Saturday, 19 May 2007

Moon Costumes

The following is my very first sponsored site review!

During my stay in Japan, several images I had had of the country and it's people prior to my coming here have been shattered: Most polite people in the world? "Sure push me some more on the street, in public, wherever you want." Cleanest people in the world? "No that's okay. I don't need soap to wash my hands." Everyone speaks English! "Wakanai!"

There has been a few stereotypes of Japan that ring true almost every day though. One of which is the fact that quite a few people do dress up in cosplay (Engrish for "costume role-play") just like you see on tv. Whether it's the girls in "sexy" French maid outfits handing out flyers or serving tables or even the 50 year old man selling his body in the streets of Shinjuku in a full body Pikachu getup, cosplay is truly a part of Japanese culture (whether the Japanese like to admit it or not) and this doesn't include the massive anime and manga conventions that take place throughout the year.

The cater to this craze, numerous shops have popped up throughout Japan to sell costumes and supplies for cosplayers looking to perfect their look.

For those people unfortunate enough to live outside Japan, several great websites are available to take care of your cosplay needs. One such site is Moon Costumes.

The site is very easy to navigate with the surfing style designed around the anime and manga series and characters rather than the individual items of the costume you want (which would have been stressful to say the least).

There's a huge selection of costumes to choose from, ranging from classics such as Sailor Moon (if only I was a girl, though maybe if I....) to some modern popular series like Bleach and Kingdom Hearts 2 with even a few non-anime characters thrown in such as that crazy schoolgirl, Gogo from Kill Bill and even the ghost twins from the Matrix Reloaded.

There's something for everyone here and even if there's not the Cosplay & Anime section is part of a much larger site with movie costumes and your average Halloween and other holiday costumes and decorations.

The prices are very cheap (well cheaper or on par with what these costumes sell for in Tokyo anyway) and your item is shipped within 24 hours of purchase.

The only negative I could really find on the site would be that some of the anime information is incorrect. A prime example would be the mixing of the Sailor Moon character's English and Japanese character names, something that reminds me of Sailor Moon sites from the late 90s. (What can I say? I'm a fan of the show). It's even stranger that they call them by their civilian names instead of the much better known "Sailor" codenames such as "Sailor Mercury", "Sailor Jupiter", etc.

But I guess if you're visiting this site, you're after costumes and not anime series information, though only a Sailor Moon fan would buy a Sailor Moon costume and a fan would be able to tell what information is a little off and what's not.

As a whole though, Moon Costumes is one amazing cosplay online store! The selection of costumes alone places it above the competition.

Next time you're going to a costume party (or handing out flyers). Give Moon Costumes a go.

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Labels: Cartoons, japan, Review Me

Saturday, 24 February 2007

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Note: I actually posted this on one of my other sites but thought it was relevant enough to post here.

I gave this series a go because CLAMP designed the characters and was illustrating the DVD covers, etc but I just can't watch any more. I got up to episode 6 and just had to turn it off. It's so blatantly racist and nationalistic it's offensive.

The portrayal of the British characters is over stereotypical in some respects (such as clothes and architecture. ) yet so completely off in other areas such as their blatant disregard for civilians during times of war and militaristic nature that it becomes almost a joke.

It's as if the tv station is trying to breed racism and reinforce an image of non-Japanese people that I thought was on the way out. In the first episode for crying out loud, we have a scene of a nice, gentle Japanese elderly couple who get their brains splattered all over room simply because the British army decided to kill all civilians in the area.

This show is just offensive. If the "bad guys" were, say aliens I really wouldn't have a problem but some things should be off limits, especially in children's programming and writing a story where the "bad guys" are another nation is taking things too far.

Something else I find shocking is that it seems to encourage terrorism. Not just in the general sense though, in the sense that it's every Japanese teenager's right to stand up and fight the establishment. If that means killing people, all the better.

The leader of the terrorist cell in the show is a high school girl and the main character, Lelouch actually assassinates the overly French political leader in charge of Japan within the first few episodes.

There's enough nationalistic bull in Japan as it is without an Animé series reinforcing such deluded ideals.

I must say I'm so disappointed in CLAMP for being involved in a project like this Given their history of creating stories involving mixed racial couples (a Japanese Sakura and a Chinese Syaoran for example) and Korean myth (Legend of Chun Hyang) this comes as a complete surprise. I'm hoping that they didn't realise the story content of Code Geass before signing on.

The animation and music are top notch, but simply due to it's thematic nature I can't believe so many non-Japanese anime and manga fans are following this series and even creating fan sites and listings about it.

I for one am tuning out and writing a letter of complaint HERE.

Edit: This is a copy of the email that I just sent.

"I am writing to express my complete disgust concerning the new anime series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

As an Australian, I find the series to be completely offensive and racist and something that shouldn't be on air due to the amount of influence it will have on children in Japan and other individuals.

The fact that Europeans are portrayed as villains is shocking and their portrayal inaccurate ("Yes my Lord") but the amount of racism from the main characters who are supposed to be heroes and role models for children leaves me speechless.

I also find it incredibly irresponsible, especially in a country such as Japan who has suffered at the hands of terrorists to show a series were the main characters ARE TERRORISTS who kill and assassinate people and are seen in a good light.

Until shows like this are removed from Japanese television the image of Japan being a racist one will not change in the eyes of non-Japanese both in and outside of Japan. "

I'm interested in people's opinions on this series. Feel free (as always) to comment on this post.

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Labels: Cartoons, japan, Racism

Sunday, 28 January 2007

Saturday Morning Flashback

It's funny how even after so many years I still find myself going back to those classic cartoons from the 80's. Turns out I'm not the only one who still has a place for these classics with several series getting deluxe DVD series box sets such as Dungeons and Dragons, Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony, Rainbow Bright and the Smurfs.

I just stumbled across this hillarious video by GalactiCast featuring brilliant parodies of The Transformers, G.I.JOE, He-Man and She-Ra and a true classic, JEM (Jem is excitement!) with a gay twist. Enjoy!

I love the touch at the beginning with the guy wearing the Thundercats T-shirt. Where can I get one of those?

Labels: Cartoons, Nostalgia, Transformers, tv