html

And the reason this specific makeup brand's is named after is, I guess, most Japanese think it's cool.
It used to be the position of English words which sounds good for Japanese, but nowadays people got accustomed to English sounds,
so, advertising guys venture into French, Italian and so on to look for some nice sounding words.
In most cases, people do not know what is the meaning of VIS'EE, and except some kind of hard-core enthusiasts pepole do not mind its meaning.

well, this costume play reminds me of Morrigan.
Morrigan is in this case, not celtic goddess, but one of arcade console duel action game's character.

http://images.google.com/images?client= ... a=N&tab=wi

The gamehouse is CAPCOM.
http://www3.capcom.co.jp/psp_zero3/

and here is original, before tweaked.
http://auction.jp.msn.com/item/74626547

浜崎あゆみ(hamasaki ayumi)　is one of the most famous singers here in Japan. And she is very popular among young generations, teenagers.

Redpossum · Post by **Redpossum** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:14 am

Wow, thanks, Tora!

You do have a real skill for research, and presenting your results in an organised, easy-to-understand manner.

That first link, to the cosmetics company site, is a lesson all in itself.

I am not the first person to say this, (or even among the first ten thousand, I'm sure), but the japanese people and their culture seem at times to be a huge bundle of contradictions. Then again, I'm certain the same is true of the American people and our culture.

But back to that cosmetics site. OK, there are a bunch of squares, each with the name of what I take to be a line or brand of cosmetics. As you mouseover each square, a different woman's face appears.

Now, there's the one blonde caucasian with the glacier-blue eyes, but the rest are all, mmmm, asians of one variety or another? I was amusing myself by trying to guess each..

Ok, starting at the top, "Fasio", well, I suppose she could be japanese, but she looks more like a Philipina to me, or else a half-asian/half caucasian mixture. She looks a lot like some girls I went to school with, who had American fathers and south-east asian mothers.

"Kose" is the blonde. Those have got to be contacts...

"Whitist" is, uhh, I have no clue, she could be anything at all.

"Knoll", argh, wannabe Brooke Shields, get away from me...

"Visee", uhhh, much like the comments on "Fasio" above.

"Esprique" Ok, more classically japanese, especially her nose.

"Chicken Scratchings" blue happy face, no clue, color me "baka gaijin".

"Chicken Scratchings Prime" Again, more classically japanese.

"Predia" Some white chick? Impossible to tell with her eyes closed.

"Luminous" Heavy symbolism with the dartboard, but the girl could be from anywhere.

"Stylis" Could be japanese, could be south-east asian.

"Astaluton" Latina, I'd say at a guess, but not asian.

"Happy Bath Day Precious Rose" Oh my, this one is a cutie. Classical japanese beauty combined with western-style hairdo and dress/jewelry is a killer shot straight to any american or japanese boy's heart. I thank all gods great and small that I'm old enough to be almost immune

"Infinity" Another western model.

OK, on to the "Morrigan" pictures. Wow, now that's what I call fan fiction! Or would it be fan art? Wonderful, delightfully smutty stuff; I love it. But I must admit that the name makes me a bit nervous.

Hmm, what to say of The Morrigan. Well, there is an excellent book by Morgan Llewellyn called "Red Branch"; you can get a new copy at Amazon for $6.99. It is nominally the story of Cu Chulain, who was her greatest champion. But along the way, the author teaches much about the coming of the Celts to Ireland, and the two races they found there - the Tuatha de Danaan and the Fir Bolg. She also, umm, speaks as(?) the Morrigan, who is actually a player in the story. I cannot say that Llewellyn has got it right, but nothing that she says conflicts with what I know and believe, and much of what she says agrees quite neatly.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand. (am I ever glad this is in the General Discussion forum!)

This Hamasaki Ayumi, is she what you call an idol singer?

tora_tora_tora · Post by **tora_tora_tora** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:24 am

<hamasaki ayumi(浜崎あゆみ)

I guess she is a singer, though not so much as idol. As she attends, starrs in 紅白歌合戦(kouhaku uta gassen),
it is fair to say she is one of the most famous singers in Japan.
Well, not all famous singers want to appear in this show, though, traditionally one of the most common show at the very end of the year.

here is english explanation of kouhaku
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kouhaku_Uta_Gassen

and here is unofficial site, I guess it's fan site. Hamasaki's name appears around middle.
http://www.kouhaku.info/index.html

I guess among mainstream youngsters culture, hamasaki is being treated as a kind of demi-goddess, at least a few years ago.
Before hamasaki, there was (and she still exists), amuro namie(安室　奈美恵) in that status.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namie_Amuro

Then what kind of singers do Japanese Otaku like?
There are several answers, as otaku is divided in every bit small encraves, and it is hard to see all of them at grance.
But one answer is seiyuu(声優).

seiyuu is voice actor, especially for anime. Famous voice actors, or rather voice actresses also do sing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiyu

And I'm overwhelmed by above entry in wikipedia. In what way could they research and identify there was seiyu boom in 1960s?
Anyway, one of the problem in localization into Japan, especially MORPG, the focus point is female characters graphics.
So as people say Japan got westernized, not so much as it sounds, I guess.

http://www.kose.co.jp/english/index.html

Redpossum · Post by **Redpossum** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:35 pm

Wikipedia has some funky stuff going on, no doubt

Very interesting information, Tora^3, very interesting indeed.

I knew what a "seiyu" was, from reading the webcomic Megatokyo.

The 4 main characters in the story consist of 2 american guys, and two japanese girls.

The two american guys are gamers, who went to a con in the US, got drunk, and decided to cash in their tickets home for tickets to Japan instead. Then they had no money to get home, and wound up working in a games store...(wildly dreaming, yes, but still amusing)

The two girls are both voice actresses. One is just starting out, and the other, her roommate and mentor, is semi-retired.

To have any faint hope of understanding the strip, you need to go back and start from the beginning, but it's a fun read

tora_tora_tora · Post by **tora_tora_tora** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:05 am

megatokyo is fun, and thank you for letting me know.

QUite a tons of stuff, and it is really interesting to know, there is not only Marvel comics, but these fun based comics.