I know I know!! I wanted to write a blog entry about the ONE OK ROCK concert before something else! Please forgive me, okay? Haha. I was super busy the last few days! First I visited my best friend and than I got sick. Well, I was already sick when I went to her but I wanted to see her so badly - and we just watched stuff from Takizawa-san and the A.B.C-Z Tour! So it wasn't that dramatic.
Still I wasn't able to go to unversity the last 2 days. Of course, today I want to go to Japanese lesson but my voice is still not 100 % back. I don't know what to do anymore about that. I don't want to go to the doctor. Well.. first because I really dislike doctors!!! Nothing against doctors - they might be intelligent and know what they have to do. But I really dislike to go to a doctor. And I dislike even more to go to a NEW doctor. I never went to a doctor in my new hometown but when my health won't get better I have maybe no other choice.
BUT ! I don't want to talk here about my health. That might be boring and also it's my own problem, right?
I wanted to tell you this time how I got interested in the Japanese culture. I thought some people are interested in that story. Even if it's not that interesting I think... But I am going to tell you about it now.
I think it all begun maybe with Sailor Moon? Or with games? Hmmm....
Haha. NO!! In fact... the love to ASIA begun already EARLIER!!
It all begun with the visit of me, my granny and my two uncles of the musical 'Starlight Express'. Maybe some of you know this musical? It's about trains and... well here is a little picture of it:
Yeah, the actors of the musical are actually driving on roller skates! Nowadays it reminds me about Kis-My-Ft2!!! Haha. But you might ask yourself still "How is that musical related to Japan / Asia?" Well... The main actor was an Asian man! His name is "Rommel Singson". Yeah, I even still remember his name - and I was maybe 6 or 7 years old at that time!! He is an actor from the Philippines and you can say he was the first love of my small life.
Haha! No, seriously. At that evening I shared a hotel room with my granny and I told her with sparkling eyes "GRANNY! When I am a big girl I want to marry a guy like him! He was so pretty, right? I am going to marry a man just like him, you will see!!!"
Please, don't take that serious!! I was a little girl who just felt in love with an actor who is maybe 30 years older than her!!! Haha. But I was so happy at that evening. After that day I started to get interested in things from Asia. I didn't care at that time so much if it's from Japan, China, Singepore, Taiwan, Thailand or whatever. I collected everything and I was really obsessed with that hobby! But HOW I ended up with Japan? Well, that's the next part of the story.
I know, most people of you think now "SAILOR MOON?!"
Well... No. Sorry to disappoint you! It was actually because of the game 'Final Fantasy'.
Actually my favorite uncle was a gamer. He gave me my first Game Boy and - together with my aunt - my first Super Nintendo. At his birthday party I was terribly bored. I was around 10 or 11 at that time and there were no people in my age on that party. Just adult or 'old' people. Also I still remember that I had some stomach ache on that day so I was even more in bad mood. So my uncle took me to his 'secret gamer room'. That sounds maybe funny in your ears but for me it was like a magic kingdom in that age! He had lots of computer and consoles in that room. He gave the controller of his Playstation in my little hands and said "Here, play this game, you might have fun with it. If not - tell me, okay?"
What can I say? He and the rest of the party people didn't see me for the rest of the evening.
The game was actually "Final Fantasy 7". I played it the whole evening until my mum and my dad wanted to leave the party.
On the next 2 weeks I spend my first own pocket money to buy "Final Fantasy". I didn't know at that time that there are more parts of the game so I said to the sales lady "I WANT FINAL FANTASY!!!". Well - she gave me the newest part which was "Final Fantasy 8". I have to admit that I was first super disappointed. I wanted the same game that I played at my uncles place and not that!
But after I begun to play the game and met the characters I was totally obsessed. I couldn't stop playing it! Sometimes I even had to fight a lot with my mum because I wanted to play that game more than to do my homeworks.
I asked myself than "Where is that game from? Who can make something like that?"
And I figured out: It was Japan. Not only that! Even Japanese people made the Super Nintendo and the Game Boy and the Playstation! I couldn't believe it! All that amazing things came from that country so far away?! WOAH!
Just a little time after that - finally - the anime "Sailor Moon" begun in German TV. I already watched some other stuff on TV like "Attack No. 1" but I didn't care so much. "Sailor Moon" was the first Anime who really got my interest. Also I found some friends in school or at the street where I was living who also liked "Sailor Moon". It was the first time in my life I shared such a hobby with people. I begun to buy my first Manga, to go to conventions like the "Connichi" in Germany and to go to concerts from Visual Kei and J-Rock bands. Also I just made my account at an internet platform called "Animexx" at that time - normally because I wanted to search a Fanfiction about the horror movie "Ringu". (Yeah, at the same time I also got interested in Japanese horror movies - but that's maybe another topic!) I can be happy that my parents were always people who were like "Just do what you want, as long as you are happy!". I was allowed to drive with my friends to that concerts, conventions - they even allowed me to color my hair in colors like pink, blue or green. They just didn't allow me to do piercings or such kind of things. Nowadays I am very grateful about that. I think I had a great childhood and teenager time thanks to that kind of parents.
Well - let's continue. I made even more friends after I registered into that internet platform. In my free time I began to listen to a lot of Japanese music. Mostly it was Visual Kei at that time because my first penpal send me a tape full of music from bands like Luna Sea and X-Japan. (YEAH TAPE! I'm a 90's girl! Haha.)
But slowly I also begun to get interested in the language itself and in the culture of the country. I didn't want to just watch the colorful world of Anime... I wanted to see the real Japan. I wanted to know where all that stuff is from. Most of my friends in that time were people which were mostly into cosplay and Visual Kei. But I was kinda different.
I never made a cosplay and I like Visual Kei but also I kinda always prefered other stuff like J-Pop. I enjoyed to watch Dorama more than to watch Anime slowly. I loved my friends but at the same time I felt like I am kinda different than most of them because most of them wanted to enjoy Manga, Anime and Visual Kei - but I wanted to know more about Japan and not just that kind of things.
I have to admit: Before I went the first time to Japan I had a lot of friends who were also interested in Japan. I knew before that my interest is bigger than that but I was happy how things were. But after I went there my view to Japan changed and also the people around me. Of course - I still have some of my friends with me who know me since I was 14 years old, who "grew" with me. But also I suddenly couldn't understand anymore some of the people around me who just wanted to study Japanese in university for example because of some super cool guys of bands or because they like Anime / Manga. Why they want to study a language and culture of a country they never visited - just because of THAT?
Some people even told me "I don't care what happens after I finish university. I just want to live in Japan, I don't care what I am going to do there. Everything is better there than in Germany."
I think this smiley discribes perfectly how I felt about that:
I think nowadays I have a total different view on Japan than I had when I was a little girl. As a little girl it was a sparkling wonderful wonderland where all the great stuff came from.
Nowadays it's a country with a lot of problems - but with a wonderful culture and language that I want to know more and more.
Yes, maybe I'm also sometimes a fangirl. I mean.. I like Johnnys Jimusho, I like cute stuff and so on. But still I think I have a more adult view about that things. I know that living in Japan is not the best thing I can do - especially as a foreigner. Still I want to spend some time there. Travel around, see more cities and places like Hokkaido, Okinawa, learn more about the culture...
Haha. The End of the story until now I think. If you still have questions ask, okay?
I wanted to end up that blog with some fangirl stuff:
Tanaka Koki finally opened his twitter account! YES! THE REAL ONE!!!
I feel so greatful and happy about that! I have to admit that I cried my eyes out when I read his first tweets.
He is just a great person. He is still my Number 1 idol and I will always support him - maybe even as granny!! Haha.
Well but now I really end up! Please listen to this song by the way. I heard it while I was writing this blog because it reminds me of the time when I was sitting in my room and played "Final Fantasy". I loved that song. This version is a little bit different and with no vocals - it's more a remix I guess - but still I like it!!
For reading this by the way!! I am super happy about it!!!
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