しゅうまつ

こんにちわ、みな。きんようびのこんばんごごしゅうじはんにDBRTでモンスターズユニバーシティをみました。

かわいですね？

しゅうまつフットボールをみませんでした。そして、パーティにいきませんでした。でも、りゅうでテレビをみました。ごぜんくじはんにとしょかんでにほんごのよんをみました。しゅうまつにほんごのテストをべんきょうをしました。きょうごぜんろくじににほんごをべんきょうします。

あしたごごはちじにDBRTでえいがをみますか？

Vocaloids

So this is probably the one thing that gets me the most weird glances when I tell people about my hobbies...

Vocaloids are sound synchronization programs in which the user can arrange instruments and a "Diva" to create a song.

Yup, it's a thing.

There are many Vocaloids, and each one has it's own unique sound. A voice actor is recorded making various sounds and words, and then the program is made. The program allows for anyone to become a song writer, and because of that, has become exponentially popular.

How you ask?

When a song is written, the writer enters the information into the program and the song is made. The writer then partners with an artist and a PV, or music video, is made. The video is then uploaded to Nico Nico Douga (the Japaneses equivalent to YouTube). Then, let the fandom takes over.

So, here is the process of how a fan made song becomes viral and world famous!

First, let's look at one of the most famous of songs from the most famous Vocaloid out there, Hatusne Miku's "Wold is Mine".

Adorable yes? So, a song has been made. People are going to like it. So, covers come along. And not just that, but also alternate versions of the song. As crazy fans usually do, fan pairings have been made among the Vocaloids; the most famous being Miku and Kaito.

So here, we have a cover done by a very famous Vocaloid singer (these are legit things guys), Clear, and an alternate version of the original video in which Kaito is singing to Miku to get her attention.

So, people are obviously loving the song so much that they make and watch parodies. Sony, the developer of the Vocaloids, actually made a video game, Project Diva, in which you play famous Vocaloid songs. Yes, fan made songs are put into real video games. Here, is game play from the arcade version.

Fans continue to show their love for the songs and the games by dressing in the costumes from the video game and PVs as well as buying merchandise.

Cosplay

Cosplay

Figma (figure)

Phone Straps

The videos and songs get so famous that even English speakers begin to make covers of the songs on YouTube. Miku-Tan, the singer below, is famous for her covers. English speakers also buy merchandise, sell fan made crafts and  prints, and cosplay at Anime Conventions. Project Diva will be released in English latter this year!

The ultimate proof of the intensity of the fandom for Vocalids are the concerts. In Japan, Sony has developed a holographic/projector technology especially for the concerts. they also hire an elite band, choreographers, reserve a stadium- you know what, just see for your self. *before you ask, yes, those are real fans who paid lots of real money to go to these concerts.

These concerts are held several times a year and feature other Vocaloids and new popular songs.


If you are not fully convinced of how amazing these guys are, pleas scroll up to the beginning of the post and read again and repeat the process until you realize that robotic stars are just as popular as the real ones!

If you are interested in other songs or hearing the other Vocaloids, pleas just ask! I have playlists full of their music, and I can recommend songs from any genre. You like Rock? The lost's Ones Weeping or Love is War. You like cute romantic music? Melt. You like the most random music ever but really catchy? Nya Nya (the viral one, you know, the pop tart with a rainbow? that's Miku's voice!) or Po Pi Po (also known as the vegetable song). Really! Just hear the right song, and you'll be ready to join the fandon that's been taking over the world!

Concert Shots

The Vocaloids in their altered costumes for their Album cover art

The costumes for their famous song "Love is War" by famous Japaneses band Supercell

Cosplay group doing "Just a Game" PV costume designs

はなふだこいこい

こにちわ、

よくはなふだをします。I find it to be a very entertaining and challenging game. The game has many elements similar to that of western styled card games, but it also has it's on unique qualities that has definitely compelled me to spend hours away warring against a computer! In a sort of continuation to my Summer Wars post and for my friends who have shown interest in learning, I am making this post about how to play はなふだこいこい！

But first, a little history! In the middle of the 16th century Japan had a lot of contact with European traders, ambassadors, and missionaries, and along with many other things, these Europeans brought card games with them to Japan. The Japaneses really enjoyed the games...as well as the gambling. Towards the mid 17th century, when all contact with the West was banned, the cards and gambling where banned heavily as well. Still smitten by the games, the Japaneses began "a cat and mouse" (all of this is from wiki, so don't take this as law but like a rough history) game with the government; the people would make cards, they would get popular, the government would ban it, and repeat. One of these cards types was actually 48 cards with 4 groups of 12, like the current はなふだ. Eventually, the government realized that the common people, not just the gamblers, enjoyed playing, so they lessened the sever restrictions. Unfortunately, by then people had lost interest. The man who actually made the game popular was Fusajiro Yamauchi, the founder of the Nintendo company. He made professional cards and had his company manufacturer them. After a slow start, the Yakuza (the Japaneses mafia) began to use the cards for gambling and the game became popular. There are many variants to the game, but the one featured in Summer Wars and the one I learned was こいこい。

Ok, history's done! Now for the game....

The deck has 48 cards, with 12 groups, or as an analogy to standard poker cards, "suits". They represent the 12 months of the year, and are named after them. Each "suit" had 4 cards, like the four weeks in a month. はなふだ, or "Flower Cards", have flowers instead of numbers. Each "suit" typically has two plain flower cards and two special cards. One scores points by making combination, or ゆか (yuka) with these plain and special cards.

Lets take a look at the cards....

January- Matsu (松, pine)

February-Ume (梅, plum blossom)

March-Sakura (桜, cherry blossom)

April-Fuji (藤, wisteria)

May-Ayame (菖蒲, iris)

June-Botan (牡丹, peony)

July-Hagi (萩, bush clover)

August-Susuki (薄, Susuki grass)

September-Kiku (菊, chrysanthemum)

October-Momiji (紅葉, maple)

November-Yanagi (柳, willow)

December-Kiri (桐, paulownia)

That's all 48! You just need to look at the pictures and memorize which ones go in which month. Now, the Yuka!

かす。Kasu (Plains)

.

10 Plain cards. 1 point. Each Additional 1P after.

The "additional" means that if you get 11 plains, 

it's 2 points; 1 for the first 10 and then an 

additional point for the 11th plain.

たんざく。Tanzaku (Ribbons)

5 Ribbons. 1 point. Each Additional 1P after.

たね。Tane (Animals)

5 Animals. 1 point. Each Additional 1P after.

いのーしかーちょ。Ino-Shika-Cho (Boar-Deer-Butterfly)

Animal cards of Clover, Maple, Peony. 5 points.  (Fun fact! In Naruto, Ino's, shikamaru's, and Choji's family combination is named after this yuka!)

あかたん。Akatan (Red Poetry Ribbons)

All 3 red poetry ribbons. 6 points.

あおたん。Aotan (Blue Ribbons)

All 3 blue ribbons. 6 points.

さんこ。Sanko (3Brights)

3 Bright cards not containing Rain man card. 6 points.

あめーしこ。Ame-Shiko (Rain man)

4 Brights containing Rain man card. 8 points.

しこ。Shiko (4Brights)

4 Bright cards not containing Rain man card. 10 points.

ごこ。Goko (5Brights)

All 5 Bright cards. 15 points.

つきーふだ。Tsuki-fuda (Monthly Cards)

All four cards in one group shown right on screen. 4 points.

おやーけん。Oya-Ken (Dealer's Privilege)

If neither gets any Yaku, Dealer wins 6 points.　The dealer is always chosen at the beginning of the game, by both players drawing a card, and the one with the "better card", as in the one who gets the card from the earliest month, is the dealer, and gets the first turn. If both cards are from the same month, then the most powerful card determines the dealer.

ばけーふだ。Bake-Fuda (Wild Card)

The animal card of Chrysanthemum can be regarded as a plain card as well. If you have this, 9 plain cards and this card will be the Yaku of Kasu.

Rules change from game to game, but with the game I usually play, there are more yukas.

つきみでいっぱい。Tuskimi de ippai (Viewing the moon) is 5 points made with the moon bright and the bake-fuda.

かくらでいっぱい。Sakura de ippai (Viewing the cherry blossoms) is also 5 points and made with the sakura bright and the bake-fuda.

The game Play

You have 8 cards shown in a bottom row, that's your hand. On your turn, you should discard one of them, so that you match up the card you select and one of 8 cards in the center area. If there is none matching up, the card you select will remain in the center area. 

The cards matched up come to your card located at bottom right, where you are making and keeping your yuka (this is in reference to the flash game I will talk about below). You win when you get any kind of Yaku. At this point you can chose to declare "Koi Koi" to keep going farther to aim more Yaku for more points. 

The thing about declaring Koi Koi is that if your opponent makes a yuka and dose not declare Koi Koi, you do not get any points, regardless of how many yukas you had made. 

In the game I play, however, every time Koi Koi is declared, the amount of points you can get is doubled. As in, if your opponent declares Koi Koi, and then you make a yuka and stop the game, then what ever your yuka was worth is doubled and you get those points. Also, if you have over 7 points in yuka when you end the game, your points double. So, it is possible to have quadruple points at a time!

Here are some examples of game play from Summer Wars!

*for those of you who do not read manga, it is read from left to right, up to down. Manga is usually divided up in two or three rows per page. read the first row of panels first, starting from the left most picture and working your way right. Then, repeat in the next row. The speech bubbles are read in the same fashion.

Final words...

I took most of this information and images from this website (AKA I copied and pasted a lot...): 

http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/hanafuda/rule_e.html

and at the very bottom there is a link to play a flash version of hanafuda. The version I play is actually a free app in the apple store called:

Hanafuda Online

and it has three cards on it's icon, with a pink of yellow banner on it.

I hope this was easy to understand and I hope that some of you will consider trying this game out!

If you want a deck, I ordered one for 8 dollars on ebay!

Be Safe!

So there have been two sexual assaults here on campus over the last few weeks. Since there is going to be a home game this weekend, there will be a lot of parties and fun stuff going on, but please stay safe! This does not just go for the girls; even though less then 3% of assault victims are males, everyone is at risk! Please, everyone is special and important- do not put your self in danger for some 'fun'! That being said, I found an interesting public poster about self defense and other cool things. Enjoy!

わたしのせいかつです

まいあさごぜんろくじにおきます。たいていごぜんはちじにしゅぎうにいきます。りようであさごはをたべます。わたしのりようでみるごはんをたべます。たいていごごにじにりようにかえります。しゅくだいをじます。くじごろシャワーをあびます。まいばんごごじゅういちじにねます。てれびをみません。いえがをみません。いつもべんきょうをじます。

SUMMER WARS

Summer Wars is a Japaneses animated film about a genius math nerd, Kenji, who is hired for a summer part time job by his dream girl/crush. The job turns out to be accompanying her to her family's reunion at the country side...as her fiance?! Things only get more complicated when the extremely popular and influential social network, Oz, is hacked into and the consequences start affecting the real world! Will the timid Kenji and almost unstable Jinnouchi family be able to work together and save the world?!

This film is amazing on many levels. First, it touches topics relevant today. Social networks are becoming so common and applicable to our everyday lives, that the question of how far they can be attached to the real world becomes a worrisome question.


<----Login Screen to Oz

 It is interesting to see how all the family members, regardless of age, are some how connected to Oz. Each member is unique, but they all find Oz useful. This can represent who everyone in the world in connected through the internet...you are now a part of it as it is a part of you. If something were to happen in the internet, it is reasonable to think something can, in fact, happen to you.
                                                            Oz --->

 The next great part of this film is the family! With technology and industrialization in the world today, it is easy to get distracted by everyday routine, and forget to appreciate and spend time with family. In Mexico and Japan, family is very important and is a part of you- they are the people that shape and form you. Honestly, I cried in this movie, so just watch it and you'll understand what I'm trying to say here...

 ...or maybe the mushy/feely stuff just isn't your think? Have no fear! This movie is still FUDGING AMAZING! Just look at these graphics! It has action, don't worry about that...

 May I present the King himself....

 KING KAZMA! Oz is so relevant in the real world, that players in global competitions and games are actually seen on the same level as professional athletes and stars. The king is the best martial arts player in the world, and he is the best chance the world has at stopping the hacker before things get waaaaay to out of hand.

 There are plenty of fight scenes and excitement to hook anyone; I am just look, at his! HE'S BEASTLY!

And now! The English trailer! I actually think the Dubbing was really well done for this movie!

So, if you have not taken the movie survey yet, and are interested, please vote for this movie under the free response part of the answers! This movie has quite a bit of information and examples of traditional and modern day living styles. There is a traditional card game featured in the movie that I have learned to play (though with many struggles!) And if anyone is interested in learning, I would love to beat someone other than the computer!

Thanks for reading! 

はじめまして

はじめまして。メンドーザです。メキシコじんです。ノートルダムだいがくの　いちねせいです。せんこうは　けいえいがくです。りすのすきです。

かわいい(cute)ですね？