Self-assessment

Self-assessment
For my self-assessment, here are the key words I set for the whole semester.
Key words list:
 
1.      Attendance.
2.      Response.
3.      Cooperation
4.      Imagination
5.      Reading
6.      Debating
7.      Knowledge
8.      Exploration
9.      Preference
10.  Patience
11.  Passion
12.  Active
13.  Communication/interaction
14.  Experience
15.  Participation
 
And so on…..
And I’d pick up the words ATTENDENCE, COMMUNICATION, COOPERATION, EXPLORATION, PASSION and PREFERENCE as my final key words.
Attendance: this word means that I should try my best to attend the lectures and tutorials.
And in fact I went more than half of them in this semester, and because I left Melbourne for 2 week so I couldn’t attend any of them in week 2 and week 3.


Communication: means I need to get more communication both with the tutor and classmate about the subject during the whole semester.
I didn’t do well in this cause I nearly never talk to the tutor about how I think and what I want to do in this semester except in the first week doing the self-introduction.
 
Cooperation: means that I should work well with my group member no matter in the first group assessment or in the debating each tutorial, and the process of coming up of group ideas.
For this part I think I did ok while in the group work and my whole group worked well.
 
Exploration: this can be the process of finding or exploring the way of presenting my assessments.
I tried to think about what is the best way to express my ideas in my final assessment, it is hard for me to make a video about that content. I have a list of the topic I want to talk about, so blog is the best way for me.
 
Passion: just keep in passion with the whole subject.
Yes as an Asian and interested in Asian culture I do have a passion in this subject.
 
Preference: have a clear idea of what I want to do or which part I most interested in then do more research of it.
This is the core part of making my final assessment. I do have a preference in Japanese cyber culture especially in otaku’s part. So I chose this as my final topic.




As for my final assessment.
Just as a said in the first blog post in my PLAY blog, at the very beginning of the semester I just decided to do something about Japanese cyber culture. I started doing the project in the last 3 weeks of the semester, but in fact I spend half of my life exploring it by myself. I love this culture and so that I want to show them. And this might be an interesting top I think and it could be a unique idea.
The Otaku culture in Japan doesn’t have a clearly catalogue in fact, I just divided them into different part through my experience.  It is a bit complicated and the exact type of otaku must be more than what I list. So I just choose the part I can choose, and 7 might be a lucky number and enough to introduce. Hope that my blog can introduce a unique cyber culture to people.

Seiyuu & Cosplay

Seiyuu and Cosplay might be a new type of otaku, not totally new, but just risen in the recent years.

 

Seiyuu are those voice actors. And we can know from wikipedia that:

Voice acting in Japan has a far greater prominence than voice acting in most other countries. Besides acting as narrators and actors in radio plays, as well as performing voice-overs for non-Japanese movies and television programs, the voice actors are extensively employed as character actors in anime and video games. Some voice actors — especially certain voice actresses — often have devoted international fan-clubs. Some fans may watch a show merely to hear a particular voice actor. Some Japanese voice actors have capitalized on their fame to become singers,and many others have become live movie or television actors.

Just because of their beautiful voice and their good acting skills, more people tend to pay attention on those people working behind the screen and fell in love with their voice.

In such a Japanese culture background, voice actors not only act in anime or so on, but also games and some dramas.  

Even some popular ones can have their own music CDs or have a super concert like a normal talent. Nowadays there is a trend of seiyuu idolize. 

 Here are my collections of dramas and games. 

And there are also some voice actors events in Japan, more and more people tend to be a otaku of seiyuu right now.

Then here we comes COSPLAY. Maybe somebody would be very exciting about this.

Cosplay refers to costume play, is a performance art in which participants wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character or idea that is usually identified with a unique name.(Wikipedia)

People create this kind of way to celebrate and show their love for a character. Not only just buy the goods, but also make them like the characters, both the looking and their thinking. 

And this is a work of mine, how do you like it?

Reference,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_acting_in_Japan

Johnny's

In fact, the whole name of Johnny’s is that Johnny & Associates, Inc. It is a is a talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962. Johnny & Associates trains and promotes groups of male idols, collectively known as "Johnny's" in Japan.
 

On contrast that AKB48 otaku, the majority of this group are mostly female, of course. And because of the strict portraiture right of the company, I cannot post any clear photo with their talent. 

 

Here is what I got in Melbourne, in fact I am one of the otakus of Johnnys. I still have a lot of music CDs and other things in my hometown.

I am a fan girl of the solo talent Yamashita Tomohisa and a group named V6.

And recent years, the most popular group in Johnny’s named Arashi, which means typhoon in Japanese. Most of their singles and albums are the best sellers during the whole year’s ranking in Oricon Style.

As you can see, the Johnny’s culture influenced several generations of the whole female groups in Japan. Kimura Takuya, one of the most popular talents in Japan, is also under the name of Johnny’s since 1993. 

Not like those wota of AKB, fans of Johnny’s are more tend to be normal and acceptable. 

Reference,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_%26_Associates

AKB

In fact, at the beginning, to tell the truth, I don't like this kind of super girl group and their fans. But I just cannot just ignore them.

Here's the definition of the group from Wikipedia.

AKB48 is a Japanese idol girl group, initially named after the Akihabara (Akiba for short) area of Tokyo where the group's theater is located, and their original roster of 48 members. As of May 2014, the group has expanded to include 140 members whose ages range from early teens to mid-20s The idea of AKB48's producer Yasushi Akimoto was to create a girl group that, unlike a regular pop group that gives occasional concerts and that is mostly seen on television, would have its own theater and perform there on a daily basis; the fans would always be able to go and see the girls live. This "idols you can meet" concept includes the formation of different teams that are able to rotate performances and to perform simultaneously in events at various locations, as well as the organisation of "handshake" events, where fans can briefly interact with band members. Akimoto has also expanded the AKB48 concept to several sister groups throughout Japan, and also in China and Indonesia. 

AKB48 born in Akibahara, where is the otaku paradise. And the group does improve the development of WOTAGEI. Also, the group has two of their own game, you can date with your idol in the game. It sounds a little bit creepy, but it is too unrealistic.

The wota of the group is very unbelievable.

AKB48′s mystique and popularity is constructed heavily on a cult of the personality, or a cult of signs of personalities (since we know nothing of the real performers’ lives). Fans grow to love the various idols, to develop and nurture favourites who they can support. This reaches a frenzy in the “Senbatsu”, or elections, events, where fans vote for which sect leader they wish to move up in the ranks. To do this they are encouraged (commanded) to buy multiple copies of merchandise (reportedly one fan notoriously personally bought 5,500 copies of the same single); the ritual of consumer purchase is dogmatic, induced. The winners of the elections then appear in the next music video and on the next single release.

Reference,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKB48
http://tokyoraconteur.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/akb48-the-new-japanese-fascism/

Tokusatsu

You may not know what tokusetsu is, but you must know what Ultraman is. Ultraman is one part of the whole tokusetsu, at the same time ,as you know, Godzilla also is a part of it.

Like Marvel and DC’s superheroes in western culture, heroes in tokusetsu dramas are the heroes of some Japanese. Do you remember Crayon Shin-chan’s favorite hero? He could also be one of the tokusetsu heroes.

And the most popular tokusetsu series in Japan right now might be Kamen Rider and Super Santai (Power Rangers)

And this kind of otaku is not only male, but also female.


Reference,
http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/20-greatest-Japanese-superheroes