Oh man it’s been a while. I promise to get caught up in the next couple weeks, after finals are over!

Yesterday, I woke up at 11:30 and was out the door by 12:30. I ate some food at the delicious ramen place next to the station, hopped on the train and was on my way to what would be the most unique and awesome concert event I have experienced thus far.

It takes about an hour to get from where I live to Saitama, where the concert was being held. In my frantic rush to get there, I tried to force myself onto a train with its door in the process of closing. As a result, I got my foot stuck in the closing door. I somehow managed to pull my foot in without losing my shoe, but now I have a gnarly bruise from where the door clamped down on my foot. A fantastic “battle” wound.

I made it to Saitama by 2pm. The doors didn’t open until 5pm. When I got the Saitama Super Arena, there was a massive line that wove around parts of the stadium. I didn’t know what it was for; I figured it was a line to get into the arena, since in America, people line up to get into concerts. Turns out that the line was for the goods booth. I bought a t-shirt/button/key-chain set and a really expensive glow stick, totaling out to be 3300 yen.

While I was in line unknowingly waiting to get to the goods booth, I saw a huge amount of gothic lolitas, regular lolitas, and one girl who was dressed insanely like a Nazi. No joke. Full on green outfit, red tie, hat, insane boots. I was flabbergasted, except then I later remembered, after seeing many more people – both male and female alike – were dressed up in this Nazi-like outfit, that Gackt came out with a video earlier this year that featured a very Hitler-looking person.

The rabid fans were dressed up as the band members are in the above video.

I was confused as to which gate to enter because my ticket didn’t tell me a gate number. It said, “Arena, E-3 block, Number 124.” I figured that I would be on the floor. So, at about 5:30, they opened up the area to gather to get into the gates. I stood at the A gate, second row from getting in. I asked a nice Japanese lady next to me where I should be, and she seemed confused as well, but determined to help me. When the doors opened, she asked a few staff members for me, and was able to direct me were to go. Yay nice people!

The Arena is HUGE. I was on the floor, but I was 7 rows from the very back. Luckily there were two huge screens on the side of the stage. From where I was on the floor, everyone on stage looked about the side of tiny one inch figure. Or, when you hold your hand out at arm’s length, close one eye, and people were about the size of the top of your index finger to the second knuckle. At least for me and my tiny fingers.

Japanese concerts, or at least the Gackt concert, are radically different from their American counterpart. As the lights finally went down, people started to scream and cheer. Then a movie came on. The theme of the concert was that Gackt was some sort of android program to fight in this Nazi-like alternate reality. In true Japanese manner, the whole thing was completely overdramatic, but entertaining nonetheless. Finally the curtain fell, fireworks burst from the ceiling, fire shot up from the floor, everyone rushed to stand up, and Gackt appeared on stage in his Nazi-like garb. The opening song was Jesus (the video above), followed by a song I was unfamiliar with, called Uncontrol. (Evidently it’s an older song that I haven’t listened to.)

At American concerts, there is never a time when someone isn’t shouting. Even during quieter, slower songs, someone will always be shouting out or cheering. Japan, on the other hand… you can hear a pin drop. I was so weirded out when the first song was coming to a close and no one was shouting. It wasn’t until after the song had COMPLETELY stopped and the lights and gone COMPLETELY out that people started to shout and cheer. So not what I’m used to!

For the past two weeks, I have listened to nothing but all of the songs from Gackt’s latest singles. It turned out to be a very good thing I did, because he played all the songs, B-sides included, that have been released in the past month (which is to say about 8 songs or so).

During Gackt’s “performance” period, he moved around like a robot instead of doing massive dance numbers like I had been expecting. He did one costume change, changing from his Nazi-like uniform to a more casual, “Jesus” (song) uniform.

The lights went down, and there was another very dramatic movie clip. Gackt’s comrades are ducked behind a barrier, shooting at the enemy. One of his friends gets shot but is able to get back to his duty because he, too, is an android. Gackt tells them to stop firing, listens, and screams “Get down!” (in English). Then he uses the radio to call for help. Whatever is said is very depressing, because Gackt looks to be on the verge of tears. Then the background noise stops, and Gackt has a revelation. Unfortunately I don’t know enough Japanese to know what this revelation was, but the people around me started to giggle. Then, in true Gackt fashion, it pans out, and his U+K furries are standing around him waving.

Then he performed U+K.

An interesting thing about Japanese audience is they’re all…conforming. This shouldn’t be very surprising, since Japan is a very conforming society. But the only time people “danced” is during songs like these when para para is somehow known among the audience (as shown in the above video). As far as I could see from the people beside me and in front of me, I was the ONLY person who was actually dancing to the songs. I also was the only person who screamed out an “inappropriate” time at the end of a song. :P Hey, I really liked the song!

At some point, I don’t know if it was before U+K or what (I’m horrible at remembering timelines), Gackt changed into more casual clothes. He had fun interacting with the audience. There seriously was an hour period of nothing but talking. I found it cool, at first, that he was interacting with his audience. But then, unknowing that the concert was going to last four hours, I started to think, “Where’s the music?”

At one point, two comedians came out on stage. They did a little comedic bit, none of which I understood. Honestly, I was bored. I was there for music, not for listening to people talk.

After the comedians left, Gackt decided to make the band members shout to the audience without the use of a mic. They did a pretty good job, considering I could hear them from where I was standing. At that point I was entertained, but still anxious to hear more music.

Finally, they played more music, one of which was another para para song that I was unfamiliar with. But then he sang “Kimi no tame ni dekiru koto,” which I was SUPER excited about because it’s one of my favorite songs. That may have been the song I screamed afterward at the inappropriate time.

The set list was as follow (stolen from here):

~intro video~
1) Jesus
2) Uncontrol
3) Suddenly
4) No Reason
5) In Flames
6) Sayonara (RR2 version + violin duet)
7) Dance
8) Ghost
9) Blue Lagoon
10) Oblivious
~video~
11) My Father’s Day
12) Mirror
~MC~
13) U+K
14) 小悪魔Heaven (Koakuma Heaven)
15) Papa Lapped A Pap Lopped
16) Faraway
17) Flower In The War
18) Kimi No Tame Ni Dekiru Koto
~encore~
19) Lost Angel
~ending video~

Overall, I had an absolute blast. I danced to my heart’s content, waved my glow stick around out of sync with everyone else, and poorly sang along. I never understood why people would go to the same concert more than once, but now I understand. I want to go again. Given the opportunity, if Gackt decides to tour before I leave Japan, I will spend however much money is necessary to go. The man can sing, he can entertain, and he has a really pretty smile. :P

Last night while I was listening to music, I decided to try that “genius” thing that iTunes has now. It picks music out of your library that is somewhat similiar to the song you choose. I picked a Luna Sea song, just to see if it would even work (it doesn’t work on all songs). In the mix was a Miyavi song, which I discovered I very much like.

Today when I was waiting for a class to start, I played the Miyavi song again. I thought to myself, “Man, this song is so good. Why did it take me so long to decide to give this musician a try?” Then I remembered that what scared me away from him was the rabid fangirls who were panting over how “hot” he is. Sorry, he’s not my cup of tea in the looks department. But GODDAMN is he a wonderful musician. Godly with the guitar, I might even argue.

This conversation with myself started me thinking about how it was that I became Japanese music in the first place, and thus my interest in most things Japanese.

When I was the tender age of 12, my family had just moved back to Kansas for educational reasons (free college tuition). I remember one day after school, I turned on the TV to find something to watch. We had Cartoon Network. When I turned it on that day, it was in the middle of a Dragonball Z episode. I had never seen the show before, so I watched it.

Cartoon Network had the following “Toonami” lineup when Moltar was still working the joint (I’m not sure the order):

Sailor Moon
Dragonball Z
Ronin Warriors
ReBoot
Gundam Wing

Honestly I don’t recall Ronin Warriors very well, but I do remember liking it. I was quite obsessed with all those shows for a while, though mostly my obsession lied with Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon (I became obsessed with ReBoot later in my life).

After watching Gundam Wing maybe three times, I started paying attention to the opening theme. Although sung in English, I fell in love. So I wandered online to try to find the song, and all I could find was the Japanese version. I downloaded it. That was the beginning of my Japanese music obsession.

Being anime-obsessed at the time, I started finding more and more anime songs - mostly from Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon. I found a wonderful resource for Sailor Moon songs - http://www.sailormusic.net/ . Soon enough, I had quite the large anime music collection. If you’ve visited this site in the past, you might remember it being an anime music resource. =B In fact, I think my “Yusuke’s Reign” section is still running and still gets some downloads from time to time.

Eventually I started to branch out. I started listening to an online Japanese music radio station. This introduced me to artists like L’arc-en-Ciel, Speed, Hamasaki Ayumi, and Suzuki Ami. From there I moved onto Gackt, The Pillows, and Do As Infinity.

Although I’m not a great fan of anime anymore - I’ve probably seen less than 20 all together - I never would have found my most favorite band in the entire world had it not been for my mom’s obession with Full Metal Alchemist (yes, it was my MOM who introduced me to FMA): ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION.

I’ve been in an out college a few times. When I was living in Kansas, I was going to college for a Physics and Math major. My interests lied with Astronomy, but the college I attended did not have astronomy as a major. After a while, I got sick of the program and the school, so I decided to drop out. I tried college briefly one more time after that (night classes), but didn’t even make it two sessions before I decided it wasn’t for me.

I worked for a while at various office jobs that I absolutely despised. In 2005, I decided I wanted to go back to school. I also decided that I would go to a school I wanted to go to, with programs that I wanted to major in. I pondered going to the University of Hawaii in Hilo, but I was too scared of having an ocean between me and my family.

I decided on University of Washington. I had lived in WA for six months prior to moving back to Kansas, so I knew it wasn’t such a bad place. I applied to the school… and didn’t get in.

I lived in Kansas another year before my parents decided they wanted to move back to Washington. I was still deteremined to go to school at UW, so I went with them, leaving my friends behind.

I applied again. While I waited for my answer and to obtain WA residency, I worked another office job. Just as I couldn’t take the job anymore and decided to quit, I received my answer: No.

Pretty much hating the world at the point, I decided I was going to move back to Kansas. I packed up my car to the brim (no shit), and started out. I didn’t even make it to the Oregon border before I decided to turn around.

Although late in the year, I decided to try my luck once again with college. I sent out an application to another WA school that had Japanese as a major, but Astronomy was only a minor. It was then that I decided to make my main focus for school Japanese. After, I had spent the last seven years listening to nothing but Japanese music. Wasn’t it about time for me to actually learn the damn language?

Even though the application deadline had passed, I was accepted into the college. Thus, in the fall of 2007, I began my long journey to learn the Japanese language - at least in a serious, academic setting. I had tried it by myself, but as I’ve stated many times before, I lack self-discipline.

I’ve been spending the last year and half learning the language I love for ten years now. It all started because of the opening song for Gundam Wing. My brother thought it was a phrase I would grow out of. While the anime side is true, the Japanese part was definitely not.

Who would have guessed it.

Lyrics from Senshigakuen.com. Read her notes, I think it’s … noteworthy.

mazariaeba ii     tsumetaku atatakaku     uta yo     anata ni todoke
kirameku keshiki o     hiroiatsumeteku     sora wa     BLUE ni kawaru
suketeyukeba ii     toketeshimaitai     hayaku     kokoro ni furete
mix it together     coldly warmly     this song     let it reach you
gather up     the glittering landscapes     the sky     changes to BLUE
thin it out     i want to melt it all     quickly     let my heart touch you

ima wa     yoru wa     kagayaite motomete
left in my heart     into the timeless time
now is     night is     glittering, want it
left in my heart     into the timeless time

aketeyuku kitto     tsuzuku jounetsu o     konna yoru wa mitsumesasete
it opens, surely     the continuing passion     nights like this let you see it

ima wa     yoru wa     kagayaite egaite
left in my heart     into the timeless time
now is     night is     glittering, paint it
left in my heart     into the timeless time

aketeyuku sotto     yoru yo kienai de     kirameku keshiki o     yurameku asu e
mazariaeba ii     tsumetaku atatakaku     uta yo     anata ni     anata ni hibike
it empties, softly     the night, don’t vanish     into tomorrow’s     flickering, glittering landscapes
mix it together     coldly warmly     this song     to you     it calls out to you

Right now I’m very much obsessed with this song. I think between being semi-depressed, the soft melody, Ryuichi Kawamura’s sexy voice, and the lyrics, this song is really very much speaking to me right now.

I wish I had something more profound to say, but right now I’m very tired, but thought I’d share my current mood and feelings.

I’m usually not one to post lyrics. If I want to show something I’m feeling poetically, I write it myself. But this song came up on shuffle on my iPod, and I was reminded of how much I truly love it. The song is “What is Love?” by L’arc-en-Ciel. This is the English translation (source):

There’s just something about Japanese lyrics and music that just can’t be done in English. Maybe I’m biased, and I probably am. But the music, his voice, and the way it’s sung and put together as a whole just makes the song so much. I especially love the last minute or so.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Merry [insert religious holiday here]! I hope everyone is having a great winter break, even if you’re stranded in your house by the abundance of snow like I am.

For X-mas, I received “My Japanese Coach” for DS. I have to say, I’m enjoying it quite a bit, even if it has some quirks to it – like teaching the wrong stroke order for certain characters. But that’s what Kakitorikun is for. Mostly I’m using this new program to learn vocabulary and some grammar things. I’m still stuck in the beginning of things, rated as “1st grade.” But it’s good to review some things. ^-^

I really need to get on the ball of studying more!

Anyway, hope everyone has a wonderful New Year, full of drunkenness and hopefully not hangovers on the 1st.

I have loved music ever since I first heard it. When I was a little girl, I would have these little fantasies where I was this famous singer with millions of fans. I wanted to be the next Cindy Lauper, because at that time I absolutely loved Cindy Lauper.

But, for whatever reason, I never pursued that dream. I became consciously aware that I had no talent within my voice when I was pretty young, so I felt as though I could never progress into anything worthwhile. I never talked to my parents about my desire to become a singer; my dad was too busy dreaming up his own dreams of what he wanted me to be - a doctor. So I kept what I wanted the most to myself, and secretly hoped that I would somehow get better along the way.

Well, that didn’t happen. I still can’t sing worth a damn, and the only thing I can do musicially is barely play a flute that I haven’t picked up in seven years. The past few years, my desire to have any sort of musical talent has become more and more pronounced. Two years ago I purchased a couple of voice lesson CDs only to find out that I’m not even singing properly. There’s no point of exercising my shitty singing voice if I’m not even using my vocal chords the way they’re meant to be used. I know this much because any time I sing, my throat hurts. I’m smart enough to know that that isn’t normal. Plus friends with more talent than me have told me so.

Earlier this year, I took a voice class at my university. I had emailed the professor prior to the class asking if it was right for me. I gave her my background, which is that I have no background, and she assured me that the class would be perfect for me. Well that was a downright lie. Every single person in that class was a Music Education major who had some sort of previous choir class. When midterm came around, we had the opportunity to step in front of the class to practice the song we all had to sing. When it was my turn to go, I had this false confidence that because everyone else did well, I could do well too.

Wrong.

I’m happy that there wasn’t many people in the class, because I was absolutely mortified by my “performance,” if you can even call it that. I was severely out of pitch, I couldn’t keep up with the pianist, and the professor actually told the pianist to play the notes of the singing part for me, so that I could follow along. I don’t know how I managed not to break down crying during my performance, but I did break down afterwards. I was so deeply embarrassed that I never went back to the class.

Despite that horrible experience, I still have a strong desire to be able to do something musically. I still really want to sing; therefore, I plan on taking private voice lessons once my classes start up again. But singing isn’t the only thing I want to do. I want to be able to play something as well. What sort of musician would I be if all I did was stand around and sing? I guess that would make me… a singer. Hah.

But I want to do more than that. I want to be able to play something while I sing. Besides, if I’m going to learn how to sing, I might as well have an instrument that I can sing along to. I had planned on taking a piano class at my university, but it seems the music department there is full of elitist assholes who won’t allow non-music majors to take any of their classes. Uh, sure. Whatever. (I plan on auditing the class if I can manage it.)

For the past few months or so, I’ve been thinking that there must me something else I can do to kick-start my musical desires. I’ve always been a fan of guitar. It completely baffles me on how such wonderful music can be produced by one instrument. There’s a video online of Japanese mega-star Miyavi using is guitar as both an acoustic guitar and percussion. It seriously leaves me staring in awe every time I see it.

That’s what I want to be able to do.

I decided that when I had the chance, I would purchase a guitar and began learning it. So today, that’s what I did. I was out shopping with my parents when I stumbled accidentally onto this fine instrument. I wanted a guitar that was cheap, but still good enough to learn on, and this fell into my lap out of nowhere. Seriously, I had just said the night before that I wanted a guitar, then to have it pop out of nowhere the next day. It had to be a sign from the heavens. So I picked it up. I came home a happy woman with my new instrument. My parents, for whatever reason, were anxious to help me tune the guitar. Though sweet, it was a bit… much. Luckily for me, they wandered off to the store, and I was left to myself with my new baby. In the middle of tuning the G string, the string broke. I think it was then that I realized that my musical journey will be a very, very long and rocky road. But I’ll happily accept that path when I one day become as good as I hope to be.

Random aside: I am deeply, deeply jealous of anyone with even the most minute musical ability.