PREPARE THE TRIGGER!

So in a rumor that serviced, There will be a new SBR3 game. Called "Sengoku Basara 3: Utage" It seems that Kojuuro Katakura and Sasuke Sarutobi will be playable. An even more shocking announcement, Hisahide Matsunaga, who has appeared in various games as well as the anime, will be playable for the first time. Other characters who are NPC in SBR3 will be returning as well. Muneshige Tachibana, Tenkai, Sorin Otomo, Hideaki Kobayakawa and Yoshiaki Mogami.

More news about this when it becomes available!

SEE YOU NEXT ROUND!

Share The Love!

Hello there everyone. How are you this morning? Some exciting news from AX and from access!

I was able to meet Kojuro's voice actor last night. Toshiyuki Morikawa. He was very friendly despite how nervous I was. He even let us (my new friends and I) take a photo with him. I was so shocked. I was nearly in tears! Thank you Morikawa and my new friends!

Secondly, access has hinted that they will have a new single and dropped a few clues. (Sorry I wasn't able to post about it) Finally after teasing us they have let us know the full song list. I PRESENT TO YOU!!!!

Share The Love

There will be two versions of the single. The first one:
A version - DWDH-004
1. Share The Love
2. Keep It
3. Ride Up For The Shiny Way

For those of you who are keeping track, Keep It was introduced at last year's tour. The third song is described as being "an access trance song" This will be very interesting to hear!

B version. DWDH-005
1. Share The Love
2. Keep It (2010 Version)
3. Higher Than Dark Sky (Piano Version)

On this version "Keep It" is directly from last year's tour. Probably taken from the Ustream viewing. The title song for last year's single "Higher Than Dark Sky" makes an appearance as a Piano version. Claimed that it the first take from a new studio. Sounds to be very moving! I hope you all will fall in love with them all over again!

As per usual, all CD's are available on CDJapan and HMV.

That's all for today, I hope to have a photo update later.

SEE YOU NEXT ROUND!
~Lala~

Put your guns on!

Hello, there bloggers! It's Lala! お久しぶりです！　It's been a while!

Today I am posting from Anime Expo. (We have a slow day today) I know I haven't posted in a while. For many of us, trying to help heal the scar of this March is still a tough task. Because of the events that have occurred, I am have decided to once again rededicate myself to this blog. I want to still help you all learn Japanese but I would also like to talk more about Japan and about my fandoms. So for now, this is what you can expect out of this blog:

Non-Fandom
Japan info
Travel Japan info
Japanese learning info.

Fandom
access (DA/Hiro solo)
Vocaloid
Sengoku Basara
Video Games

If I have more fandoms I might add them but for now, please enjoy. I will try to keep you up to date on news and stuff. Thanks for the views!

~Lala~

Feel This Love, Feel This Love

Well its that time of year again everyone. The time when all the students of Japanese gather at various campuses around the world to take the dreaded JLPT. ( See this post ) For everyone reading this blog that is doing the test, GOOD LUCK! 頑張って下さい！

I'll be doing my best too!


SEE YOU NEXT ROUND!
~Lala~

Higher Than the Dark Sky

So for those who don't know. Access has a new single coming out!!! You can get it at HMV and Tower Records online (they ship overseas) Links to come later.

I was talking to my friend and she asked how I felt about the new single and I answered 「ドキドキ」(doki doki) Many people know this statement. Its the sound of a heartbeat and it usually means the person is excited (in a positive way). These kinds of words are called "Onomatopeia" The Onomatopoeia is a "sound word" In English we have words like "tick tock" which is the sound of a clock and "click" However the English language doesn't use these words as much as the Japanese do.

How does the Japanese onomatopoeia work?

Usually there will be two sounds that will be repeated it. Such is the case in "ドキドキ" Some words the second sound will change. The sound of a clock in Japan can be described as "チクタク" (chiku taku) Most of the word will be four sounds.

How important are they to learn?

In Japanese the onomatopoeia is REALLY important. Some words you use even if its not related to a sound. Example: To say you want "separate checks" at a restaurant one person might say "べつべつ" (betsu betsu) When at a doctor's office one might describe their arm pain as ズキズキ (zuki zuki) which is a throbbing pain. One of my favorites to use is "ボロボロ" It is the sound of something crumbling. I use this to describe my Japanese. Meaning I haven't studied so it has crumbled.

Animal sounds are knows for being onomatopoeia as well. ワンワン (wan wan) being a dog's bark. ニャーニャー (nyaa nyaa) being a cat's meow. One I learned and haven't been able to forget is "バラバラ" It is the sound of things being scattered. I learned it in reference to AXS! During the Binary Engine pamphlet there were no pictures of them together and my friend said: 「バラバラなアクセスはさびしいいいい」(BARA BARA na AKUSESU wa sabishiiii) Meaning "Its lonely when access are separated" I couldn't for the life of me figure out bara bara. My dictionary said "scattered" Another friend said "Its like the petals of a flower. They should be together but fall apart." So to remember バラバラ I think of a rose (ばら bara in Japanese) and see it scattered everywhere. ばらばら！

Well that's all the time have for now. Link at the bottom.

SEE YOU NEXT ROUND!

~Lala~

HIGHER THAN THE DARK SKY (LINKS)

HMV - http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/3841459, http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/3841460

Tower - http://tower.jp/item/2727996/Higher-Than-Dark-Sky-%28A%E7%9B%A4%29, http://tower.jp/item/2727997/Higher-Than-Dark-Sky-%28B%E7%9B%A4%29

Don't forget if you order both versions you get special pre-order goods!

turn it up and feel me first

オハヨ〜みんなさん、元気？
Hello everyone, how are you?

Its been a while since I posted. I've been busy with stuff. ;_; My friend went to Japan so I've been communicating with her a lot. It makes me 懐かしい！（なつかしい）「nostalgic」

I've been working secretly on a system to help people learn kanji, verbs, and adjectives all at the same time. Its harder than I thought but also easier than I feared. Some kanji have verbs and many don't. I want my system to be as easy as can be. I want a beginner to be able to look at it and go "Oh that makes sense"

TEST:
I'm sure I've mentioned "radicals" before. If I haven't here is a quick rundown. A radical is a part of a kanji. These radicals make up the kanji and each has a meaning. Learning the radicals helps you understand the kanji a little bit better. (NOTE: unlike Chinese, the radical does not determine the sound of the kanji, only the meaning) Example: the word rain is ame あめ the kanji for it is 雨 if you think hard the kanji looks like rain. Water drops falling from the sky. Anyways this kanji is a radical and appears in other kanj. Almost all of them having weather related terms! Here is a list of some of the kanji they appear in.

雨 - あめ Rain
雪 - ゆき Snow
雲 - くも Cloud
電 - でん Lightning
雷 - かみなり Thunder
震 - ふえる Quake
霜 - しも Frost
霧 - きり Fog

So the sounds I have given you are all "kun yomi" (SEE POST "Get Ready! So Crazy!)
Lets make some compounds and phrases using these words! (You'll see on yomi)

Starting with 雨

1.雨のち雪 あめ のち ゆき (ame nochi yuki) Rain then snow (used in weather forecasts)
2.雨雲 あめ ぐも (ame gumo) raincloud
3.雨がふる あめ が ふる (ame ga furu) To rain (to say "its raining" or "it will rain" "it will snow" uses the same word)

Next 雪

1.雪まじり雨 ゆき まじり あめ (yuki majiri ame) Snow mixed with rain. (used in weather forecasts)
2.雪山 ゆきやま (yuki yama) Snowy mountain
3.雪でおおわれる ゆき で おおわれる (yuki de oowareru) To be covered in snow.

Next 雲

1.Cloudy*
2.雲形 くもがた (kumo gata) Cloud shaped
3.雲があつめる くも が あつめる (kumo ga atsumeru) Clouds gathering
The kanji 曇りis used to describe cloudy weather. It also reads as くも but its on yomi is どん

Next 電 while it means "lightning" it mostly means "electric"

1.電車は止まりました　でんしゃ は とまりました(densha wa tomarimarimashita) Trains are stopped
2.電話 でんわ (denwa) telephone
3.電気を消して下さい でんき を けして ください (denki wo keshite kudasai) turn off the electricity.

How does this work for you? I hope for input! Its still a work in progress.

See you next round!

~Lala~

EVERYONE! LOOKING FOR PARTY TIME!

travel times and prices

Concert 1: Fussa
From: Shinjuku to Fussa
Price: 620 yen
Time: 47 minutes
Round Trip: 1240 yen

Concert 2-3: Nakano (2 days)
From: Shinjuku to Nakano
Price: 150 yen
Time: 7 minutes
Round Trip: (2 Days) 600 yen

Concert 4: Nagoya
From: Tokyo to Nagoya:
Route 1: Bullet Train
Price: 10,070 yen (non reserved)
Time: 1 hour 43 minutes
Route 2: Night Bus
Price: 6420 yen
Time: 7 hours
Both Routes end up at Nagoya station.

Nagoya station to Kanayama (where hall is)
Price: 160 yen
Time: three minutes (include another 5 - 10 for walking from station)
Round trip: 320 yen

Concert 5: Kobe
From: Nagoya to ShinKobe
Price: 7650 yen
Time: 1 hour seven minutes
(ALTERNATE ROUTE)
Bus:
From: Nagoya (meitetsu Bus Center) to Kobe (JR Sannomiya Station)
price: 3300 yen
time: 3 hours 13 minutes

Shin-Kobe to Sannomiya Station (where hall is)
price: 200 yen
time: 2 minutes (include another 10 - 15 walking from station)

TRAVEL PLANS:
Where we stay is up to how people are coming. If you need to be cost efficient there are a few ways.

1. Stay in Kanto. You can fly into Narita and only attend the concerts in Kanto. Fussa and Tokyo (Nakano) This is the cheapest route. No far travel and cheap places to stay are easy to find.

2. Chuubu or Kansai
If you don't want to fly in Narita you can fly into Nagoya or Osaka. (Chuubu or Kansai airports) The travel from Nagoya to Kobe isn't far. (Kobe is only on the other side of the bay from Osaka.) Very close from Kansai Airport. These concerts are also only a day apart. So this option is also very cheap.

Railpass:
If you are a foreign traveler to Japan you can purchase a JR railpass. This allows you to ride ANY JR line unlimited for the time allotment. You can even ride the JR buses with them. A two week railpass is 45,100 yen. If you add the price of the trains from Tokyo to Nagoya and Kobe and back it would basically pay for its self. Plus it gives you unlimited rides between concerts in Tokyo and Nagoya/Kobe.

Night Bus:
The reason I listed night buses is because not only is it cheap, It knocks off a place to sleep for the night. If you get on the night bus at 11:00 pm you end up in Nagoya 7 hours later. From Nagoya to Kobe its not really an option because the bus is three hours long but it is a lot cheaper.

Biggest question: LODGING!!!!
There are SO many options I don't even know where to start. My firm belief is that cheap isn't always so bad. (I'm a broke college student) So as far as lodging is concerned I'm always ok with "roughing it" which means staying in a Manga (internet) cafe. These are places where you pay between 1000 to 2000 yen for unlimited internet, free drinks, a mat to sleep on and sometimes free food. (only sometimes) If I'm going SUPER cheap I will get the five hour pack for 800 yen then ride Yamanote sen for a few hours. I don't suggest that though. Manga kissa also offer showers which are usually about 500 yen but they provide you with shampoo and soap and brushes and towels.

Super Hotel
Usually if I have two concerts back to back I like to kick back at a super hotel. Its a cheap hotel that you can stay at. Greater Tokyo ones have been kicked up to 6000 + a night. Still they are convenient and cheeper then a lot of hotels. If there is a two person room and the cost is split its about 4700 yen a night which isn't bad. They also offer a free all you can eat breakfast. Which is always a plus.

Youth Hostel
They are great places to stay and are cheap. My favorite is the "Tokyo International Youth Hostel" In IIdabashi. (Tokyo) Its about 3000 yen a night. Check out time is really early but, its a place to sleep and it has an amazing view. (18th floor of an office building) There are many that can be as cheep as 1500 yen a night.

In short. A trip to Japan can be as cheep or as expensive as you want it to be. You have to wonder how much of a comfort level you want. If you want to sleep in a hotel room every night its going to be expensive but if you don't mind manga kissa or sharing a room with 12 other people you don't know. You can really cut corners and make budget it well.

I look forward to helping as many of you as possible and if you have any questions PLEASE feel free to e-mail me.

~Lala~