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Defying The Predetermined Stage: The Perilous Challenges of Unorthodox Blogging

Shance — Sun, 23 May 2010 08:37:10 +0000

Performing orchestrals with a rock-and-roll band: JAN-JAAAAAN!

Otaku blogging caters to a big audience. Bloggers have to “categorize” themselves according to what they like to write, and this generates an ample amount of audience. Some prefer blogging at intervals, providing first-hand montages and commentaries. Some start writing editorial articles after finishing relevant media. Some prefer to blog about collectibles like gunpla, figures, and the like. Some probe deep to study and question the foundations of otakudom, leaving a trail of debates and discussion in their wake. Some form teams that continously generate content for the blog, keeping it from losing activity. Some even create blogs for the purpose of scanlating or fansubbing material.

But rarely can you find someone who puts everything into a single blog. And I mean EVERYTHING.

It’s the perfect blog for the Jack Of All Trades: The Unorthodox Blog. It doesn’t follow any style, it doesn’t want to stay in one, it wants to have all the interest-relevant material to itself, and it’s not sharing. It’s like Ye Olde 150-in-1 Famicom Cartridge that lets you play all your favorite games in a single game platform. Want to show your artistic prowess? Make a drawing gallery page! Not enough? Open a special page for articles regarding a certain topic! Think you can use the blog to provide what you scanlate and fansub? Sure! Ohwait, you want to form a team to enslave yourselves by blogging endlessly, too?

There are a lot of unforeseen outcomes and consequences when it comes to unorthodox blogging. You’ll never know if you’ll get a response from the blogging world. You’ll never know if you’ll get any contentment with what you’re currently doing with your blog. You’ll never even know if JAMMING EVERYTHING IN was a good idea until you actually pull it off! However, this kind of self-prioritization keeps the fruits of your labor coming, be it bad (trolling, hacking or spamming, flaming, no hits or reaction at all) or good (continuous discussion, lots of hits, recognition from various blogs and sites, material preferences on the part of the blogger), as long as you have enough adrenaline to continue, and this ultimately brings out the best in the blog and the blogger. That’s why I adore these kinds of blogs: they are the little sites that could, but couldn’t, and it’s fine either way.

…every blog is a stage, a soapbox if you will, and we all got our own. It makes no sense to dwell on the elitist aspect of blogging (and authorship in general). Anyone can build a stage. And likewise, everyone is the audience.

- omo (5/21/2010)

Anyone can build a stage, yes. What kind of stage, that’s not for me to answer. Blogging in an unusual kind of way attracts readers, who either find it amusing or confusing. And that’s normal. You simply have a lot to offer, because your so-called soapbox also turns out to be an art gallery, or a shared platform with other bloggers, or a kind of advertisement that showcases your scanlating and fansubbing portfolio. It’s like a buffet table, where people immediately dig in on the various dishes, or get turned off because they can’t possibly handle all that food.

But let’s get off the interests of the readers and focus on something more important: the interest of the blogger. Yes, it’s your stage, your blog, your little thingamajig in the Internet. You don’t need to always serve the dish your patrons want because you also have to serve something for yourself. That’s normal, too. The thing is, we’re talking about the otaku Jack of All Trades blogging the stuff. And by stuff, that means a lot. Anything that meets the eye, showcasing of talents, opinion or say on things, shameless plugging of self and other people, and more where those came from. And to put them all together in a single point of broadcast, that’s a lot of work.

I’m not telling the blogs that trend today are generic, dull, boring, and mindless. Everyone has their own forte, we should respect that. It’s just that some of us want to find a greater purpose in blogging, which brings us to the case of the Unorthodox Blog. All those moments of constant self-questioning, all those times where you suddenly blurt out “What the hell is this blog for?”, all those needless thoughts of worry, all those moments that you feel incomplete, all those hiatuses and revivals and brainstorming, everything is for the sake of finding what’s best for the blog. Yes, the blog is simply a stage, a soapbox if we will. But what we perform in it depends on the same way it matters to you and everyone else.

I’m on a mission to find out what’s best for my blog. Hopefully, I get a good response. But that doesn’t mean I’m currently writing in an unusual way. It’s already hard thinking what you can do with an elevated stage. What more with everything else?

And yes, if you can find one of those Unorthodox Blogs out there, feel free to tell me and I’ll check them out.

The Calling of the Impoverished Otaku

Shance — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:35:21 +0000

Palette and Reimu Burger: Probably the the best description of my current situation.

They say the devil makes work for idle hands. I don’t know if that’s true. But if it means doing too much work, I might just believe it.

People, I now give you my grand excuse for my almost three-month absence: Work. Yes. Work. Work, work, work, work, work. Nothing for me to explain, that’s everything there is to, but sure, I’ll elaborate further. In an attempt to differentiate my preferences on work, I decided to take an opportunity to live the employed life. Day in, day out, working our asses for our well-earned paycheck. Just like freelancing, only it literally turns you into a walking corpse devoid of life, time, sleep, energy, and whatever else there is to deprive from you.

Some of us are still naive on what the professional world is like and how it can affect our otaku way of life, probably because A.) they’re still schooling, B.) they are currently unemployed (this includes people who stopped schooling and those who suck their parents’ butts just so they can live off of them), or C.) they don’t care, refuse to grow up and force themselves into a static state of denial. Now, I’m not saying that people should take the world head on like most of us who already did. It’s the other way round: The world took us head on, and most of us were taken by surprise.

To tell the truth, this scenario’s been repeatedly emphasized on certain media already, so we shouldn’t be surprised. In one chapter of the Genshiken manga, the senior members (Madarame, Kugiyama, and Tanaka) bade the club goodbye as they graduated. Tanaka sacrificed his location just to be able to work and fund his cosplaying endeavors, much to the chagrin of Ohno. Kugiyama simply got work, and left the club. Madarame, on the other hand, refused to leave the clubroom behind by getting work near the campus grounds. It’s the perfect example for this kind of scenario, where hardcore fans suddenly got cut off their way of life and were forced to compromise in order to keep up the pace.

Now, I don’t think I need to explain this: Everyone will eventually meet the situation wherein you must compromise your hobbies for the sake of supporting it, as well as yourself. The Genshiken seniors got their call, they heeded it, and it turned out just fine. Some of the people in blogosphere got their call, heeded it, and they’re still around (half of them, that is). My time came in, I heeded the call, and what the heck, chaos turned everything into alphabet soup with numbers in it. But lookey lookey, I’m still here.

My hands are still being forced to work for the devil, though, and I think we’re pretty obvious on the target of its evildoing.

A Rememory

Shance — Wed, 05 May 2010 14:41:23 +0000

Me, Mascots, a Flying Shrine Maiden, and More Than Three Years of Blogging.

It’s been a while. After all I’ve been through during the past three months, I’m back. There are many things I would like to discuss, but right now, I must do something very special for this day.

Three years. For three years, Rainbowsphere has been up and running, always there, never leaving. Technically I can’t even say it’s exactly three years since this blog has been up and running even before it was moved to Randall’s lovely domain. But unquestionably, it’s always here. And I’m proud of it, because it has always been a relaxing place for everyone to chat, chill out, discuss and debate on some things, and ultimately, have fun.

Again, I would like to give my thanks to all the people who’ve been there throughout all these years. First, to Randall for hosting me. Second, to my Dasaku neighbors, both new and old (I miss you Sasa. Really, I do). Third, to the filaniblogger community that’s always there, otaku-related or whatnot (ghostlightning, you’ll always be the first to come to mind). And last but not the least, to the guys who visited the site, discussed the topics, kept their cool, had their fun. There’s too many to mention, so many memories to reminisce, so much thanks to be given, and all I can do is cramp it all into this short, oh-too-sentimental blog revival post. But really, guys, I can’t thank all enough for putting up on me.

They said blogs have an average lifespan of a mere two years. I say we prove it wrong.

When The Pillars Of Touhoudom Collide: Original Material VS. Fan Material

Shance — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:17:40 +0000

This is probably what I was doing while this whole thing was brewing.

With the blogosphere slowly succumbing to the powers of bullet hell, I can say that the hijack is going smoothly as planned. That was one thing I was worrying. The other thing, we’ll talk about, heart to heart to heart, you, me, and Touhou.

The virality of Touhou started to spread in the blogosphere, which sparked a sudden surge of interest within its citizens. Bloggers started to talk about preferred characters, semantics of Touhoudom, and love for the world that spurred an unstoppable cult following, things that I have already mentioned in the past. Normally, I wouldn’t tinker with it and let it just unfold by itself. But somehow, an unknown amount of mischief made me spout something about it, and everything went crashing down, raging bloggers and all.

Our Gensokyo is divided into two categories: Original material (the original Touhou games), and fan material (doujin games and paperback). These form an equilibrium of sorts. The original material serves as basis for fan material, and fan material serves as a tribute to the original material.

This is where it gets murky. Because the franchise has two areas of interest, the community divides itself into two factions of interest: Those who love Touhou for the original material (dubbed as “The True Children of Touhou”), and those who love Touhou for the fan material (dubbed as “The False Children of Touhou”). The former, as the elitist, arrogant, and perfectionist power, would take offense if a Touhoufag lives for the sake of fan material while being oblivious to the original stuff. The latter, as the rabid, generalist, genre-loving power, would take offense if a Touhoufag lives a childish, I’m-not-leaving-my-nest life by not actively engaging on any fanmade content. “Why love Touhou if you can’t even dodge bullets?” “Why love Touhou if you don’t even see the beauty of fanmade material?” It’s like the Code of Cosplay, where you can’t say anything about a cosplayer if you don’t know where the cosplay is from, or you can’t cosplay if you don’t know where the cosplay is from. From black and white, the discord between the fans sows confusion on the fandom that should simply be loved for all that it is.

This leads us to “The Ultimate and Complete Touhou Experience”. From hereon, we walk the line between the two factions, the grey zone that embraces everything regardless of origin. There is no such thing as True or False Children of Touhou, since you can become both at the same time. You love fanmade content? That’s fine, since you loved the original games even if it’s not the same way you love your doujin stuff. You love original content? Sure, since you opened up on fan material, even though you don’t love them the same way you love your originals. Because people paid homage to both fanmade and original content, there’s no discrimination, there’s no elitism, no nothing. It’s like Nirvana, where Touhoufags complete their very being by indulging on everything that was, that is, and will be.

Pay tributes to original content by getting fanmade material. Pay tributes to fanmade material by getting the original content. Stay in the grey zone, enjoy, and all will be fine in our Gensokyo again.

And while you’re at it, apply this logic on your general otaku fandom too.

Fin Funneling: Diversifying the Otaku Blogger

Shance — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:33:48 +0000

I looooooooove Fin Funnels. I couldn’t imagine my Gundam without them.

In the Gundam universe, Fin Funnels are known as one of the most uncanny weapons made for the experienced Newtype. Through the Newtype’s psychic powers, they destroy enemies with almost dead-on accuracy. They also last longer than conventional funnels because of their built-in energy generators. Finally, Fin Funnels have a feature not found in any other Newtype weaponry: They form a “guard” that protects the Mobile Suit from incoming fire, be it solid ammunition or energy beams.

So what is “Fin Funneling”, and how does it diversify the otaku blogger?

Fin Funneling is a term I would like to coin for relying on more than one medium of creative output. The blogger and the blog are the “Mobile Suit”, while the social interaction programs and sites that he or she uses aside from the blog are the “Fin Funnels”. The Fin Funnels work similar to their Real Robot weaponry counterparts by “firing” bits of the blogger’s information on his or her “targets”, i.e. the audience he or she caters in. They also “guard” bloggers from posts that they probably don’t want to post on their blog, or unwanted trackbacks and response posts that might spoil their blogging experience. No need for long tl;dr posts on some topic that doesn’t need stressing. All you have to do is open Twitter, and let them know what’s what in just 150 alphanumeric characters. Want to share something good without having to do shameless plug posts? Google Reader, link all relevant posts, and leave notes about the topic. How about your anime watchlist? There’s MyAnimeList. Online interaction in real time? GTalk, Google Wave, YM, MIRC, the usual talky-talky stuff that’s always available. There’s always an option to let everyone know what you do or what you have, and it never stops.

Now, now, Shance dear. Why the elitist facade? You use those sites and programs, too. That means you do Fin Funneling like the rest of us! So why are you trying to belittle their usefulness?

I’m not really belittling their usefulness here. I’m just saying, why use them? There’s the blog, you’re the blogger, and the blog is all you need if you want something expressed. So why? Is it because of the need to simply let anyone know? Is it selective posting, where you say what’s awesome, but pick which ones you want to post on the blog while the rest gets posted as scrobble-tweets and GRSI notes? Or maybe we just want to surprise the audience by supplying vague information about an awesome topic and letting them click the link for them to see for themselves. These things are taking the blogger’s attention away from the blog, which I think is bad. On the other hand, it helps maintain activity by letting people know what the blogger’s doing, which is good.

Maybe it’s just me here, but hey, blogs are the reason why we call ourselves bloggers. Let’s live up to our names, our mobile suits, and our status, shall we?

A “No Problem?” x “No Problem!” Problem: Trapeze Final Impressions

Shance — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:22:36 +0000

“Y’know, people who don’t have any problems are the biggest problem for me.”

It’s been more than a week since Kuchu Buranko ended. And while each and everyone of us tried to make up for anything from the holidays, the show ended like that. Just like that. As if mocking us to be mental while being sentimental. Well, if that’s the case, I’ll take it as a reason to write a post about it.

While I can fully admit that Trapeze was a show that tickled my alter-egos, the insanity it tried to delve into and the mentality it applied to its episodes seemed a bit off the mark. Sure, there were things as prominent as time re-skips (episode 10), narcissism (episode 9), loss of control (episode 2), and the enigma of an enigma (Irabu Ichiro), but think: Was there really any connection between the symptom, the doctor, the patient, the vitamin shot, the cure, and more importantly, the viewer?

No.

So we move on to the probable reason I thought: It was a show about psychology and mentality aimed at the fan of modern visual culture, the otaku. Why? Because otaku are people who have the most screwed cases of psychology and mentality combined? Because otaku care only of figures and anime and manga and games? Because otaku are oblivious of their surroundings as long as they get their dose of moe? Because otaku make doujin material, blog, claim attention whoring and be mighty proud of it afterward? Because otaku generally play deaf, mute and blind thinking they won’t grow up by being in denial? See that, then watch, rewatch, and REWATCH episodes 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, and 11 of Trapeze. If you did not, or cannot, relate to ANYTHING on any of the episodes, you’re a healthy otaku/fan/”otaku”/blogger/weeaboo/whateverintheworldthisfandompersonis… and you’re pretty much screwed.

Now, now, don’t think the show is mocking you now. It isn’t. It’s just telling you to look at yourself. While I was watching the show, I did, and the starting sentence of this post struck me HARD. Am I really one of those people who don’t have a problem? And if so, am I the biggest problem, if not for Irabu Ichiro, if not for others, then maybe for myself? While true that people who don’t have any have the potential to have one, the sentence itself gave the mentality that not having problem IS a problem, because it’s actually being unaware that you can have one.

But oh, how about the happy-go-lucky doc? He’s got three personas, he’s got injection fetish, he’s got hallucinogenic vitamin shots that manifests your problems as animal heads while serving as the gateway for him to invade and screw your mind, and he’s got badass nurse to dish out unwanted amounts of sex appeal. “Ignorance is bliss”? “Don’t sweat with the details”? “We’re not the ones who are the stars of the show, you are”? Relation? Plot? Symptom? Cure? Awww, you must be mistaken! There isn’t any of that, is there?!

ぐふふふふふふふふふ～

So yeah, Kuchu Buranko was successful in screwing with our minds, and it got away (almost) scot-free. Second season? Sure! Let’s see how far this paradoxical insanity can get.

The New Year’s Day of the Impoverished Otaku

Shance — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:19:05 +0000

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with ourselves… and ourselves: Mascots clockwise from top – Reimu Hakurei (Rainbowsphere’s co-mascot), Mils (Miluda‘s mascot), Palette (Rainbowsphere’s current mascot), Unnamed Character (Walfas‘ mascot).

It’s officially a new year here (one hour ahead of Tokyo time), and with it come new hopes, new dreams, new aspirations and inspirations. The new chapter unfolds, and our role is to fruitfully pass the time, bearing the constant reminder that time is unstoppable and therefore, precious.

Aside from usual and eventful ones we experience in real life, the past year has also been full of ups and downs for the fan, the otaku, and the “otaku”. Seasonal anime fail to meet expectations, sequels being unable to follow up the initial success their predecessors achieved, manga of extraordinary caliber are hard to find, and novels are starting to become stale. The initial boom that the culture supplied the fans suddenly transformed into a crackle composed of pops and puffs of smoke, as if to signify the year’s hit-or-miss streak. Of course, some of you might prove me wrong, but I’m not being pessimistic nor am I being optimistic regarding the year that passed. It’s a smorgasbord that anyone can readily dig into, and I’m not one to talk since I ate a portion of it myself.

However, reality and fandom aren’t the only ones that had their moments. The blogosphere, ever the collective, also spawned various ways for people to make memories with. We have the OEG, the blogs that set the trends as we follow them, and the people and friends that we talk to in the Internet. For me, 2009 was one of the important years for blogging: It helped me evolve myself from what I was to what I am now, and that’s not without the help of the people around me.

Now, it’s time to face the future once again, and I’m ready for whatever it throws at me. My past shall mold my present, and the future is something I can freely dictate. I may be old and experienced, but there’s never enough for me to learn and be surprised in life, otakuism included. I hope everyone can achieve enlightenment or something similar if ever they are seeking for it.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Observing Your Clubs, Enjoying The Chaos

Shance — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:33:20 +0000

Now, do go on, don’t mind me. I’m just a weird person who’s smiling wickedly by itself while watching attempts of camaraderie.

It’s been a while since I last found myself reading Saturnity’s grand enlightenment again. Now, it’s safe to say I can gladly blame him for concocting another pastime for myself: Observing fanclubs. And judging by the streak it’s making, it’s as interesting as your usual dose of Internet dorama. I’m not going to force you guys to take this ride, but I do appreciate if you hear me out on how the ride’s going so far.

Even though I’m trying to refrain from rousing my inner troll, this is just something that leaves a bad aftertaste no matter how you cook it. I’ve had my experiences on clubbing, and never, NEVER, NEVER, was I satisfied or aggravated so much that it would make me stay for the hell of it. It comes in many forms: Foruming, Listing, Genre Appreciation, Real-Life Get-Togethers, or whatever you want to call all of them. They’re never the same no matter how you drown your denial with the most notable similarities you can think on any of them.

In order to understand, let’s backtrack a bit on my first years of otakudom, or in those cases, “otakudom”. It first came to me on the Anime Turnpike, specifically their forum. You’ll see dedicated parts for clubs that support a certain genre. Look inside, and you’ll see a lot of people talking in your generic “Your favorite *insert anime/manga/genre here* *insert interesting thing about said anime/manga/genre here*” topics. You don’t see very much in-depth interaction unless you’re with a decultard, an elitist, or a troll, and these type of guys are very rare in the olden times. Actually, talking to them is the only instance where things get interesting. So you can like, go say “Okay, it’s fine, I get it, so stop stating the obvious and talk about something that makes sense”, and the general fanbase would just be mighty mad at you for it since you “don’t see the beauty of merely appreciating it”. This then results to flaming (the word troll isn’t that popular back then), and if someone gets butthurt REALLY BAD about it, godmodding and permabanning.

That’s where we move on with the idea of running a website. During the Anipike age, most of the anime and manga sites were in the form of shrines, or websites that exist for the sole purpose of revering the things people like in their anime and manga. But since appreciation for media is limited to what is copyrighted or supplied back then, the sites’ scope of fandom were limited as well. Now that torrenting is widespread, and we’re in the eras of blogging, listing, scanlation and fansubbing, this view has changed. People have evolved their fandom into something far greater, and with it, they have spawned a deeper and wider view of how they see the fandom. Of course, this doesn’t change the fact that people can still get shallow or narrow-minded. Versatility is as elusive as the impossible, and we know that being a member of the Fourth Estate means being versatile to your readers’ opinions and points of view.

So let’s get off the Internet for a change. To be honest, I’m not a very outgoing person (even though that changed a bit recently, but let’s not get into that), so why ask me to join a club? If I had a policy for joining one, that would have be observing how it goes. Yeah, I know, same deal as the above mentioned. I play safe, and I can even count as evil for doing it, but take a look: Gaming fanclubs require attendance, and a bad case of insomnia. Anime fanclubs require you to watch stuff, and try to find something appealing to it, even if you can’t find one, which leaves you to agree to what any of them said, or avoid to watch the stuff while making an excuse as to why. Figure clubs require you a lot of money and rabid rage in order to showcase a formidable collection, which practically doesn’t sit well with me (unless you’re talking about Gunpla, then that’s a different story). Manga fanclubs are rare and sometimes limited to manga-only titles, some of which are hard to obtain or are not that famous (though majority of the non-famous titles are good). While observing, you’ll see people trying to moonspeak, play games like there’s no tomorrow, dance like electrified yuri teleporters, sing anime and JPOP songs out of sync or tone, watch hentai thinking it’ll make them cool and more adult-like, ogle and unintentionally break their figures and nendoroids, or talk about very deep stuff. This, while convincing me to join the club? No way.

By now, you may be thinking that I’m just some Jack of All Trades, hopping from one hobby to another, not being able to find what I’m looking for, or not having the balls to see things through. Yeah, I may be something like that, but people should also consider that being what I am right now also means being versatile in a way. What’s the best solution, then?

Ask me, and I’ll tell you my solution: Don’t join a club, or if you want to walk the tightrope between solitude and camaraderie, join a group of people who have the same drive or general interest as you have who aren’t in any clubs, or refuse to join any. There’s a big difference between people who get together to form a club, and people get together but refuse to form a club. And I ask you this: Which of the two has more versatility, more potential, and more exposure and eventual appreciation for the culture?

http://anipike.com/

The Residents of Our Gensokyo

Shance — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:25:43 +0000

This is Gensokyo, OUR Gensokyo.

If you read a bit on this blog’s About page, you’ll get this line around the author’s introduction:

The author was introduced into the Dasaku roster as the resident Touhoufag, one of the “abundantly rare” species of the blogging world.

About Page of Rainbowsphere

The term “abundantly rare” on the sentence isn’t a contradictory phrase. It’s a fact. In the ridiculously vast community of Touhou, it’s hard to find people who love Touhou for the sake of everything in it, be it fan stuff, canon, or anything in between. You’ll see people who love Touhou for the sake of the fan-made MVs. You’ll see people who like the doujin games more than they like the original Touhou ones. Heck, you’ll even see people collecting Touhou doujin paperback without the slightest clue of who the characters in the doujin are! But this I have to ask: Are they really fans of Touhou? Surely they realize that they’re only patronizing one part of the franchise, which disowns them of their titles as fans for that matter.

And so I, while flying alongside Reimu, decided to scour the blogosphere in search of true residents of this vast space that is our Gensokyo.

Reimu Hakurei – Rainbowsphere

Of course, we start at our home base: The rickety, disheveled shrine that is home to the impoverished shrine maiden and the impoverished otaku. Rainbowsphere wasn’t intentionally a brainchild of Touhou, but during the peak popularity of Touhou’s seventh game (Imperishable Night), it happened. Slowly but surely, Reimu started converting the author, and later on, the blog, into something like her.

Why pick Reimu is my personal Touhou character, you ask? Surely you’ll think of the preference as something along the lines of “Of course, since she’s one of Touhou’s enigmatic protagonists!” or something like it. Wrong. I chose Reimu because I see a lot of similarities when I dared to compare myself with her. We’re both poor, lazy, annoying, arrogant, ignored, and possibly an enemy to anyone and everyone because of the aforementioned qualities. Even the places they live on (not in the literal sense for the author) are similar to the fact that they are old, dusty, and ignored by the majority of the populace. But hey, we’re also both stars of our show and life! I guess that’s an advantage of being a “player character”: We get to control our own destinies while dodging the bullet hell that is fate. Too bad I can’t fly, though.

Alice Margatroid – Lyrical☆Spark!

And so we move on to the next resident, who lives in the Magic Forest of Lyrical☆Spark!: Honya. Honya manages the site very well, and I do know that she’s heavily involved in Touhou, albeit I only knew most of it through backlog reading. She’s very enthusiastic with Touhou merchandise (I love those Fumoffu plushies, too), and she follows the games that she likes (a trait that I also see in myself). Plus, I love how she draws (even though I’m not an avid fan of Yuri on the Chalkboard).

Honya has Alice Margatroid as her personal Touhou character. Most of her early Yuri on the Chalkboard creations are pairings of Alice and another Gensokyo resident, Marisa Kirisame. She even uses a chibi version of Alice as her personal icon and avatar. However, aside from taking a liking on the Magic Team pairing and the various shippings it spawned, I don’t see any other preferences Honya has on Alice. I intend to know more about this when I get some time to talk to the person in question. Or maybe I can just use the profile page and comment a question in there.

Hina Kagiyama – Loli Salad

Now we move further into youkai territory, where the Mountain of Loli Salad, home to Fang-tan, resides. Fang-tan is someone I knew back on my early blogging days after being taken in by Dasaku. She loves Touhou, doujin paperback, doujin soundtrack, games, and all. Then, due to some “Violations of Terms of Service”, she went POOF! and was never to be found. Mysteriously, she came back without me noticing (shame on me), and she’s now reviewing Touhou doujin soundtracks in full force. She does occasionally mention Touhou artists, doujin paperback, games, and other interesting stuff, so don’t think she’ll all soundtrack reviews.

Fang-tan has Hina Kagiyama as her personal Touhou character. It’s only recently that I found out this preference, since I met her before Mountain of Faith was released, and she wasn’t using a prominent Touhou character to stand out. Eventually, as I delved further into her profile after her comeback, I see her using Hina the most. As for similarities, permanent character attachment, and shippings, I’m going to keep my mouth closed and fingers crossed on that one.

Cirno – Cirno is a Genius

Suddenly, we find ourselves in some misty lake just in front of the Scarlet Devil’s Mansion. There, you can find an ice fairy named Cirno is a Genius, wandering and in search of frogs to Perfect Freeze in Easy Mode. Now, this site is absolutely off my mark, and I just stumbled upon it after fiddling with Walfas‘ link list. The About page is almost blank, most of the posts are Touhou-related (PC-98 Touhou diskettes, that’s a swell find indeed), and I absolutely have no clue who the hell uses “Cirno is a Genius” as a name, but the author sure is doing a great job on his Touhou endeavor. I do wonder why he/she/it stopped updating for a while…

As for the author’s personal character, it’s Cirno inside-out. We all know how Cirno is ridiculously received, and the author is willing to prove us wrong in that account. One thing is for sure about Cirno and Cirno is a Genius: They may be geniuses, they may be something else, but they’re definitely not going to settle as idiots.

This may be all for now, but the search isn’t over. More like it never will be. I expect more aspiring residents in the near future, and I shall welcome them with anticipation that is equal to their aspiration and fandom. And oh, how excited am I for the next incident to happen!

My Gensokyo ain’t big enough yet. But OUR Gensokyo? It’s as big as anyone can imagine. You can bet your hitbox on that.

The Elimination of the Impoverished Otaku

Shance — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:41:41 +0000

Beaten, taken down, owned, eliminated, with the deed done by my own mascot, no less. Palette sure likes giving me the “dead line”…

Everyone has been talking about the Otaku Elimination Game for quite some time now. And to be frank, I’m having mixed feelings on how the game works. I’m not trolling here, nor am I trying to open fire on everyone on the sphere or the people behind the OEG. I wouldn’t want a reserved seat on OEG’s little round of Russian Roulette, nor would I try to prove myself an otaku by stubborn and biased means. I just… have to assure something to myself about otakuism: How much worth does the word have for it to be used as a criterion for persons who use it or live its way of life?

Hypotheses, and my own understanding, no matter how hard I’ll fail it. Or we can also just say both and be done with it.

Otaku as a Word

In modern Japanese slang, the term otaku refers to a fan of any particular theme, topic, or hobby. Common uses are anime otaku (a fan of anime), cosplay otaku and manga otaku (a fan of Japanese comic books), pasokon otaku (personal computer geeks), gēmu otaku (playing video games), and wota (pronounced ‘ota’, previously referred to as “idol otaku”) that are extreme fans of idols, heavily promoted singing girls. There are also tetsudō otaku or denshamania (railfans) or gunji otaku (military geeks).

Wikipedia Entry on Otaku

After reading a bit on the Wikipedia entry and then throwing it out of the window, I suddenly find myself thinking of an alternate, more powerful definition for the word, and failing to find it after minutes and hours of doing so. It was like finding a definition for something obscure, like the word moe. So I came into this deadlock with myself: Otaku, as a word, is a figment spawned from a collective. It is a composition made from various minds under a single train of thought. A composition subdivided into categories that scream uniqueness and depth even though they cannot escape the fact that they can and must be summarized into one word: Fandom. Now, this is just me trying to find a definition. How you see or define it, that’s you, and you might have to agree to disagree since otakuism is as ambiguous as it is paradoxical.

Otaku as a Criterion

To be an otaku goes beyond merely having a hobby – it’s a way of life. A true otaku cannot claim to be defined by anything more greatly than their otakudom. What is that obsession? The customary use of the phrase is for someone who is obsessed with things revolving around anime. However, as expressed in Otaku no Video, it gets more specific based on your taste. If you aren’t obsessed with all anime, but are completely obsessed with mech shows just as much as any anime otaku might be with anime in general, then you would be a mech otaku. What really matters is the strength of your obsession rather than the thing you are obsessed with.

21stcenturydigitalboy (2009/12/6)

So the word has been defined, and now it must be used according to the definition it was given. But how? The word itself has spawned a community of different tastes, nationalities, and ideas. Now it must spawn another category that will further divide the populace: Depth. How passionate are you for your fandom? Is it enough to be called an obsession (cosplay, roleplay, ecchi), or is it self-destructive to be called an addiction (liking to a genre to the point of pornography/hentai)? Does it drive you to be creative (doujin, memedom, and other creative fan work), or does it drive you to achieve something for yourself (item collection and achievements)? With this in mind, I reached a hypothesis: Depth separates the true children of otakuism from the ones who merely see it as a hobby. Maybe this is one basis in which we can “eliminate” otaku, simply by putting quotation marks on both ends of the word, marking the segregation of the otaku from the “otaku”.

Otaku as a Person

There are too many people out there claiming to be otaku and not being able to back it up. There are hundreds of blogs out there ran by people claiming to be ‘otakus’ but instead posting their awful photos of the same saber figure over again. Please, leave the scene and never come back, you are not otaku and you never will be. Do not ever give people the false impression that you are.

About Page of The Otaku Elimination Game

Now, the criterion is given. All that’s left is to designate a person that will personify the word in both body and soul. Of course, even with the criterion and the existence of the word present, it’s going to be difficult. Like fighting one’s evil alter ego, it is a battle of whether you would consider yourself an otaku, or reject it, from the point of being able to simply reduce yourself as someone with a hobby, to the point of passionately categorizing yourself to pointlessness. The perception of the community, the justification of the fandom, the self-questioning, and the warring egos and ideals of oneself; All of these would ultimately decide if one is meant to be an otaku, if one decides to be an otaku, or if one rejects to be an otaku. And the realization, whether by oneself or by others, can be as harsh for the sake of otakudom, be it by acceptance, rejection, or decision.

All in all, the Otaku Elimination Game has been a great help. It made me look at the looking glass, and as if I’m a vampire or some malevolent being, I don’t see a reflection on it. I may be indecisive, stupid, presumptuous, or whatnot, but the paradox that is my status as an otaku may as well apply to the status of the fandom. I have a lot to learn, watch, read, play, and do, and I know that I’ve yet to realize or accept the fact that I may or may not be an otaku. Hopefully, I get to find that out soon. As for otakuism and myself, we’ll see if the word accepts me.

And so, even before my presumed entry to the game, I consider myself eliminated.

Rainbowsphere » Blogging

Defying The Predetermined Stage: The Perilous Challenges of Unorthodox Blogging

The Calling of the Impoverished Otaku

A Rememory

When The Pillars Of Touhoudom Collide: Original Material VS. Fan Material

Fin Funneling: Diversifying the Otaku Blogger

Further Reading

A “No Problem?” x “No Problem!” Problem: Trapeze Final Impressions

Further Reading

The New Year’s Day of the Impoverished Otaku

Observing Your Clubs, Enjoying The Chaos

The Residents of Our Gensokyo

Reimu Hakurei – Rainbowsphere

Alice Margatroid – Lyrical☆Spark!

Hina Kagiyama – Loli Salad

Cirno – Cirno is a Genius

The Elimination of the Impoverished Otaku

Otaku as a Word

Otaku as a Criterion

Otaku as a Person

Further Reading